Drive Time

Photographing basketball from the sideline perpendicular to the basket, can provide some of the best close-up basketball action pictures.

Colby's Max Poulton (1) drives through the lane for a layup past Wesleyan's Shane Regan (30).

The Photo
Many basketball pictures are photographed from under the basket, and some from the center court sideline, but I've found that some of the very best can be captured from the sideline perpendicular to the basket with a long lens. This is often a difficult shot to get because you need close-ups of a couple of players in the photo, without anyone blocking your view, with their faces turned toward you, and both the ball and basket clearly visible, too.

At this Men's Basketball game between Colby and Wesleyan, I was initially shooting from under the basket, and getting some decent pictures. However, after a constant series of layups and rebounds, I was certain I could get stronger photos from the sideline, even though those images are tougher to get. So I moved to the sideline directly perpendicular to the basket, set my Zoom lens to around a 105MM focal length, and looked for a close-up of player action with their faces, the ball, and basket all in the photo. I stayed patient, despite many photos not working out because of players blocking my view, referees getting in the way, and player faces covered by their arms. I kept at it and finally got lucky with this very tight shot of a Colby player driving through a crowd and laying the ball in for 2 points.

3 Tips
1. Position yourself on the sideline perpendicular to the basket using around a 105MM lens or so, instead of only photographing from under the basket from where too many basketball pictures are shot.
2. Try to capture drives for layups, rebounds, or put-backs, but be patient because you'll miss many shots as players block your or you can't see their faces.
3. When it works out, you'll capture a close-up of one or several players in action with both the ball and basket visible.