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Sport Portrait Ideas

Sitting for and shooting sports portraits has specific challenges, but choosing the right pose or taking an action photograph at just the right moment can have compelling results. Whether your photo shoot is posed, action or some combination of the two, take inspiration from master sports photographers by studying portraits of people in your sport and others. Observe how they use expression, physical prowess, color and poses to encapsulate their subject's athletic ability.

Posed Sport Portrait
- Posed sports portraits are the least complicated and most straightforward type of sports portraits, but can be very compelling and show great depth. The most basic type can be taken in a studio; the athlete often poses with the tool of his sport, whether it's a basketball, bat, boxing gloves, goggles or even a bicycle. More natural posed sports portraits can be taken in the subject's athletic habitat: on a basketball court, poolside, in the gym, or with an open road stretching out behind him. These types of portraits are often best for young athletes, like Little League players, who may be difficult to capture in action and have less than perfect form.
Action Sport Portrait
- In an action sport portrait, the athlete will be dressed in full athletic gear and actually participating in her sport. This type of portrait requires an engaged and able photographer who is capable of keeping up with the athlete as she performs her sport. These types of photographs often emphasize the subject's athletic ability over actual appearance; sometimes, for example, the athlete's face will barely be visible, but muscles are straining to run faster or catch a ball.
Posed Action Sport Portrait
- Posed action sport portraits attempt to capture both the subject's athletic prowess and his personality. Posed action shots occur when the subject pretends to be participating in his sport -- like shooting a basket while looking purposefully at the camera, or pretending to swing a golf club while staring pensively into the distance.
Family or Team Sport Portrait
- Family or team sport portraits are often less about the actual sport -- after all, it would be difficult to catch an entire team in action -- than about team unity. A classic shot involves a carefully arranged grouping of the team members, posing in their jerseys, perhaps with a few sport props. Another team portrait idea would be to capture the entire team in motion, walking purposefully onto the court or field, or posing in the locker room. Sports-themed family portraits picture a family wearing "team" jersey featuring the family's last name.

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