Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Sports photographer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Jill Frank,

Jill Frank

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical sports photographer skills. We ranked the top skills for sports photographers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 20.1% of sports photographer resumes contained adobe photoshop as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a sports photographer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 sports photographer skills for your resume and career

1. Adobe Photoshop

Here's how sports photographers use adobe photoshop:

Edited photographs using Adobe Photoshop and uploaded them using FTP.
Design photo albums using Adobe PhotoShop, Illustrator, and GraphiStudio album design software.

2. Camera Equipment

Here's how sports photographers use camera equipment:

Communicated efficiently with co-workers and clients* Oversaw and safely handled camera equipment* Loaded and unloaded equipment from trucks at events
Maintained camera equipment and company vehicle.

3. Kids

Here's how sports photographers use kids:

Photograph kids playing baseball during a week of competition Assist office staff in promoting and selling photo packages to parents

4. School Administration

Here's how sports photographers use school administration:

Advise school administration on equipment to be purchased based on budget.
Managed relationships between school administration and company expectations to en- sure seamless integration into daily curriculum.

5. Digital Photography

Here's how sports photographers use digital photography:

Created, developed, and implemented new products and services using digital photography technology Field photography at local high schools
Discovered a few overlooked techniques and workarounds in digital photography of which some are published here http://georgesblogforfriends.blogspot.com/search/label/photography.

6. Youth Sports

Youth sports are any sports activity played by individuals under adult age. These sports may be connected to a school or an independent club or organization. Depending on the formality of the organization, coaches may be volunteers or paid. Competitiveness of the sport will also depend on the players' ages, as adolescents may be encouraged to be more competitive than children.

Here's how sports photographers use youth sports:

Serve as 1 of 2 primary youth sports photographer specializing in on site action photography utilizing the latest Nikon Digital equipment.
Capture the unique personality of youth sports participants and teams in a high quality portrait.

Choose from 10+ customizable sports photographer resume templates

Build a professional sports photographer resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sports photographer resume.

7. Athletic Website

Here's how sports photographers use athletic website:

Attended athletic events to take action photos for Emerson magazine and the athletic website.
Photographed athletes during their sporting events Edited the pictures for the Defiance Athletic website

8. Soccer

Soccer or also called Football, is considered the world's most famous sport. It is usually played with two teams consisting of 11 players each. Soccer is an outdoor game wherein it needs to have a vast space. This is to put the soccer ball in the other team's goal using the knees and head; holding the ball is prohibited during the game

Here's how sports photographers use soccer:

Photographed both men's and women's varsity hockey, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and women's field hockey.
Photographed variety of shots for grades K-12 during sporting events including baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball and soccer.

9. Photography Equipment

Here's how sports photographers use photography equipment:

Transport photography equipment to an assigned picture event location.
Maintain all photography equipment such as cameras, lights, props, and materials.

10. DSLR

Here's how sports photographers use dslr:

Operated a Canon DSLR with use of multiple lenses to capture high quality images.
Use DSLR cameras, digital video camera along with tripods, filters, and flash attachments.

11. Adobe Lightroom

Here's how sports photographers use adobe lightroom:

Manipulate, enhance and color correct digital images in to create desired effects, using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop software.
Utilized and proficient in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop image editing software.

12. Softball

Softball refers to a gentler method of questioning rather than forcing an answer out of someone. This could mean the question has an easy answer or that the question was worded in a way that doesn't directly accuse the person of anything.

Here's how sports photographers use softball:

Assisted with portraits for football teams photos Helped take action shots of several football teams and softball
Edited sports copy andphotographed college sports team (Baseball and softball, basketball and basketball).

13. Adobe Premiere

Here's how sports photographers use adobe premiere:

Compiled clips of every week's games and created a Weekly Highlights video using Adobe Premiere Pro.

14. Photo Equipment

Here's how sports photographers use photo equipment:

Get all necessary photo equipment set up and make sure it is working properly before the photo shoot starts.
Constructed daily photography activities; Help campers with projects; Circulated daily photographs for camp;Managed inventory of photo equipment

15. Nikon

Here's how sports photographers use nikon:

Conducted lighting setups with the Nikon D7 and D200, using Speed Flash, Monolights.
Photographed events and portraits with Nikon professional digital and film cameras.

5 Sports Photographer resume examples

Build a professional sports photographer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your sports photographer resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Sports Photographers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on sports photographer resumes?

Jill Frank

Assistant Professor, Georgia State University

The ability to use all camera functions and fully understand the tools, both analog and digital. Having an artistic vision and creative drive that makes your portfolio unique and memorable. Confidence with lighting, managing large photoshoots, awareness of the current trends in photography, ability to handle deadlines and difficult situations.

What soft skills should all sports photographers possess?

Jill Frank

Assistant Professor, Georgia State University

Listening, being observant, trusting your vision. It is always important to work well in teams and have the patience to be a good collaborator.

What hard/technical skills are most important for sports photographers?

Jill Frank

Assistant Professor, Georgia State University

There is an expectation that material and technique are mastered. For example, if you want to photograph an event at night, you should know how to handle the resolution, the iso, the lighting, the speed of the shutter, etc., so that the images work for their intended purpose. If you are not ready to handle the technical elements, you are not ready for the photoshoot.

What sports photographer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Peter Glendinning

W.J. Beal Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University

In my experience, people like being a photographer for reasons that often have to do with what they like doing in life, what their personality is, what their passions outside of photography are. The "people person," the "quiet poet," the "analytical type," and more, all can find a field in photography that suits them well, whether fashion photography, landscape photography, architectural photography or other. Someone who is lazy, disorganized, feels they already know everything, undisciplined, lacking in courage, will probably not like this field.

Do you want to know more?

List of sports photographer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a sports photographer resume and required skills for a sports photographer to have include:

Adobe Photoshop
Camera Equipment
Kids
School Administration
Digital Photography
Youth Sports
Athletic Website
Soccer
Photography Equipment
DSLR
Adobe Lightroom
Softball

Adobe Premiere
Photo Equipment
Nikon
ENG
Sports Segment
Athletic Events
NCAA
Football Games
Quality Photographs
Promotional Materials
Photo Shoots
Feature Stories

Sports Stories
News Stories
High-Quality Images
Football Season
Action Shots
Facebook
Sports Events
Group Photos
ENPS
NFL

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Zippia Careers
Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Industry
Sports Photographer
Sports Photographer Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs