Some college Volleyball

I love the sport and had an opportunity to shoot some ASU womens Volleyball last night. Here are a couple of my favorites. Coments and criticism appreciated and thanks for looking

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Two good pictures, player movement stopped (ball not on first) excellent player/background separation.

Nice shots! Both capture the action.
Paul

great shots, I am wondering why in shot #1 the ball is a little blurry and in the second one its clear, I get this a lot when I shoot volleyball too, just wondering why?

c3p1 wrote in post #4036100
Nice shots! Both capture the action.
Paul

Paul, Thanks for the feedback.

khall wrote in post #4033156
Two good pictures, player movement stopped (ball not on first) excellent player/background separation.

khall, Thanks for the feedback. I tried the 135 f2.0L to help with the BG. Seems to be difficult to get a decent background in this arena and the f2.0 certainly helped.

Stephanie Miller wrote in post #4038343
great shots, I am wondering why in shot #1 the ball is a little blurry and in the second one its clear, I get this a lot when I shoot volleyball too, just wondering why?

Thanks Stephanie for the comments. My belief on why image #1 has some ball motion blur is that it was a driven ball and moving quite fast while in image #2 it was a pass to the setter and the ball was basically stopped at the moment of the shutter release.

Great work Mike! Timing is superb.

nice shots mike. i too love the timing. I'm starting to strive for the same but with my dinky camera. someday a 1d series body will be mine but at least i was able to get a couple of good setter shots with my school. Just a thought, but I don't really like that line judge on the first pic, maybe crop tighter on the pac 10 leader in digs she is the leader in digs right?

Very nice work Mike, both shots really catch the action. Pat

disneydork06 wrote in post #4045199
nice shots mike. i too love the timing. I'm starting to strive for the same but with my dinky camera. someday a 1d series body will be mine but at least i was able to get a couple of good setter shots with my school. Just a thought, but I don't really like that line judge on the first pic, maybe crop tighter on the pac 10 leader in digs she is the leader in digs right?

Good hearing from you Ryan. I agree with the line judge issue yet wanted to keep the aspect ratio in case anyone wanted a print. I'll give it a go with a tighter crop and see how it works for me. And, This is not Sydney Donahue who is the all time PAC leader in digs. Sydney was not at the matches and was reported to be at home with her family. No details.

patlannon wrote in post #4045260
Very nice work Mike, both shots really catch the action. Pat

Thanks patlannon, I appreciate it.

volleybrad wrote in post #4042175
Great work Mike! Timing is superb.

Thanks Brad. Won't tell you how many misses to keepers it takes me to get a keeper.

disneydork06 wrote in post #4045199
nice shots mike. i too love the timing. I'm starting to strive for the same but with my dinky camera. someday a 1d series body will be mine but at least i was able to get a couple of good setter shots with my school. Just a thought, but I don't really like that line judge on the first pic, maybe crop tighter on the pac 10 leader in digs she is the leader in digs right?

Hows this look to you?

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

hehe, looks funny since you didn't add your signature at the bottom and you have all this open space but yeah, looks good. that line judge definitely didn't help the photo. oh and weird that sydney isn't playing...all I noticed was that she had a different jersey than marina. marina's gorgeous btw. oh, but every time I see a photo of her with the ball in her hands I think of a lift call but that's just me

Volleyball Mike wrote in post #4045659
Thanks Brad. Won't tell you how many misses to keepers it takes me to get a keeper.

hahahah - no need. I think all of us volleyball shooters have a pretty good idea.

Actually guys, as a vball coach of 20+ years (and only 1.5 as a photographer), I like the line judge in the image. His/her stance shows how intense the action was at that moment, and yet her face is pure concentration with no distraction. Great balance and form for her pass, you caught her focusing on her target! Wonderful timing, and I have to agree there are a LOT more misses than keepers in vball. Plus, I find myself watching the action - need to press that button more often... Thanks for sharing the images!