Online Photography Course
Basics of Sports Photography

What You Get

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	Benefits: You get direct feedback on your photos from world-acclaimed, professional photographers. You can learn photography in this way from anywhere in the world.
Learn at your pace, with structure. Be guided by a real pro instructor. Get your photos critiqued every week. Join students from around the world. Go far beyond any book or DVD. Make great pictures, again and again!

Instructor

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G. Newman Lowrance
G. Newman Lowrance
Author of Digital Sports Photography

Always a hobbyist photographer since he minored in photography during his college days, Newman left his career as an Aerospace Engineer and has become a widely used and well-known sports photographer.
Newman began his professional photography career when he signed on with NFL Photos in 2000. Since that time he went on to photograph Super Bowl games, World Series, NCAA College baseball, football and basketball events, track and field, MLS Soccer, Arena Football and many other sporting events that bring us those special moments from the world of sports. One of his favorite images occurred from the 2006 Super Bowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle, when a photo of MVP Hines Ward was selected for the cover of the Sports Illustrated Commemorative Super Bowl edition of Super Bowl XL.
His images frequently appear in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, Street & Smith’s Sports Annuals, DK Publishing, Human Kinetics Publications, Scholastic Inc., Super Bowl Programs, NFL Team Video’s, Wall Calendars, and many other print outlets.
Newman spent the past 2 years as a staff photographer for WireImage after the NFL Photo group was dissolved. He was sought out for his skills as a top football photographer and went on to author “Digital Sports Photography”, which was released in 2005. He currently serves as team photographer for the NFL's St. Louis Rams (Marketing Division), the Arena Football League's Kansas City Brigade and for Major League Soccers Kansas City Wizards, and shoots NFL, MLB and other events on assignment for various media such as Getty Images and ESPN The Magazine.

Newman’s Web site – www.gnlphoto.com - offers some galleries of his images and published examples from many different sporting events he has covered over the years.

A Couple of Photos by the Instructor

© G. Newman  Lowrance

© G. Newman  Lowrance

Course Outline

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Lesson 1: Stopping Action
Learn why your shutter speed in relation with your aperture and ISO speeds are so important in sports photography.
Assignment: Experiment with shutter speeds - any subject in motion (whether sports, or a runner, a car, etc.).
 
Lesson 2: Manual Mode versus Automatic Exposures in Sports Photography
Learn when it’s best to shoot in manual mode instead of aperture or shutter priority.
Assignment: Shoot subjects in different lighting, and experiment with different exposure modes (again, any subject, whether sports or someone else in motion).
 
Lesson 3:  Shooting in Low-Light Conditions
Learn how to determine which settings are best for shooting sports in low-light conditions.
Assignment: Find subjects in low light (any subject in motion, whether sports, a neighbor shooting on their basketball court,  skateboarder, etc.).
 
Lesson 4: Depth of Field in Sports Photography
Why it’s important to typically shoot sports with a wide aperture. Sidebar: Shooting horizontally or vertically in sports photography.
Assignment: Experiment with Depth of Field by shooting the sane subject with a small and then a large aperture.

© G. Newman  Lowrance

© G. Newman  Lowrance

Requirements

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Digital SLR, but a film SLR is acceptable too. Flash. Lens focal length minimum of 50mm. No maximum requirement although anything longer than 50mm will be very beneficial. Beginning to intermediate image-editing software. Knowledge of basic exposure controls: aperture, ISO and shutter speeds

FAQ

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Not necessarily. The assignments can be accomplished with, or without, needing an actual sporting event. 

You will need a lens that has a focal length range of at least 50mm. However, longer focal lengths will be extremely useful. 

For best results, a monopod is recommended when you shoot with a slow shutter speed, but for these lessons it isn’t an absolute necessity. 

The techniques that I will be demonstrating won’t necessarily require Photoshop, although you will need to know what your settings were when you take the photographs.  There are many other software programs that you can purchase that will give you this information, such as Photo Mmechanic. 

© G. Newman  Lowrance

© G. Newman  Lowrance

No, you do not need to be online at any specific time. The lessons are sent to your email and you are also provided the Campus Square - where you interact with your classmates and instructor. This is also where you upload your photos to be critiqued by your instructor. The instructors are very punctual and respond quickly.

Absolutely! Students can ask questions in the special Q&A forum set up in the course's Campus Square, or can ask the instructor via email.

Yes. We are confident that you will fully enjoy our courses. All the same, for our 8-week classes, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent out. If for any reason, you are not satisfied and let us know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #3 is sent, you will be promptly refunded.

For our 4-week courses, we offer a 100% money back guarantee before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent out from BetterPhoto. If for any reason you are not satisfied and you let the ordering department know that you would like to withdraw before the Wednesday that Lesson #2 is sent, you will be refunded within 7 days. After the second lesson has been sent out, no refunds will be given.


If you have further questions about this course, feel free to contact us via the Contact link below.

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