Golf course photography can be something new to you as a learning photographer, but it is a well-explored field by the professionals due to the opportunities it provides. As a freelancer, you can get projects for all kinds of shoots, including gold course photography. You should better be ready for it than to improvise on the spot. Here are some golf course photography tips that will help you take professional shots for your clients with any camera.
Use natural light
The early morning and late afternoon time is considered the best for capturing a great gold course photograph. These times are also called golden hour moments. The sun does not shine bright during these times and can solve the problem of glare on the pictures. Cloudy days are also good for taking clear photographs without too much brightness.
Take wide shots
The key to taking a good gold course photograph is to get as many areas of the course as possible in your frame. Using a wide-angle lens can help you capture better landscape pictures. Make sure that you know the proportion and balance of taking wide-angle shots, and you can create some interesting professional pictures.
Try drone photography
Drone photography can be a great solution for capturing impressive golf course pictures. Capturing pictures from the eagle-eye view can give you better results to showcase the golf course’s stretch. You can shoot a picture while keeping the hold in the center to show the area of the game. Drones are also useful to capture other aspects of the golf club, such as the café, swimming pool, resting areas, etc.
Learn the composition
While taking pictures of club members enjoying their game, please do not keep them in the center of the frame. Instead, keep the subject on one side and open more space for the trees and greens in the background. If you can get the player and the long-distance flag in the same frame, you can successfully complete a picture.
Respect the course design
If you cannot understand the design of the course, you cannot capture satisfying images at all. Finding the perfect angle to showcase why a course is valuable is the key to a good photograph. A person checking out your picture should be able to learn the orientation of the game to build a strategy that they can try out when they visit. If you cover all the aspects of a course, you have successfully created a practical picture.
Keep the people out when needed
You do not always have to include people as subjects while taking pictures. In most cases, you should prefer showcasing the beauty of the field rather than covering the games of people. While you can use some of the shots where players add value to the frame, it is not something that should be your first priority if you can take better beauty shots without them.