This book was highly recommended at [...] which is a respected forum and website of information for people in the sports photography business. (pee-wee to pro) I even paid for overnight shipping as I was very excited to have it. I was very disappointed when after reading it.
The book indicates it will help users learn to shoot sports or to make users already doing it even better. It will do neither.
Let me begin by saying the best chapter in the book is where the author talks about his career in professional sports photography. He works mainly with the NFL and some Division 1 universities. However, the chapter is quick and not very deep in its storyline. There are no great stories about games or being on the road. Instead it sounds like a talk at career day at a High School. I was really left wanting more.
There is a chapter on equipment but it didn't do much more than go over the basics saying you need a camera with interchangeable lenses and it will need to be digital today. He did mention that prosumer cameras like the Canon 20D or Nikon D70 were not adequate to do sports. I strongly disagree with that statement and I think you will find many people doing excellent work with cameras such as that and not just $4,000 and up cameras. He really seemed to be hung up on frame rate which would mean he is more about machine gun style shooting than more careful shooting and anticipation.
Do you really want to come home from a game with 1000 shoots to sort through?
The chapter on digital workflow spends as much time describing what people used to do with film and slides and developing and scanning. I see no value in that information. The digital information is very general and not much use. It basically said that to check with whatever agency or publication you were working for and do whatever they require.
There is a chapter written by an old NFL Photos Editor describing what they like to see in football photos. Again, it really doesn't go very deep and states the basics such as vertical shots make better magazine covers and isolated player shots are better for things like trading cards. He also talked about submitting a portfolio. He said to send your best shots and not to send out of focus shots. (Thanks for the information.)
The rest of the book focuses on individual sports. It covers some sports but not all. For example, it leaves out sports such as volleyball and golf which I think are important. The author said once you learn the feel for the other sports, you will just know what needs done for the sports they don't cover.
The chapters are all very weak and while he the book promises to tell you about shooting positions and lens selections, it is not nearly detailed enough to help anyone wanting to become a professional and is generally obvious to anyone watching sports.
For example in football, it says that the sidelines or end zone are place you can shoot from and some people like to kneel when shooting to make the player look bigger. He also says you need a long lens like 300mm or better plus maybe a second body with a 70-200mm. There also is mention of strobes on professional basketball and hockey arenas but it is too general for pros and useless for people doing kids/school leagues.
The best part of the book would be the pictures. However, the pictures are not presented with any type of technical information to help you learn about your camera and lens settings. At best there might be a quick mention if the written text glossing over the information.
I usually like to think I can find something redeeming in any (technical) book but not in this one. The information presented is available for free and is better on several photography forums on the Internet. At least in those forums, you can find other sports shooters (and other kinds too) and share information and interact including presenting your own work for critiquing.
If you would like to see excellent example of sports images, then subscribe to the sports magazines and/or buy some of the coffee table type of book full of sports photos.
This book is not worth the money.
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