Taking a great golf course photograph is sometimes pretty easy.
Golf courses are among the most scenic and beautiful landscapes to be found anywhere and we've all found ourselves stood out on the course looking at a spectacular view. However, sometimes you need to do a more professional job. Whether it's taking images for your golf club's website, for social media marketing purposes or to enter BIGGA's annual photo competition, there are a few simple things you can do to make your images really pop.
Carefree Golf Photography's Mike Hyde gave us his top tips for good golf course photography.
Right gear
I use a Canon 6D with a 24-105mm lens. It's not top-of-the-range gear and I sometimes hire in specialist kit when I need something extra, but it's sufficient for my requirements - although it still wasn't cheap!
If you're looking to take your photography to the next level, there are plenty of entry level options that will help you take professional-looking shots, like the Canon 4000D.
Alternatively, eBay is always a great place to grab used kit as people look to upgrade their gear.
It's a photography cliche that lenses trump camera bodies, but it's a cliche for a reason. If you have to choose, invest in your lenses ahead of your body and you'll see the difference in image quality.
It's also worth experimenting with different types of lenses. A 15mm wide angle lens will give you a vastly different image style to a 200mm zoom and will make you think about where you are positioning yourself on the course to get the best photograph.
What about my phone?
Smartphones absolutely have a place in photography and perform strongly in well lit situations or when you can get close to your subject, but that means they are not always the best option at sunrise or sunset.
They are also designed to take pictures that look great on your phone, which is perfect for social media use, but that doesn't always scale up to a bigger screen or if you ever want a decent print.
While a big attraction to phone photography is the ease of use, there are still some helpful customisable settings that can help you capture a strong image, so it's worth taking some time to learn how to use your phone camera properly.
Composition
There are some fundamental rules, like the 'rule of thirds' and the 'golden ratio' that are always worth bearing in mind.
On the golf course, always try and think about what the main focus of your image is. Occasionally you'll just be trying to document a huge scene, but usually you'll be capturing something in particular. In that case, try and guide the viewer's eye towards the subject.
That might mean shooting something from the side of a fairway towards a green, with a path in the foreground winding towards the flag, or from behind the green, with the pin in focus at the front of the image and the hole disappearing away in the background.
Water hazards are great for providing interesting foregrounds, especially if it's a still day and you can capture a reflection.
Time of day
Greenkeepers have a distinct advantage over everyone else, by typically being on the course during the best light of the day. Golf courses look completely different in 'golden hour' light - around one hour after sunrise or before sunset - and shooting at this time will really elevate your shots.
It's also amazing how quickly the light changes at that time of the day and it can sometimes be worth staying in one spot for a little while. When you're waiting for a pin to be bathed in sunshine or for the sun to just dip behind some trees, a couple of minutes' patience can be the difference between an average picture and a great one.
Interesting angles
When I'm visiting a new club for a shoot, I'll always seek out the advice of the course manager and their team on interesting places to shoot. I usually get a shot that I wouldn't have done otherwise, so make the most of your local knowledge.
One tactic that seems to catch out people who think they know courses inside out - and what makes your imagery stand out - is to photograph one hole from a position on a different hole. It sounds obvious but a lot of amateur photography is taken from the middle of the fairway, which often isn't a particularly interesting angle. It also feels instantly familiar to anyone who has played the course.
Shoot from an adjacent fairway, the next tee or from one green to another and you'll find yourself creating images that feel unique and have people taking a moment to get their bearings.
Post-processing
While I do my best to capture the scene as accurately as possible 'in-camera', I never submit images to a club that I haven't edited in some way in post-processing software.
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. The former allows me to play with brightness, contrast and colours, so that the image reflects what my eyes were seeing on the ground. I then use Photoshop to edit out any major blemishes or unsightly objects (signage, bins and suchlike that would detract from a landscape image).
Mobile users have options too. If you are shooting on your phone and posting to Instagram, that doesn't mean cranking up all the sliders to 11 and pressing publish. People can spot an over-processed image a mile off.
Both Adobe applications are available for mobile and while it adds to your workflow, it stands you apart.
Where is the light?
Shooting into the sun rarely works out - although sometimes you can get lucky. It usually helps to be shooting with the sun coming across you, to highlight shadows and the contours of your course.
Taking pictures with the light directly behind you presents another challenge, especially at dawn or dusk, as you'll find your own shadow starring in all your pictures! Sometimes it can be edited out, but it's not always that simple.
Rise above it
As well as interesting angles, it helps to get a bit of height into your photography. I always have a buggy for getting around the course and find that climbing atop that gives me enough height to make a difference - although I'm 6'2", which also helps.
It's often easier to find higher ground on the 18th hole at most courses as you can usually find a spot in the clubhouse that gives you a cool perspective.
Around the course, you have to get creative. Sometimes that means just finding a hump or bump on the course. Fairway bunkers often have elevated lips that get you a couple of feet higher.
A golf photographer whose work I really admire is Kevin Murray. He posted about all the different ways he has got elevated shots, from hiring industrial cherry pickers to sitting in the bucket of a digger. He found some novel ways to get the shots he needed!
Conversely, sometimes it pays to get as low as you can and shoot up. This works really well if you've got big trees in the background for a sense of scale or if you want to highlight the quality of the turf.
Set yourself challenges
Last year I found myself postponing photoshoots until the weather was absolutely perfect, which is a challenging business model when you live in the UK.
I knew I had to improve my photography in 'sub-optimal' conditions, so that if I found myself on the ground and the weather turned, I could still deliver something to the client.
I purposefully learned some techniques for shooting in overcast conditions and tasked myself with taking recreational photos in those conditions.
Even if you're just shooting for fun, it's a good idea to set yourself little challenges to keep your creative juices flowing.
Try taking photos:
- That don't have a pin in them - the hole is the focal point of golf, so finding something else to photograph can be harder than you think.
- In black and white - golf looks a lot different when you don't have colours to sing for you.
- In portrait orientation - courses lend themselves to wide vistas, so finding angles that work top to bottom is great fun.
- At a fixed focal length - say 50mm, so you have to move yourself to find the right composition and not just zoom in or out.