I’ve been taking photographs for about five years now, primarily of my daughters sporting events. I felt the investment of a nice camera would pay off and be better than buy pictures from someone else. I invested in a Nikon D90, then after renting the 70-200 f2.8 several times, I invested in that as well. My older daughter plays volleyball, so I needed something for low light situations. So, for years I was trucking along shooting my kids (and other teammates, which I will discuss on a later post) and relatively happy with what I was producing. I think I finally am able to find the right white balance and exposure in most situations. My pictures are a hit on Facebook and another personal site I use to display the photos I take of the team.

With my oldest now finishing up her second year of college and my youngest starting her High School season, I have now begun shooting for MaxPreps. I felt because I have my exposure right, I was confident enough to start shooting other people’s kids playing. Boy was I wrong. This is where I learned the difference between “tack sharp” and “OK for Facebook.” I’ve learned to critically look at my photos at 100% now. Once I started doing that, I found the percentage of usable shots dropped dramatically. Below is a shot from a game back in 2010. I thought looked good back then, but would never use today.

This was a lesson I learned when I first started posting my galleries to MaxPreps. My galleries would get declined and I would have to re-look a the images I posted. Quickly, my galleries would drop from 80 pictures, down to 30-40. I was frustrated at first, but then started to pay more attention while I was shooting. I focused more on my technique and positioning when I shoot. This has made me a better photographer. Now I get many more shots like the one below which are very sharp.

This has given me a new found respect for the big-time professional photographers who are out there. It’s not just about great gear and spraying a game in hopes to get a good shot. It’s about getting your exposure right, and using good techniques and positioning to get a great shot which is “tack sharp.”