Becoming a great sports photographer is a continuing, lifelong process. There are many factors that contribute. It's not just about how good your camera is. A good understanding of the sport you're photographing makes all the difference.

Today's modern cameras can make sports photography seem way too easy. You've got your eight-frames-per-second camera with the latest autofocus technology and a telephoto lens that puts you right into the action. Add to that the huge memory card you got that holds hundreds, maybe thousands of photographs. How can you miss, right?

The Machine Gun Approach

If you fit the above profile, with all of the top gear, you are prone to fall into the trap of following the machine gun approach. That's what I call it when you stand in one spot and follow the action with your lens, firing at anything that moves.

If you're a good machine gunner, you certainly won't miss the big play. And that's good, right? Modern technology will allow you to get great photographs every time you hit the field. But the machine gun approach is quite flawed. There are several important things a machine gunner is likely to forget:

Backgrounds

Having nice, clean backgrounds is very important in sports photography. Nothing ruins a sports photo quicker than distracting background elements. When you show up to photograph an event, look for angles that give you a clean background. It's pretty easy to decide whether you want a glaring white advertising banner or some pleasant green trees in the background of your shot.

Compare the backgrounds of the photos above and below. Notice how distracting the fence and sign are in the lower image.

Student Of The Game

The more you know about the sport you're photographing, the better. If you know what's likely to happen you'll be ready for it. For example, if it's third down with ten yards to go in a football game, it's probably a good idea to stand a little in front of the first down marker since that's where the team is trying to get the ball to.

That said, don't worry if you know nothing of the sport. By watching you'll figure the simple things out quickly. Just adjust your approach as you take things in.

Being in the Right Spot

Great sports photographs can be made with any type of camera. If your camera reacts slowly to moving subjects, you have to anticipate where the action is going to take place. Let's use basketball as an example: The goal is the basket, and a lot of the action takes place at that spot. You could pre-focus your lens on the basket and just wait for the action to come to that spot. This technique is called zone focusing.

Examples of zone focusing you might try at a track meet:

— The finish line of a 100 meter dash. Focus on the finish line and snap the shot when the winner crosses it.

— Hurdles. Focus on one particular hurdle and when the runner leaps it, there's your shot.

— High Jump. Focus on the bar they're trying to clear.

Zone focusing and anticipation will help you learn the feel for the sport. You'll also learn the timing of your camera. As you photograph, your timing will sync with your equipment and your sport.

And before I end this tip, let me clear one thing up. It's not bad to photograph like a machine gunner. But to excel, you need to be a smart, thinking machine gunner.