Have you ever looked at dramatic sports portraits and wondered how photographers make the background almost completely black?

Maybe you assumed they were shooting in a dark gym or waiting until sunset.

The truth is, you can create a dark background in the middle of a bright gym or even outside during the day.

It all comes down to controlling the light.

Let’s keep this simple.

The dark background isn’t created by the location

One of the biggest misconceptions is that you need a dark room to create dark sports portraits.

You don’t.

We’ve photographed athletes in fully lit gyms and bright outdoor locations while still creating that dramatic, moody look.

The secret is that your camera settings remove the ambient light, and your strobes become the main light source.

Once you understand that concept, everything starts to click.

Start with the right camera settings

Your camera settings do most of the heavy lifting before your lights ever fire.

We typically start with a higher f-stop, somewhere around f/8 to f/10. A smaller aperture lets less ambient light into the camera, which naturally darkens the background.

Next, lower your ISO. We usually stay around ISO 100 or ISO 200 because a lower ISO makes your camera less sensitive to the existing light.

Those two settings alone will dramatically reduce the brightness of the scene before your strobes are added.

You need strobes to light your subject

Once you’ve darkened the ambient light, your subject also becomes dark.

That’s where strobes come in.

We use Godox AD400 strobes for our sports portraits, although you can create this look with as little as one strobe.

Depending on the athlete and the look we’re after, we’ll use anywhere from one to three lights.

The strobes illuminate only the athlete while the background stays dark, creating that dramatic sports portrait look.

Don’t be afraid to shoot in bright conditions

This technique works almost anywhere.

We’ve used it in bright gyms with every light turned on.

We’ve also used it outdoors in the middle of the day.

The location matters much less than understanding how your camera settings and lighting work together.

Once you learn to control the light instead of relying on the environment, you’ll have much more consistency in your sports

photography.

Keep it simple

You don’t need dozens of complicated lighting diagrams.

Start with three things:

• A higher f-stop.
• A low ISO.
• One strobe.

Master those first.

Then, as you become more comfortable, you can experiment with adding additional lights and creating even more dramatic portraits.

Your gear isn’t creating the look.

Your understanding of light is.

Want to master natural light? 🎥