I have been coming to LL for quite some time but this is my first post.
I have always had an interest in photography but the past week I discovered sports photography and I am absolutely in love with it. The thrill of getting only one chance to get that shot is fantastic.
I am now making an effort to get to as many games as possible(Field Hockey at the moment, Canada's Womans team is touring in South Africa) to get some experience. So far I think it's going well but now I have a few important questions and I hope you guys can help me out.
I want to try and get into doing sports photography professionally but I have no clue how to do that.
1. Where do I need to go to get started out?
2. Anything in particular I need to be aware of?
3. Can I simply try and get a press pass for events and work as a freelancer, or do you need to already work for a publication to be able to get a press pass?
Another thing I need help on is the gear. Right now I'm shooting with the following.
Canon EOS 20D With vertical grip.
Canon 70-200 F2.8L with a 1.4x converter since the Hockey Fields are pretty big. Even with the converter reach is a problem.
What I want to try and get in this year.
Canon EOS 1D Mark III
Canon 400mm F2.8L
Canon 16-35 F2.8L
Canon 24-70 F2.8L
2x extender (to turn the 400mm into an 800mm F5.6 when needed)
Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS (To replace the 70-200 F2.
When I get the new gear I plan to use the 1D as the primary body and the 20D as a backup/short range body with maybe the 24-70 F2.8 on.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and the more detailed the better since I have zero exprience with this sort of thing
Thanks in advance
Johan
PS. I'm going to process all the RAW files tomorrow so I'll post a few to get some feedback on them.