Sports photography and privacy

I'd like to get into sports photography and was thinking a good place to start would be my old high school football, baseball, soccer, and basketball games.  I read that to get good at sports photography, you need to really know the game and anticipate the players moves to get the right shots.   I'm not sure which of these sports I'm going to vib with the most, so I'm going to try them all until I figure out which I "get" the most.  

My question is really a privacy one.  These are just high school games, but I know privacy is a big thing right now.  Do I need to get special permission in order to photograph these games?  Even if the photos are just for my practice and won't be sold?  

Generally, you likely would not be the only person shooting at a game. So it is unlikely that anyone is going to pay any attention to you.

However:

Many "important" sports probably already have photographers that take shots and sell images to the parents. There may or may not be an agreement between them and the league, so be prepared.  Also, you will need access to the sidelines, and for that you likely want permission. Using a 70-200 or a 300 you can probably get some pretty good shots from the stands and thus practice without the need to be on the field; by this I mean you can start practicing without concern for permission or access to the field.

Once you have some facility you can approach the coaches / organizers / whatever and offer to take photographs for free for a single team in exchange for sideline access. This will allow you to build your skills even further. As you improve and showcase your work, you can parlay that into shooting for other teams and those parents will likely be willing to pay for images for their kids.

The best part about this is that a MWAC or other amateur is very unlikely to have the proper lens and technical ability, so there's an in.

Also consider fringe sports. I, for example, am thinking about lacrosse, as it is an up-and-coming sport where I live, and it may be an opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Wayne Tidwell wrote: I'd like to get into sports photography and was thinking a good place to start would be my old high school football, baseball, soccer, and basketball games.  I read that to get good at sports photography, you need to really know the game and anticipate the players moves to get the right shots.   I'm not sure which of these sports I'm going to vib with the most, so I'm going to try them all until I figure out which I "get" the most.  

My question is really a privacy one.  These are just high school games, but I know privacy is a big thing right now.  Do I need to get special permission in order to photograph these games?  Even if the photos are just for my practice and won't be sold?  

Something in action photography, know the sport! I don't do sport's, I do field trial dogs. If I don't set up in the right spot and recognize what MIGHT be developing, I'll get little of value. Set yourself up for the best position to use the available light and if you have sun don't have it right in front of you. Best is from the side somewhere. Behind you can wash the object and in front turns the object dark and lose's detail. Some people say timing is everything, well sort of. It will depend on your understand of where things might go but to time a great fast moving shot has got to be the hardest thing in the world. I use aperture priority, continuous focus and multi servo. I set the ISO to a speed where I can stop the action on each shot. Often even a speed of 400 with not stop the object. I do not try to time anything, rather I place myself in a position where a string of shots on multi servo give me what I think might be the best shot. None of my moving shots of dogs are really planned, you cannot set them up other than to be in the right place at the right time. I suspect the same would be true shooting human sports. Learn the sport so that you can sorta second guess what is developing and as you think it is developing, start shooting in multi servo for as long as your camera will shoot. Here is an example of what I mean. You cannot set this shot up and you cannot time it other than by blind luck. You have to be in position before hand and you have to start shooting before the object reach's a point you'd like to capture. Luck figure's in a great deal but, without knowing what might develop and setting yourself up for it, you'll never get anything you might want.
 

Just ask the coach

That's been my experience, when I did some high school hockey the coach had photo/publicity releases signed by the athletes' parents on file. I've read more recently that at high school level some school districts are now issuing credentials.

I've been to local sporting events where nobody seemed to notice or care about someone taking pictures; other times there will be guidelines on the athletic association's website or info. on the back of your ticket (when in doubt I ask). I think what's been changing is not just people posting online but on social media; the concern could be that the athletes are under age and all it would take is a parent seeing their child's picture being used or posted someplace and they did not give permission.

Are there any minor or other local sports (mens/adult leagues?) that are in your area and may not mind if you take pictures? (or if you explain your purpose may let you take photos?) If you offer them some photos in exchange for you being able to practice your sports shooting I'd think about making it specific and for a limited time re: usage.

Sometimes practices/training camps may be open to the public and they may allow fans to bring in cameras that may be restricted at regular season games. 

I have to agree with both Sharon, and Gary. The one problem is things are changing, and not for the better when it comes to sports on the amateur level as well. Just look at what they want to do with the college level, and unionizing. This means more special interests involved in every aspect of shooting anything. And most unfortunately this will trickle down to kids playing. Technically school sports are public so therefore open to you being able to shoot for the price of a ticket. There maybe however restrictions on lenses as stated, and using support for your camera. Tripods are usually totally restricted, but monopods are maybes. Also I cannot remember where I was reading it, but one of the contracted photography companies did get restrictions passed even for parents. So as said ask, or see if you can find information at their sites.

Such good advice, you guys are great.  Thank!

So if you take these photos and let's say enter one in a photo contest that gets published in magazine, could you get in trouble if you don't have model release? 

You can look on websites for ASMP or other pro photographers organizations for info. and guidelines. Usually not for editorial use like newspapers, but usually necessary for commercial/retail usage (making money or profiting from using someone's image). ASMP has a 'pocket' release and an app.

For under 18 to submit to a contest I'd get a release (now that I think about it, I did - it was several years ago and I had to send releases to several students thru their universities).

There are lots of NCAA rules & regs for college sports but for high schools you might need to look for a website for the state governing organization for sports. In my state all sports are covered by the same governing body, with rules as to when teams can start official practices with coaches instead of captains practices, etc. (I think to keep teams on equal amounts of practice time offseason) - and rules regarding publicity etc.