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FAQs

How Do I Become a Sports Photographer?

There is no real easy answerfor this. Most people want to shoot professional sports, but there is a good amount of money to be made photographing high school and college athletics. It’s all about where your are located and what teams, schools etc. are nearby. Some of the best sports photographers don’t shoot pro sports.

The answer is no. Most of the outlets, teams and league I work for only grant a credential for me. They’re not in the habit of giving credentials to people who aren’t backed by an accredited media outlet. 

Similar to the answer for getting a credential, I can’t get extra credentials for people to shadow or assist me for a game. When outlets apply for me, they’re only granted one credential.

Unfortunately, for most of my sports work, other entities I work for own the “rights” to the photos. I can’t sell them. I do sell my other photos in my store that aren’t sports related. 

There are no magical settings that works for every game. Every game and every sport is different you’re going to need to know what settings are best. 

Best advice would be to be nice to everyone and be professional. The sports photography community is small and everyone knows someone and if you name gets around for being difficult to work with then you won’t be working in sports for much longer. 

I had friends in the sports radio business that wanted photos of game for their blog. In exchange for applying for me to get a credential I would shoot the games and send them photos. Eventually someone from the NFL noticed my work and asked me to apply for their LCC program. From there someone from the NFL referred me to do the same for MLB and again someone recommended me to the NHL. Along the way I picked up freelance work for others teams and leagues as well as working for several wire services