Shooting Through Netting: Settings and Techniques

Hockey arenas. Baseball dugout fences. Soccer penalty areas. Batting cages. Some of the most dramatic sports moments are separated from your lens by a wall of netting — but with the right technique, that net can completely disappear from your shot.

Why Netting Is Manageable (Not a Dead End)

Netting and fences feel like hard obstacles, but they're actually one of the more solvable problems in sports photography. The key is understanding how depth of field and lens optics interact with thin obstructions at close range.

When a fine mesh net is a few centimetres from your lens and you're focused on a subject 10–30 metres away, the net falls so far outside the depth of field that it becomes invisible — literally below the threshold of resolution. You get clean, net-free images even though the net is physically between you and your subject.

The Core Technique: Lens Up to the Net

The single most important thing you can do: press your lens hood (or front element) directly against the netting. As close as physically possible.

This does two things. First, it maximises the optical distance between the netting and your focal plane — making the net maximally out of focus. Second, it eliminates the netting from the angle of view of the glass elements behind the front of the lens, which physically prevents the net from appearing in the image at wider apertures.

Camera Settings for Netting Situations

Aperture: Wide Open Is Essential

This is the single most critical setting. Use your widest available aperture: f/2.8, f/4 maximum. A wide aperture creates a shallower depth of field, which pushes the net (just centimetres from your lens) so far out of focus it vanishes.

At f/8 or f/11, the increased depth of field begins to bring the netting back into partial focus. You'll see a darkening pattern across the image and reduced subject sharpness. Always prioritize aperture above everything else when shooting through nets.

Shutter Speed: Don't Compromise

The aperture requirement is non-negotiable, so shutter speed and ISO must do the heavy lifting for freezing action. You can't stop down to get more depth of field — that depth of field is specifically what you don't want.

ISO: Accept It, Control It

Since you're locked to wide apertures and high shutter speeds, ISO will often need to be elevated — especially in indoor arenas with artificial lighting. Modern cameras handle ISO 3200–6400 remarkably well.

Focusing Through Netting

Why Autofocus Can Struggle

If you hold your lens away from the net, autofocus sensors may lock onto the net threads rather than your subject — especially with contrast-detection AF systems. Phase detection systems (on modern mirrorless cameras) are generally better at "seeing through" fine obstacles.

Solutions That Work

• Press lens to netting: At touching distance, the net is effectively outside the AF zone of most systems
• Use continuous AF (AI Servo / AF-C): Continuous mode tracks subjects rather than hunting on stationary obstacles
• Narrow your AF area: A small single-point or zone AF reduces the chance of the camera picking up net threads
• Use subject recognition AF: Modern mirrorless cameras with subject detection (eye/body tracking) will preferentially lock onto athletes and ignore netting
• Pre-focus and wait: For predictable positions (face-off circles, penalty spots), pre-focus on the location before action starts

Positioning: Finding the Right Hole

Not all parts of a net are equal. Spending a few minutes finding the optimal shooting position pays huge dividends.

Look for Larger Mesh Openings

Protective hockey netting has relatively large diamond-shaped holes. At wide apertures, these are invisible — but positioning your lens at a mesh intersection (knot) versus at the center of an opening makes a visible difference at apertures above f/4. Align your front element with a mesh opening, not a strand.

Vertical vs Horizontal Netting

Chain-link and wire fencing is often horizontal-dominant or vertical-dominant in its pattern. Shoot through the dominant open direction. Aligning your lens with the long axis of rectangular openings maximises the clear aperture available to your glass.

Corner Gaps and Access Points

Many venues have small gaps or loose sections at the corners of protective netting — particularly in hockey rinks near the boards. Check for these before the event. Even a 5–10cm gap can provide a clean shot position that eliminates any netting concern entirely.

Sport-Specific Techniques

Hockey

Hockey rinks have several distinct netting zones: the protective glass (no netting), the netting above the glass (most of the arena), and the mesh behind the goals. The clearest positions are at ice level behind or beside the net, where you're shooting through relatively open mesh toward the attacking zone.

Settings: f/2.8, 1/1600s, Auto ISO (1600–6400). Press 70-200mm f/2.8 lens directly to the netting. For puck tracking use zone AF, not single point.

Baseball Dugout Shots

The dugout fence (if you have field access) offers intimate angles on players that spectator positions can't match. The protective fencing between dugout and field is typically a relatively open chain-link.

Settings: f/2.8–f/4, 1/1000s, ISO 400–2000 (day game). A 70-200mm or 135mm prime works perfectly for this range. Use continuous AF with face detection for player portraits.

Soccer Protective Netting

Soccer venues increasingly install protection netting behind goals and in corners. Shooting from behind goal netting for penalty kicks and set pieces is a premium position — when you can access it.

Settings: f/2.8, 1/1250s, ISO 800–3200. Use a 70-200mm or 24-70mm depending on your distance from the goal. The wider lens works well when you're very close to goal and want to capture the entire attacking scene.

Batting Cages (Practice Sessions)

Practice access at batting cages gives you extremely close shooting positions through fine mesh netting. The mesh is finer than arena netting, so aperture discipline is even more critical.

Settings: f/2.8 mandatory (no exceptions), 1/1600s+, ISO as needed. Press your lens absolutely flush with the mesh. An 85mm or 135mm prime at f/2 works exceptionally well here.

Common Problems and Fixes

Metering Through Netting

Netting can confuse your camera's metering system, particularly if dark net strands cover a significant portion of the frame. There are two reliable solutions.

Option 1 — Spot metering: Lock exposure reading on the athlete's jersey or skin tone. This ignores the net entirely and exposes correctly for your subject.

Option 2 — Exposure compensation: In evaluative/matrix metering, the dark net often causes the camera to overexpose the subject trying to compensate. Dial in -0.3 to -0.7 EV to counteract this.

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Final Thoughts

Netting is one of those challenges that looks impossible but turns out to be almost entirely within your control. The technique is simple once you know it: wide aperture, lens to net, continuous AF. Everything else — shutter speed, ISO, metering — follows the same logic as any other sports photography situation.

The photographers who get the best netting shots aren't using special equipment or secret tricks. They're the ones who arrive early, test their positioning before action starts, and commit to maximum aperture. Run through the checklist, press that lens to the mesh, and let the depth of field do the work.