When I was first starting out as a fledgling photographer I had this great thought process that I was going to become this great sports team photographer over night. My goodness I never realized how over my head I was really getting. I offered my services for my son's recreational basketball team and thought that I would start with his team that season and move on to picking up more teams the following season. Needless to say after dealing with extremely picky parents, and fighting with these little ones to get them to hold still for 10 minutes to take the individual and team photos I realized that I may not be ready.
Fast forward about 3 years. My son is now in high school and a wrestler. I learned that the wrestling team is treated as the red headed step children of the school, and they do not receive the same treatment as other sports such as football. In fact one of the parents told me about how the team did not get photos at all one year, so they were not recognized in the yearbook. Another year they did not take their photos until April, right before the print deadline for the yearbook, because they were forgotten until the last minute. (Mind you the season ended in February) It honestly made me a little angry that these kids were being over looked by the school on a regular basis. These kids work hard everyday during practice and twice as hard during a tournament, and all the while trying to represent their school the best way they know how. So I decided to take action. I talked to the booster club members and got the go ahead to take the pictures for the kids so that way they would have something this year, and I figure that this will be something I do for the rest of the time my son is in high school. Now I am sure you are thinking, how much are you getting paid? Truth be told I am getting nothing, and I am charging next to nothing for the prints. Why, because in listening to the conversations that the kids were having they were going to be the ones to pay for their photos, with no help from their parents. With that in mind, I am not in this for the profit, these kids deserve to have their memories and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it.
Now on to the shoot. I learned a lot from this shoot. Here is the top 5 things I learned.
1. Be ready for the worst lighting ever.
The night before pictures the kids had a tournament that was held in the school gym, the lighting was beautiful, the floor was amazing, and it was all that I could ask for. I really wanted to shoot their photos there. When this was brought up I was immediately shot down. I was told their was a basketball game the next day and the wrestlers didn't belong in there. I was told that their home was the wrestling room, and well, that is where their photos needed to take place. The wrestling room has three different tones of light due to different light bulbs in each of the lighting fixtures and the room itself is just a little ugly hole in the wall of a room. Nothing like every other area of the school that I have seen thus far.
2. Test shots are a must!
When I arrived to take their photos I looked around the room and was mulling over what to do. I was worried about lighting, white balance, and overall where to shoot. I had to shoot the individual and the team shots. When I picked the location for each shot I took several test shots with no one in them to make sure that I was going to be happy with the set up, and it was the best thing that I could have done! It gave me an idea up front of what everything was going to look like and it helped me determine my camera settings up front, along with the need for flash and at what power.
3. With a large group there has to be another person to help.
These kids were anything but easy to get moving. They were not dressed in their gear when I got there, and they were much more worried about eating than about getting their photos taken so that practice could start. Luckily I had several parents there to help direct traffic and assist with setting up the team and individual shots, they even helped pose the kids. It made this all so much smoother for me.
4. Take multiple shots! I promise you won't regret it.
I took multiple shots of everything that I did. Why? Because I did not want to be dependent on one photo and have no way to work with someone blinking, or having a weird smile, or having some other inconsistency that I would not be able to fix in post production. Why you ask? Well for example, I took 4 team photos, in three I have people looking different ways and not at the camera, and in the best photo I still have one person with their eyes closed. The bonus, I should be able to do a head swap in Photoshop, why? Because I have other photos that have this individual with his eyes open, so it should be a quick fix.
5. Pay attention to your gear, especially your flashes. Chimping is not a bad thing!
I knew that the kids needed to practice, and I knew that I was cutting into their time, so I was really trying to move along their shoot in an orderly fashion, however I realized when I looked back at the pictures that I was rushing. I was not paying attention to my gear like I should have been. I noticed that I had several photos that the lighting was off. Why? Because I did not allow the flash enough time to recycle. So now I have created more work in post processing for myself to make these photos right. Had I been paying attention and chimping I think that I would have caught this and slowed down to prevent this extra work later. There are a number of people that will say that it is unprofessional for a photographer to chimp, but I could not disagree more. There is no reason that you cannot chimp, because you are ensuring the quality of the image up front and it gives you the chance to make minor adjustments as soon as possible versus spending extra hours in post processing praying that you can save the image.
Every single shoot is going to be a learning experience. I enjoy that it is a learning experience. It keeps me on my toes, and it gives me a reason to improve and a new goal to work towards. It also gives me more to research which helps to expand my knowledge base. I really don't think that I am ever not going to make a mistake during a shoot, but I am hoping that I am learning each time and the mistakes get smaller and easier to manage. That is my goal. However I never want to stop learning. If I stop learning I know I will get bored and and quit. However I do not have anything to fear with that.
If you are interested in the gear that I used here is my list, and I have also placed affiliate links if you would like to look at prices. Please remember clicking on these links do not cost you any money. It only assists me in receiving a small commission in order for me to continue doing what I am doing.
Camera:Nikon D7100
Lens: Sigma 24-70
Flash: Altura Flash kit
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