This time of year is often a blur for the Sell house.  We are constantly running from one thing to the next, and the majority of the time, it’s a sporting event. It’s so bad this time of year, last year we spent an entire month eating dinner cooked in the crock pot.  You can see all of those recipes here!  I’m sure I’m going to have to revert back to that method pretty soon here.  Since we are actually headed to our third game this week, I thought now would be a good time to talk about some tips for taking pictures of your children while they are playing sports!

8 tips for taking better sports

pictures

**this post may contain affiliate links, this means when you click the link and purchase the price remains the same for you, but I receive a small commission.  your support means so much to me.  thank you!

 

Use a high shutter speed.  Most sports involve a lot of fast motion.  You will end up with a lot of blur if you’re not using a high shutter speed.

Stop down, but not too far!!  I am always on a mission to capture the perfect wide open sports shot.  Unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to do with all of that movement.  It’s particularly difficult if that movement is in and out of the plane of field I am focused on.  It is very helpful to be able to go below what a kit lens allows, however, keeping your f-stop around 2.8 will definitely help your images remain sharp.

Raise your ISO.  Raising your ISO will allow you to raise your shutter speed without risking underexposing your images.

Use a long lens.  My 35mm stays on my camera most of the time, but when I am trying to take pictures of the kids during games, I typically switch to my 85mm.  I have to admit, this is one time I wish I had something even longer though!!  Clearly, I can only get so close to them during their games, using a longer lens helps with that.  If you are using your phone, please don’t zoom!!  Just crop later!  (Ps- this is what’s in my camera bag)

Beg and plead for a quick team shot, and then share it with the team!  My kids are always annoyed with me because I am always asking for a team picture.  It’s a necessary evil though, I am always grateful when someone else takes the heat for me!

Remember the team when the game is over.  Some of my favorite pictures of my kids and their teammates have happened when the game is over. Celebrations are always worth capturing, and so is time spent with teammates.  The relationships my kids have made with their teammates are some of the closest relationships they have.

Adjust your white balance, or consider turning your images to black and white images.  I am lucky that my children happen to be involved in sports that don’t tend to pose an issue for white balance.  However, there are times when images are ruined because the lighting is just absolutely off. You can fix this problem either by adjusting your white balance on or off camera, or by switching to black and white.  When I am using my phone for pictures, this is often what I will do.  If you’re not quite sure how to edit your pictures after you’ve taken them, you should check out this post that talks about all the cool things you can do in Lightroom.  I use lightroom all the time, it is incredibly user-friendly, and contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be pro to use, or own (it’s so much more affordable these days!), Adobe Lightroom!

Move around.  Show your surrounding, change your angle, get creative.  I don’t claim to be the best sports’ photographer, so trying to make the images more interesting to look at is important to me.  I have been hit once or twice with a ball, and nearly killed myself on ice trying to get a more interesting shot.  Totally worth it!  😉

Are your kids involved in sports (as you can see mine play hockey and soccer)?  Do you prefer taking pictures at one more than the other or hate taking sports pictures?

xoxo,
lorrin
come hang out with me!!
twitter
facebook
instagram
pinterest
and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already to get YOUR FREE 14 page ebook– 10 photo projects for ANYONE with ANY camera!!!

You may also like