We all have the possibility to choose what we decide to film or what we decide to include in our shots. Of course,
what we choose often depends on our perspective. That perspective is what makes each individual
photographer, unique. Our uniqueness is generally acquired from our previous life experiences.

In high school, in my senior year, I was expected to suddenly take a lot of sports photos in a very short period of time. Now if you’re a huge sports fan, that might have seemed like a big task. My only sporting involvement at the time was racket and track, both of which focus on the individual. Team sports like volleyball, soccer, basketball, and baseball were totally unfamiliar to me, but that’s what I was supposed to shoot for. As I have mentioned in other articles; I quickly came up with the philosophy of: if you have the word “Ball” in the title, then follow the ball.

By this time, he was already aware that clutter in the background was not a good thing. My rule for living was “just shoot simple”. The problem that arose is how to simplify the shooting, if you shoot two teams (us and them) that have 10 or 20 people and they are running all over the place.

I started with volleyball. In this case, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the net was as important as the ball. I followed the ball for a while, but found that this can also be very frustrating. Sometimes the action can go so fast that it is really hard to know what the maximum action is, until you already missed it. I started to position myself so that I could shoot along the net. There I found; when the ball was in the net and someone was trying to shoot or block the ball, it was a great moment of maximum action. I was able to simplify the shot because I got the elements I wanted (teams, ball, net, maximum action); not the items I didn’t want (arms, heads, and legs) in the way, blocking my shots.

When I went to play soccer, the first thing I realized is that I needed to be closer. A 200mm lens from the bleacher can get you closer to a cheerleader, but not much closer. Unlike volleyball, I soon realized that one point of view was not going to be enough. The game was simply played in an area too large for me to cover properly. I divided the game into shooting sections; 20 minutes at the fifty-yard line, 20 minutes from our end zone, 20 minutes from his end zone, etc. I kept my eye on the ball, but each location brought a new perspective.

I quickly determined that basketball had shooting characteristics of the other two sports. Most of the peak action occurs around the basket; however, the interaction with the crowd is much more intense. Fans at a soccer game are still 30 to 40 feet away from where the action is; in basketball they are usually 3 or 4 feet apart. When they get up and start cheering, things get worse. The difference it made was that I actually didn’t have as much freedom to move as I had in either of the other two events. But on the other hand, I was also able to get a lot more shots with the reactions of the fans. It was as if now he had to plan three teams (bears, his and the fans).

Baseball was the most frustrating and rewarding thing for me to learn to shoot. It was frustrating because my movements were more limited than before. It wasn’t because of the crowds, it was because it wasn’t allowed. He could work in the crowd if he needed to, but photographers can’t stand in the middle of the field. He could shoot from the dugout or from behind the batters cage. Visually they were all scattered; It seemed impossible, so I remembered thinking, “Just shoot simple. I shot the guys at first and third base. I shot them when they got the ball. I shot them when the guys came in for a slide. I shot the batter and pitcher for putting my lens against the fence and looking over the batters shoulder.

I only photographed sports for a very short period in my photography career, but I think I learned a lot from shooting in these different environments.

A) From volleyball I learned to shoot intelligently. Don’t just move your camera around and hope you’re lucky. Find the key location for maximum action.

B) From soccer I learned to shoot systematically. If the action happens in multiple places, don’t just wander from one place to another. Focus your attention on one perspective at a time, and then move on.

C) I learned from basketball to incorporate obstacles. The fans blocked my shots, until they became part of the shots. The background expressions gave my shots an emotional touch.

D) From baseball, I remembered “Just shoot plain.” By being forced to shoot from a certain point of view, I was actually able to simplify my images more than I had planned.

What I learned from all of them is that perspective is everything. If you ever have to shoot something you know little or nothing about, learn to observe. What makes this event or item unique? What shoots or doesn’t shoot comes down to a matter of choice; but what you choose to shoot is based on your perspective.