#11: Hannah Palpant & Finding Your Path and Community In Sports Photography

Hannah Palpant joins the Sports Content Gameplan to discuss her path into sports photography. She describes defining moments from DM'ing hundreds of athletes, leading to an NFL field opportunity and later flying to Italy to shoot an F3 driver at the Italian Grand Prix. Hannah explains her storytelling approach - capturing in-between moments, emotion, and athletes’ humanity — along with her editing style. She shares how she moved from food photography to sports, her favorite sports to shoot, and challenges of switching between different sports speeds and anticipation. She offers three tips for new photographers to break into the sports industry, then outlines the grind, and motivation that keeps her going, and her goal to shoot an F1 race this year.00:00 Welcome and Warmup00:23 Quick Questions09:06 Storytelling Sports Photos14:46 From Food to Sports21:50 Favorite Sports to Shoot26:31 Switching Between Sports30:05 What Makes NFL Special33:41 Seahawks-49ers Rivalry Game36:20 Getting Sideline Access37:20 Just Start Shooting38:15 Use What You Have40:19 Post Daily on Instagram42:01 DM and Build Trust46:19 Three Tips Recap47:27 The Real Grind49:19 Finding Your Why53:43 Confidence and Industry Shifts59:09 Moving to England Goals01:05:22 Dream Guest and Wrap