HS Girls Volleyball - Freshman

This was the first time for me to photography HS volleyball. It was much harder then what I tought it was. The speed was a little difficult for me at first and my timing is a little slow, will work on that for the next game. Would appreciate any comments/help from you Volleyball shooters. I didn't get any net shots. The girls were freshman and none of them set up for a spike. They jumped for the blocks but the shots never came from close up.

1.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Redirected to error image by ZENFOLIO PROTECTED

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Redirected to error image by ZENFOLIO PROTECTED

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Redirected to error image by ZENFOLIO PROTECTED

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Redirected to error image by ZENFOLIO PROTECTED

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Redirected to error image by ZENFOLIO PROTECTED

Note: 2 and 3 are the same shot.

Shooting the lower levels is frustrating at times due to the lack of attacking as you said. I think you did well, 4 is a good capture and is cropped well. I would try to not cut off the legs where you did in the last one. If you go up higher (like you did in 4) it looks good, but if you cut if off below the knees you might as well get the whole body in there.

You have a key concept down: ball and face in the frame.

Damadsetta wrote in post #13139970
Note: 2 and 3 are the same shot.

Shooting the lower levels is frustrating at times due to the lack of attacking as you said. I think you did well, 4 is a good capture and is cropped well. I would try to not cut off the legs where you did in the last one. If you go up higher (like you did in 4) it looks good, but if you cut if off below the knees you might as well get the whole body in there.

You have a key concept down: ball and face in the frame.

I believe I fixed the duplicate shots. Thanks for the advice.

Questions on shooting the spike shots when the net is between you and the player, do you focus before the shot or do you let the AF do its job? I tried on some of the blocks but the net would through the focus off. Could be that they couldn't jump that high.

tmalone893 wrote in post #13139994
I believe I fixed the duplicate shots. Thanks for the advice.

Questions on shooting the spike shots when the net is between you and the player, do you focus before the shot or do you let the AF do its job? I tried on some of the blocks but the net would through the focus off. Could be that they couldn't jump that high.

I have very rarely prefocused on any spot. Sometimes I have focused on the net before the play, but only if I had enough distance between myself and what I was shooting so that there are no DOF issues. To fix the problem you mentioned, you have to work on positioning yourself. For most plays in volleyball, that blocker in the way is going to be a big issue. Find places on the court where you aren't obstructed. For an OH, shoot on line with the hitter behind the baseline, most blockers do not get all the way to the antenna. For MH's shoot even the baseline from either side, there is often a gap between the middle blocker and the other blocker. Also, be prepared to miss shots in this sport, just the nature of the game!

Nice set, I'm going to my nieces game next week I'll post my pics for cc.
Good info to take with me here.

I was always told if you have to crop out limbs, that you crop between joints...not at joints.

Aside from a few that could have been white balanced a little better, these look really good. In fact, the ones with good action are pretty obvious, and I doubt someone with more experience would have done much better (aside from maybe having more of the keepers per game).

As for tips, there really isn't much to say about shooting volleyball. The game is so chaotic that if you position yourself to get a good shot of one person, you'll likely miss a bunch of other good shots of someone else because of things/players in the way, so I try not to over-think it. For example, if you are sitting behind the team that you're covering, you'll likely get great shots of the setter, but you'll miss all the blocks. Just keep moving around and you should be okay.

The key is definitely to keep moving if you're not shooting for a particular team. Use the whole court. It's actually pretty strenuous to shoot a volleyball game if you want to get a good assortment of shots, not just 300 shots of the same two blockers or attacker.