How to be pitch perfect

You don't need a press badge to visit your local club and capture some fast-paced action

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Spring is the perfect time to try out some fast-paced photography with a sports team near where you live. If you have a zoom lens with a decent range then you have everything you need.

Local matches are usually free to attend and you can get reasonably close to the action without being faced by a fluorescent wall of stewards like you find at professional matches. Today, I’m taking my slightly older Fujifilm X-T2 (I don’t mind if it gets a bit beaten up or splattered with mud) paired with a Fujifilm XF 50-140mm F/2.8 R LM OIS WR telephoto lens (a 70-200mm in full-frame equivalent terms). I find that it’s a perfect focal length for this environment, allowing plenty of versatility when the action is in the closer half of the playing field.

Modern cameras have come a long way in recent years and by utilising the faster shutter speeds, burst modes, and ultra-fast focusing, you’ll be sure to come away with a couple of points on the board. Like any genre of photography, the more you practise the better you will get. However, with sport, it’s important to not only know the technical side of your camera but to learn how to