Ah, the thrill of sports! The joy, the spectacle, the sights... sporting events can provide great photographic opportunities. Whether it is the crack of a bat, a slam-dunk, a thrilling touchdown catch, the fling of a puck towards a goal, or a soccer ball flying past a defender, sporting events can provide images that last a lifetime. However, for photographers, these events can also cause great sadness and anger if you take an expensive camera to a stadium or field, only to find out you cannot take pictures. Even worse, many places that don't allow photography won't even let you enter the sporting venue with your camera! Either you'll be turned away, or 'offered' to let someone at the front gate hold the camera for you. I don't know about you, but unless I really trusted that person, I wouldn't take advantage of such an offer.

Before planning on shooting photography at sporting events for personal use, I recommend calling ahead to find out whether photography is allowed. Some places let people take photos using any camera, others limit you to small non-zoom cameras or those in a specified zoom range. For example, I was able to shoot photos without any questions at Wrigley Field, yet if I went to Neyland Stadium for a University of Tennessee football game, I could only shoot photos using small, no-zoom cameras.

Print This Tip

Get E-Mail When New Tips are Online

Return to the Digital Sports Photography page.