Not long after taking Tom’s classes I enrolled in Wade Payne’s Sports Photography Class (now called Action Photography) and it was not long before I was hooked. At first I was pretty fascinated with the gear (long glass, remote cameras, etc.) then of course got to thinking about how cool it would be to actually be on the sidelines/courts/fields/whatever of a sporting event photographing action. All of that is neat (well, to a point, which reminds me I need to write a post about carrying around 46 pounds of gear at Bristol Speedway for three straight days) but at some point I actually started listening and learning what Wade was saying and it pretty much changed my life.

To put it in a nutshell, it’s not too terribly difficult to take a very nice portrait of someone. Use some lights, reflectors, modifiers…add in a bit of posing, and before you know it there’s a good chance you can have some very nice images. And if not? No problem, just move the subject a bit, change some lights, you normally have plenty of time to get it right. What I realized during Wade’s class is that Sports Photography requires a lot of the same knowledge of the Portrait Photographer, plus a whole lot of other variables. Let’s take a UT Football game…

• You have NO control of lighting
• You have NO control of posing, or anything else concerning the subject
• There are 75 other photographers there doing the same thing as you
• You have rules about where you can be on the field
• No second chances…miss the game winning touchdown and your editor is NOT going to be happy
• Oh yeah, you get to accurately identify the primary athletes in the photo and explain what they are doing…plus transmit the photos ASAP during halftime and after the game
• You have to position yourself on the field for the best chance of getting the photos you need, taking into account the flow of the game, lighting, backgrounds, and 28 other things.
• And then it starts raining
• And about 97 other things
• Oh yeah, if you are really lucky, and pretty darn good at all of the above…you might actually get paid a little bit of $$$ for all of this

And that’s what I learned from the class…how to think about all of this stuff, simultaneously, about a gazillion times a game. The field trip is always a great part of the class, and depending on the time of the year, it could be a Smokies game, a Carson Newman Football game, or some other sporting event. This is an amazing opportunity to learn from one of the best respected photographers in the industry, right here in our own backyard, at a price that’s a fraction of a typical sports photography workshop.

2011 brought a new studio, a Sports Illustrated cover, being published around the world by major newspapers, magazines, and websites, and working for one of the largest sports wire services there is, blah, blah, blah…and I owe a huge part of this year’s success to both Tom and Wade.

Class starts Jan 24th, Click here to sign up for Wade’s Action Photography Class, (Tom’s F1 class is a prerequisite, sign up for it here), and be sure to tell them that The Short Guy sent you Oh yeah, please use any of the buttons below to share this post with friends…Thanks!