Courses

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat are recorded daily by talented photographers around the globe who have elevated sports photography to an art form rather than merely a record of an event. This course will cover the basic principles involved in making compelling sports images. Subject areas include timing, camera settings, lighting, software, and how to capture the emotion and drama in everyday sports. Students will learn the camera settings necessary to capture peak action and how to approach shooting all aspects of a game. Guest speakers will include Bay Area professional sports photographers, who will discuss their experiences covering major sporting events and the tools they use to capture dramatic sports images. Students will be assigned to produce action images each week following the five sports photography foundations identified in the course: peak action, clean backgrounds, storytelling moments, backlighting, and unique angles. The course will incorporate weekly class critiques and discussions of student work. Outdoor class photography opportunities will include Stanford Athletics events and surfing at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz. The class will also produce an online portfolio as a final project. Students will come away from the course with an understanding of how to produce dynamic sports photography that goes beyond the general, run-of-the-mill action photograph.