Sporty

Sports are encompassing my world lately and I am enjoying it all as much as I can make time for. The Olympics, an action photography class, and of coarse my kid's athletic events. Oh, and does me going to the Y count?

Last week I completed an action photography class. I learned a bundle. It was a good class, and I especially liked the hands on portion at the Pettit Ice Center.

I learned many things about panning, and white balance. I learned that if I had an extra $1000 to $2000 lying around I could purchase a 2.8 lens that would make it much easier to take the perfect action photos. But since I can't find that pile of cash, I learned I need to play around more with my camera to figure out some settings that will work. And this weekend I had plenty of opportunity to practice.

With 4 basketball tournament games, 3 sessions of a swim meet, 3 regular season basketball games, and one tap dance class we spent many hours in poorly lit rooms to watch our kids move. A ton of action that challenged what I learned in class. Here is some of what I discovered on my own.

Out of hundreds of pictures the best one may tell a story and not have any action at all.

Keep your camera on burst mode and in one picture she will have her head out of the water.

And finally I found that my kids know that I am the one with the camera, and know where to look if they want to ham it up. And although trying to get that perfect shot can be frustrating, it is rewarding to get just those few photos that capture a moment that may not be perfect, but are the ones only a mom would love to have to help her remember.