Rangefinder Magazine
February 2006

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Profile: Ben Chen Peter Skinner
Staying Ahead of the Game in a competitive field

It comes as no great surprise that Los Angeles sports photographer Ben Chen excels at his profession. After all, he was passionate about sports as a competitor, especially football, volleyball and basketball, and took that passion and his photographic talent into his career as a freelance sports shooter. And one would assume, logically, that his favorite subjects would be sports action on the football field, basketball court or other arena, right? Wrong! Ben thrives on photographing the beauty of dance.

01-04-06, Pasadena, CA: Southern California Trojans tailback Reggie Bush breaks into the open against the Texas Longhorns during the first quarter of the Rose Bowl Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, 400mm lens, exposed for 1/800 at f/2.8 at ISO 1250.

“I do love to shoot all types of sports,” he concedes, “but my absolute favorite has to be dance—ballet and jazz. The images captured from dance are absolutely magical. There is nothing like the balance of athleticism with beauty and grace.” So there you have it. The thrill of victory and the pain of defeat are the stuff of gritty sports competition, but for this photographer the artistry of the dance is tops.

Ben Chen is, above all, a professional sports photographer striving to be at the pinnacle of his game. For the past seven years Chen has been shooting sports fulltime, and his portfolio is a comprehensive collection of superb, eye-catching images that truly capture the essence of sports and athletes. For evidence of that, check out his website at www.sports pixel.com, and you’ll get an idea of what he produces. But it’s not an easy field in which to thrive. In fact, it’s intensely competitive. “The competition is furious,” he says. “Everyone with a DSLR wants to be a sports photographer. In order to be successful, one must be extremely focused and persistent.” On top of that, you have to produce first-class, exciting images all the time. Like pro sports, sports photography is not a line of work that rewards inferior performance.

Dodgers vs. Angels Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, ISO 1600 Lens: 400mm; Exposure: 1/2000 at f/2.8

As a freelancer, Chen chases work wherever it may be. His regular clients include colleges, universities, wire services and newspapers, and he regularly covers NBA, MLB, MLS and NCAA events. “I am also frequently hired by parents to photograph athletes for personal and web usage, and this is an adjunct to my editorial coverage of games and events,” he says. In addition to the competition from other freelancers in an oversaturated Los Angeles market, Chen points out that the market has been affected by big agencies, such as Getty, that have taken a huge slice of work from traditional independent freelancers.

“In order to compete, we must produce better and unique images, which is tough because in order to qualify to shoot at the professional level, all the shooters must be very experienced and proficient in their craft. In addition, sports photographers are often stationed in specific areas designated by the sports organizers. That means it’s hard to get different-looking shots from the other photographers. I survive in the business by shooting many non-editorial freelance assignments,” he says.

NBA—Minnesota Timberwolves vs. L.A. Lakers; Kobe Bryant takes it to the hoop. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, ISO 1600 Lens: 70mm; Exposure 1/640 at f/2.8

In fact, to broaden his scope, Ben constantly seeks assignments and makes himself available for projects beyond Los Angeles. He also teaches hands-on sports photography workshops and conducts seminars on topics such as Sports Photography 101, a popular introductory course on how to make exciting sports images, and Youth Sports Photography 101, a highly praised introductory course for photographers interested in how to get started in the youth sports business.

Multifaceted skills and talents are prerequisites for the successful sports photographer, especially to reach and remain at the top of such a competitive field. Complete mastery of equipment is a must. Abilities such as focusing with long lenses and their limited depth of field, having two or more camera bodies mounted with different lenses hanging from your neck or shoulder and knowing which one to grab at any given moment, and concentrating intensely so fleeting moments of action or emotion are not missed all come with the territory. And one of the key attributes, apart from a love of sports, is a thorough knowledge of the game, its rules, and strategies. “With this knowledge, the good sports photographer can anticipate what is likely to occur and thus be in a better position to capture moments of peak action,” says Chen.

09-18-05: Booster Mobile Pro Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, ISO 200 Lens: 600mm; Exposure: 1/4000 at f/4

And what if you’re covering a sport you’ve never played, or are not too conversant with? “I would first research the sport on the Internet and study photographs that have been made previously. From that I can figure out lighting, angle, position and the shutter speeds necessary to make the images. I will then read up on the rules and research recent press articles to find out what is hot. If I still have some questions, I will call colleagues who have covered that sport and get some inside tips,” he says.

Getting access to sports venues is not easy, and to shoot pro or major college sports, photographers must work for a legitimate media or news company. From that point, credentials can be obtained from the public relations departments of professional sports clubs or, in the case of college sports, from the sports information director.

The pace at which Chen works and the deadlines he must meet depend largely on the client’s needs. “In the case of colleges and universities, I am typically not under any deadline, so I have the luxury of sending them a CD a few days after the event. The images are used on their website, in programs and for other fundraising events. When I work for a newspaper or wire service, I am under very tight, live deadlines. In the evening games, which typically start at 7:00 p.m., I will stop shooting and start to transmit some images—JPEGs—at around 7:30 in order to make East Coast media deadlines while the game is still being played. The remaining images are transmitted at the end of the game. Many photojournalists like me will transmit with a high-bandwidth AirCard® at the stadium while the game is still going on,” he says.

The number of images Chen will shoot at a single event varies depending on whether he sets up a remote camera. If he does that, he might take 600–800 images. “On the other hand, if I shoot with just a couple of bodies at a football game, there are probably 400–600 images,” he says.

Camera: Canon EOS-1D, ISO 640 Lens: 100mm; Exposure: 1/1300 at f/8

While capturing the action is important, Ben is constantly looking for images that portray the intensity and emotion of an event, on and off the field. “In a typical assignment for a wire service, I need to capture two types of images—sports action and sports feature. Action images are the peak moments of the game—a quarterback throwing a touchdown pass or a touchdown being scored. Sports feature shots are the candid portraits of leading players or famous coaches doing such things as warming up or simply talking to someone,” he says.

Other musts are the jubilation and dejection images—players or fans celebrating a win or looking downcast after a loss. “When the peak action is over, experienced sports photographers will keep their cameras glued to their eyes, looking for those great reactionary shots. Typically, I have to decide if I want to capture reactionary shots from players, coach, bench or fans. The decision largely depends on where I am on the field and my view of the people. I sometimes use a wide-angle lens to capture the ambience and excitement of the game when fans or the bench are going crazy,” says Chen.

It takes a cool head to maintain focus when mayhem erupts all around you after a game has ended—especially after a close result in a major contest—but being able to do that is a key to Chen’s successes. “I have shot so many baseball, football and basketball games that the peak action images begin to look alike. It becomes just ‘another day at the office.’ But once in a while I get some unbelievable reactionary shots, and that is exciting and refreshing. As a sports photojournalist I am there to tell a story, and what better way than documenting a range of human emotions?” he says.

One of his favorite images of that genre is of a nationally ranked pole-vaulter who was almost eliminated in a qualifying round at heights she would normally soar over with ease. On the brink of defeat she managed to clear that qualifying height—and went on to win the event. Ben recorded the range of emotions as the athlete struggled to overcome the odds and eventually triumphed.

Dancer; Camera: Canon EOS-1D, ISO 200 Lens: 26mm; Exposure: 1/200 at f/8

Also, once the bread-and-butter shots are in the bag, Chen will let his imagination and creativity take over, experimenting with wide-angle lenses and incorporating sunsets and silhouettes or panning subjects in the search for that indefinable unique image.

As with all contemporary professional sports photographers, Chen shoots with high-end digital equipment. He points out that the standard tools of the industry currently are either the Canon EOS-1D Mark II N or Nikon D2X bodies paired with 400mm f/2.8 and 70–200mm f/2.8 lenses. “For covering a football game, I typically will carry two or three bodies; 400mm f/2.8, 70–200mm f/2.8 IS, 24– 70mm f/2.8 lenses; a 1.4X teleconverter; a Canon 580EX Speedlite; a Bogen 682B Monopod; a PocketWizard prelease trigger; two Pocket Wizard MultiMAX transceivers (for a ‘camera-on-a-stick’ set up); an ExpoDisc for custom white balance; knee pads; a ThinkTank Speedbelt; a portable radio with a headset to listen to the game while shooting; a 15-inch G4 Powerbook; a FireWire card reader; a Verizon AirCard® for transmitting images; backup batteries; and more backup equipment that I leave in the car,” he says.

Ben’s favorite—or “go to”— lenses are the 400mm f/2.8 IS, 300mm f/2.8 IS, and 200mm f/1.8. Anytime he needs to use the longer 400mm or 300mm lenses, he uses a monopod. For basketball, he handholds the 70– 200mm and 24–70mm lenses in the well lit professional arenas, and uses an 85mm f/1.8 wide open in most poorly lit high school gyms. Lighting is usually ambient, using the light source at the sports venue, and generally there is no time to set up lights, but Ben frequently uses on-camera flash for quick, photojournalistic-style sports feature shots. “Once in a while I will set up some strobes to light a college gym if the college has hired me to produce images for the athletic department,” he says. Given the variety of ambient light sources, white balance is always critical. Ben customizes white balance on a gray card when there is a mixed light source, such as in an indoor gym with a sunroof or in a theatre with all types of colored spotlights; he uses an ExpoDisc when there is only one light source, such as stadium lights.

USC tailback Reggie Bush hurtles a UCLA defemder for a touchdown Camera: Canon EOS-1D, ISO 200; Lens: 280mm; Exposure: 1/2000 at f/4

Perhaps surprisingly, considering the amount of equipment Chen hauls around, he usually works alone without even an assistant (except for major games such as the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Championship Series and USC at the Rose Bowl). “These games will be covered by two photographers from my agency, and we will have an editor on site transmitting images,” he explains.

Due to deadlines and the lack of time to fine-tune images during or after an assignment, Ben shoots large JPEGs in the 5.5–6MB range. This gives him some leeway since his agency requires files in the 1–1.5MB range. “I shoot at a much larger size than required, so I have cropping room. Sometimes in sports, the final image will have to be cropped from the original—when, for example, a touchdown pass is 40 yards away, and the main subject is relatively small. Having a larger file means I can crop and still provide the preferred file size. I never shoot in RAW or TIFF,” he says. “Also, I prefer to shoot with ISO 800 or lower to reduce noise, but often I don’t have sufficient light to stop the action, so I have to increase the ISO. For example, I have to shoot ISO 1600 wide open at f/2.8 at around 1/500 second at the Los Angeles Coliseum or Pasadena Rose Bowl. On many occasions, especially in high school gyms, the exposure at ISO 1600 is f/2.8 at 1/250. I will have to underexpose by shooting at 1/320 or 1/400 to stop the action and then adjust the image in Photoshop. At 1/320 there will be some motion blur in the extremities, but faces will be sharp,” he says.

Like many successful shooters, Ben is quick to praise contemporaries whose work he admires, photographers such as Sports Illustrated’s Peter Read Miller, Bob Rosato, John W. McDonough and Robert Beck. Others he mentions are Mark J. Terrill (Associated Press), Al Bello (Getty Images), Lucy Nicholson (Reuters), Donald Miralle (Getty Images), Wally Skalij (Los Angeles Times) and Keith Birmingham (Pasadena Star News). “They are all so talented that you simply have to admire the work they produce from every assignment,” he says.

Camera: Canon EOS-1D, ISO 400 Lens: 400mm; Exposure: 1/3200 at f/2.8

While the field of sports photography is crowded and competitive, there is always room for really talented up-and-coming shooters. Most practitioners in the business start as graduates from schools of photojournalism and work as interns for major newspapers. “From that point, they can apply to be a staffer at daily papers and, after some experience on the job, move to bigger papers or wire services,” says Chen.

Since getting into the business, Ben Chen has seen the quality of work produced— and the competition—increase dramatically. But through a combination of talent, persistence and willingness to pursue non-editorial assignments and launch workshops, he has remained entrenched in professional sports photography. And besides which, when he tires of shooting athletes in action, he can take a break and indulge himself by photographing his preferred subjects—ballet and jazz dancing.

To see more of Ben Chen’s work and his workshop and seminar programs, visit www.sportspixel.com.