Tips for Taking Great Running Photos

Photography Tips

Capturing action shots is never easy. It’s all about finding the right balance between exposure and aperture, and the fact that bodies are moving quickly and beyond your control can make the shoot feel nerve-wracking. This video does a solid job of calming those nerves and breaking the process down into what is ultimately a very simple photo shoot:

In the video, adventure/sport photographer Corey Rich gives a fairly basic checklist for how to shoot runners. But when you think about it, it’s just simple logic: prepare your subjects (athletes), their clothes, the location, the right gear, and the camera settings.

In this case, Rich stresses authenticity: find real runners and have them wear real clothes, because if you’re planning to sell these shots to an ad agency or stock photo website, the audience is going to know.

Rich is shooting with a Nikon D4s and two lenses: the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 for long-range shots and packed compression, and the Nikon 16-35 f/4G for some broader ones. He comes out with two distinct styles, including one that focuses on the people and blurs the background:

…and one that focuses on the beauty of the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains:

Both are nice shots and create a truly idyllic scene that would make any runner jealous. Ultimately, that kind of calmness is what you want—not to get caught up in the frenzy of the sport itself, but to slow things down and capture the beauty of it.