(All images copyright Michael Berkeley Photography - no reproduction without permission)
In my blog on How to Photograph Cricket, I said that cricket is the sport I know the best because I have played it the most. Moreover, I have photographed over 50 days of cricket, so I have taken a lot of cricket images.
At the other end of the scale, I have never played golf and I have only photographed it once. While I have photographed many international cricket players, my experience of golf has been taking informal images of three friends at a local club.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm at 18mm; f/3.5; 1/1600th sec; ISO 125)
While I did not ask them to pose for any particular shots, it was a very informal session and I stood (and knelt and lay!) in places that simply wouldn’t be allowed during an official event. Also, professional golfers are likely to object to the sound of cameras during their swing, when distractions are extremely unwelcome.
Despite the fact that it was mid-August, my golf day was overcast, with a threat of rain at any moment. I had not given my golfing friends any instructions and it was fortuitous that John arrived wearing a red shirt, but the grey shirt of one of the others (also called John) was less good photogenically. So, not very colourful subjects on a not very colourful day, but fortunately the golf was good …
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm; f/5.6; 1/2000th sec; ISO 1100)
As this was my first time photographing on a golf course, there was inevitably a degree of trial and error. I applied the same principles relating to camera settings set out in my blog on ‘Getting into Sport and Music Photography’, adapting them as required.
I used a Nikon D500 and just 2 lenses - a Nikon 18-55mm f3.5-f5.6 kit lens and a Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 lens. As the D500 has a crop sensor, the lenses were equivalent to a 27-82mm and a 300-750mm. This gave me a lot of options - from wide angle to long telephoto.
The aperture was set wide open (to reduce depth of field) and I chose shutter speeds faster than 1/1250sec to freeze the ball in flight. The ISO setting was ‘Auto’ and it was capped at 5000.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm; f/3.5; 1/1600th sec; ISO 100)
I tried various angles on the golfers playing drives and approach shots. A good stock image is where the golfer is at the end of their swing and they are looking down the fairway – so that you get a good view of their face. Alternatively, if you shoot from behind the golfer, you can get the ball in the photo, although you are not going to get such a good view of the face (see image above).
Before I set out for the course, I had it in mind that I definitely wanted to capture the classic shot of the sand being kicked up when the ball is played out of a bunker. Neither of the Johns played into a bunker during the round, but Wayne’s ball just seemed to be attracted by the sand. He maintained that he was doing it on purpose so that I could get my photograph. I wonder… These shots called for a fast shutter speed to freeze the sand, and I made sure that the ball was in the frame, which was relatively easy as I was shooting on ‘continuous high’ mode.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm; f/4; 1/2000th sec; ISO 200)
For the image above, I was positioned higher than Wayne, with the result that I lost his feet and the sand does not stand out that well against the bunker and the grass behind. The image below was taken with quite a wide angle lens, so I was crouching down in the sand to get the low perspective – and certainly closer than you would be able to get during a competitive match. This perspective means that some of the sand stands out against the sky, which adds to the drama.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm; f/3.5; 1/1600th sec; ISO 100)
It proved difficult to find a really good angle to photograph putting shots, because it is challenging to get the golfer’s face in the picture - see image below.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm; f/4.2; 1/1600th sec; ISO 110)
I tried to get as low as I could by kneeling on the green (again, don’t expect to be allowed to do this during a competition!). The best result was where the putt was quite long and the golfer therefore looked up to see if the ball was going into the hole.
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm; f/5.6; 1/1600th sec; ISO 500)
In addition to taking stock images of the golfers driving from the tee, playing approach shots and putting, it was good fun taking action photos – trying to get something a bit different. I loved the expressions of concentration and the shots of turf being kicked up when playing the ball on the fairway. As with all sport photography, I was careful to watch out for anything distracting in the background and to make sure that the golfer’s face was sufficiently visible for them to be recognisable – and, of course, to get the ball in the picture.
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm; f/5.6; 1/2000th sec; ISO 1250)
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm; f/5.6; 1/2000th sec; ISO 180)
All in all, it was a very enjoyable morning taking photographs. There was variety in the photos and it was fun trying to find the best locations from which to take the images. As always, I was looking out for some candid shots between the sporting action - such as John trying to locate his ball (below) …
(Nikon D500; 18-55mm at 55mm; f/5.6; 1/5000th sec; ISO 4500)
With special thanks to John, John and Wayne.
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