In my previous entry (December 10, 2009) I had written…”My daughter became involved in sports and I would bring my camera with me and document her games. I soon had parents asking me if I had taken any good action shots of their child. I sold some images, but didn’t feel I was providing very good pictures and felt unworthy of accepting payment. Got some very good feedback and apparently made parents happy to have shots of their child. Still didn’t feel I should be accepting money for my sports pics.”

I also wrote that I would address a recent question I was asked and am sure most people have had when looking at my sports photography pictures.

The question was basically…”I have seen your portrait, landscape and wildlife pictures and they are excellent. Why is it that your sports shots are good, but not as good as your other stuff?“.

My answer was and is that I am not a sports photographer. Sure, I take pictures of people playing sports, but I am not a sports photographer. I am simply attempting to document yet another event in my daughter’s life as I snap away while she and her teammates play whatever sport they are playing. I have been making significant progress in the number of good images I make as time has gone by. I have learned that shooting at mid-court or mid-field can occasionally allow a decent shot, but moving around and taking shots from different perspectives produces a much larger percentage of good shots.

I know that I am able to output much better portraits, landscapes and wildlife shots than I can sports shots. Although never 100% comfortable taking a portrait of someone, I feel much more comfortable and confident in turning out solid portraits than I do of sports shots. Taking portraits only requires me to worry about 300 or so things that could go wrong. This is because portraits are done in a much more controlled and predictable environment than sports pics. I have the perfect shot framed of the winning lay-up, and just as I press the shutter release, some clueless individual walks between me and my subject. I have just captured a real nice shot of somebody’s butt instead of an award-winning shot that will surely would have made the cover of Sports Illustrated. I also don’t know where my sports subject is exactly gong to be, but I do know where my portrait subject is going to be. I think you get the idea.

Because I have not felt very comfortable as a sports photographer, and haven’t felt I have turned out great pictures, I have cringed at the prospect of asking for or accepting money for my efforts. I put together and sold sports composites of members of my daughter’s soccer team this past season. I put much more time and effort into these than I have for almost any other assignment, but charged half of my normal rate for each 8×10 due to my insecurity and not wanting anyone to feel ripped off because of my pictures.

I will say that as I shoot more sports, I am getting more comfortable and confident in my abilities. As with most things, the more effort and practice you put into something, the greater the end result. Although I still have doubts and feel bad about being paid for my sports pictures, I am coming around…some.

I have been hired by several parents to take pictures of their children playing sports. Moms and Dads like being able to watch their little all-stars compete and not have to also worry about trying to photograph them as well. I guess if people didn’t like my work they wouldn’t hire me. I recently received some feedback from a parent regarding my pictures of her daughter in action. She told me that I provide really good pictures, but what made them great was that her family was given a slice of history of their daughter. They would be able to look at these pictures and relive the time when their girl was a girl, with so much of life ahead of her.

I think that photos can, and do, provide a barometer of where we once were and where we now are. Pictures taken years ago show the small child covered in cake and ice cream at her 1st birthday. Then the pics show a girl dressed in Mommy’s clothes, wearing makeup slathered on like a circus clown. Then they show a proud college graduate setting out in life. Then her children…your grandchildren.

Maybe it’s time to stop feeling bad about making a few bucks from my sports photographs.

For now,

Mark