Practice, Practice, Practice

There's an old saying I often think about: "Repetition is the mother of all knowledge." That definitely holds true for sports photography. These shots (especially the action ones) took some repetition before I got it right. Thanks go to my 12-year-old model for letting me take a second set of jump-shot, lay-up, and dribbling shots. (It was hot out too!) By the way, I love the 5th image, his "game face." He looks like a model for a sports drink ad.

While I'm giving out praise, I should also tell you what an amazing job Jacob did with the spot color on the first image. (Make sure you click on the image to see a larger version of the photo. ) In general, I am an "in-camera" photographer. I do very little retouching to photos and really try to get it right at the shoot so no editing is necessary. However, some images can't be created in camera, and it takes a real artist to transform a nice photo into something spectacular like this. Jacob did another spot color photo I love. Check it out: Special Edit: Spot Color.

Do you have school-age kids who would like to model for me? You will get awesome photos of your kids doing what they do best, and your kids will get some fun experience modeling for me like this young man and his sister. I'm especially looking to practice more action and sports photography. So, if your kid does soccer, T-ball, baseball, dance, gymnastics, or other action-packed activity, please contact us to sign up for my Kids and Teens Photo Project.

Second Try

Thanks to willing parents and great 9-year-old model, I made a second attempt at karate shots this past week. At the previous shoot, I wasn't satisfied with the amount of blur I was getting. So, this time, I upped the shutter speed and ISO to accommodate for the fast movement.

Before shooting, the model and I and sat down for about 15 minutes and discussed poses and camera mechanics, not to mention the ins and outs of karate belt advancements. During the shoot, he imparted a wealth of information (as most 9-year-olds do), and I had to make sure I got a shot of that too! After taking some time outside, I decided to experiment with silhouettes inside his house. I'm really pleased with the results.

His mom and dad both have blogs (Stop the Insanity and Who Did What to Who?), so I'm including low resolution versions of the photos on the CD I'll be giving them soon. That way, they can post additional photos from my shoots on their own blogs. I love seeing my work on my clients' sites. One model and her son used my photo in their blog header. Check out Roman's Big Heart.

Do you have school-age kids who would like to model for my Kids and Teens project? It's free (yes, free!) and you can find out all the details here.