I have been trying to get out and take more photos lately with my 35mm and not just the Iphone. I had gotten a new Nikon a couple years ago and shelved my Canon(i felt my Canon had issues)- then my daughter began to use it and I loved the photos she was getting out of it. I thought maybe I had been too hard on that Canon but I had the Nikon and I felt I needed to move on. Plus the daughter had it and I didnt want to confiscate it from her if she was going to use it.

Well fast forward to a few months ago when I found the Canon sitting alone on my daughters shelf. She hadn’t given up photography but shelved it (sorry had to go there) for a while. So I thought why not take that Canon out for a spin. But I took it down and forgot about it for a while. Until my son’s soccer began.

Let me get something straight I am not a sports photographer. I have never been good at shooting any sport. I had a class in photography years ago and I had an assignment to take pictures of sport. I think I chose racquetball (it was when that was a fad). I don’t have any photos left from that assignment bc I am fairly certain I burned all of them. They were really bad. But since then I have taken thousands of photos of my kids sporting events- horse shows, soccer and more soccer, basketball, swimming etc. Not all of the pictures came out badly but they werent great. See I took all those photos bc it was a way for me to deal with my anxiety. I have an anxiety disorder and being in crowds watching my kids play sports was really overwhelming for me. Get me in a gym watching basketball and I about came out of my skin. The noise, the buzzers- it was just sensory overload for me. I stayed behind the camera bc it gives me something to focus on (and through) which seems to stave off the anxiety.

It is amazing that I can do something like shooting pictures where I feel so out of my element in order to squash another issue I have that makes me feel so out of my element. It is like when you are somewhere where you feel out of your element and you DO something that you feel is out of your element the two together can equal calm… I am not sure why this is but it works for me. I think it might be very different if some fool actually hired me to take sports pictures. I’d be a mess! Probably wouldn’t show up.

A while back I read an article online about taking decent sports shots and some of the tips were helpful – esp the one about having the ball in the picture…ahh makes sense why that might be a good idea. (I had many pics prior to this with no ball in it – some might work but others looked like some kid standing waiting for something to happen) – only interesting to the kids parents probably.

So I pulled the Canon out when I was heading to one of our sons soccer games. I have a longer lens for that camera. Wouldn’t you know shooting with the Canon felt like I had an old friend with me. I have never been as comfortable with my Nikon…it takes nice pictures but I am too slow on changing settings on the fly with it. Nice slow shots like flowers and such are ok bc I can putter with it. When I got home from the game and looked at the pictures I was happy with them in terms of the color..I felt like the Canon had been washing out colors and that is why I got a Nikon. Seems like I was wrong. The actual action shots were just ok to me- but I thought I would share them with the team parents since I put them on my OneDrive up in the cloud (so cool is the cloud). Wasn’t it so nice to later get emails thanking me for the photos – some even said they were good. One dad asked about the size of my lens–hmmm personal right?

I am so glad the parents seem to like them. And since it is easier for me to hide behind my camera (I still get a cheer in here or there!) I suppose I will keep this up. And I am finding that taking sports photos isn’t so bad. I am actually liking the results. So I am learning that its ok to be out of your element – you keep pushing through it and all at once you feel comfortable.

Thanks for reading…

Here are some shots from a few different game. I tossed one in of Rudy as he attends many games with me!:

Here is where I am in my element..