Shooting Kids in Sports

Taking pictures of your kids playing sports can be a really fun activity for both the athlete and the parent. However, it can also be very challenging if you don’t have the right set up with your camera.  Here are a few recommendations to help you get the best shots of your kids.

When available, use a long telephoto lens.  If your camera can switch lenses and has a long lens, this is a great option for capturing the action as if you were right next to your athlete.

Another tip is to shoot in the daylight for high shutter speeds and sharper images.  Images shot at night or indoors can easily have motion blur because of the low light.

Cloudy days are better than sunny days.  Does this sound off?  It’s true!  Clouds create a filter over the sun’s rays and so there are no harsh shadows.  The lighting is more even all around.

Also, if you are shooting with your camera phone or a point and click, find out if you have digital zoom or optical zoom.  Optical zoom will take much higher quality pictures than digital zoom. 

If your child’s sport is an indoor only sport, like gymnastics, then bump up your ISO to get more light and have less blurry pictures.

And if all else fails, hire a professional!