Wall Art For Sports Fans: Sports Photography by Victor Nunn

A common technique that experts recommend for relaxation is visualization. The idea is that you close your eyes and imagine yourself in your favorite calming place. For many people this might be a beach or a mountaintop. For sports fans, one of their favorite places is likely the arena or stadium their team calls home. Stadiums and ballparks around the country have become architectural icons in their own right. What could be better than waking up each morning to a panoramic view of a legend like Boston’s Fenway Park, or relative newcomer, Camden Yards in Baltimore?

Giant prints aren’t limited to baseball stadiums. Sports fans can find landscape panoramas of NASCAR venues, NFL stadiums, NBA arenas, NHL rinks, and even college sites like Clemson University’s famed “Death Valley,” also known as Clemson Memorial Stadium. You can also find aerial views taken from blimps or high in the rafters at arenas. Prints like these can give you an everyday view of these landmarks, or commemorate a special occasion, like the opening day at a new stadium, the first game under the lights at Wrigley Field, or the celebration after a Super Bowl, World Series, or Stanley Cup win.

Speaking of commemorating great events, some fans have not only a favorite team, but favorite player as well. You can find prints that preserve wins, personal victories, and record breaking achievements. How about Michael Jordan after leading the Chicago Bulls to the NBA championship? Barry Bonds breaking the home run record? Or maybe Lance Armstrong, cycling down the Champs Elysees to his 7th consecutive Tour de France victory? Sometimes these photos are even available in shadowboxes with memorabilia such as autographs or programs. Another option is posters that look like overgrown trading cards, with your sports hero in action.

Why are sports posters and prints so popular? For one thing, they are tough to make yourself. While the ability to take great photos yourself and even have them blown up to poster size has become markedly accessible, sports photography remains a particular challenge and it is unlikely you will get the same quality shot, even if you have great seats at a game. Photographers with passes will still get closer than the best seats, and thus will have an advantage of perspective as well as talent. Most sports are about motion, and fast motion at that, and that is tougher for the novice photographer to master.