Hey all, like the thing says, I am a raw beginner. I want to shoot everything I can, practice practice practice.

For things like sports I'm planning on attending some hs football games, and the local semi-pro baseball games. Especially once I get some longer glass. In the meantime I want to get some feeling for motion stopping.

There is a local skate park where hooligans on boards hang out, but I don't know how to go about not weirding people out.

Just show up and start shooting from a bench on the sidelines? People come and go from there all the time, as well as a playground for kids. If I stop to ask everybody I'm never going to get any actual shooting done.

Maybe you should take a ride up to Charleston, where you won't freak people out so easily. :)

When I wanted to shoot at the local park, I watched for a while, found a couple kids with some skills, and asked if I could shoot them for a bit.

You might also try asking a coach if you could shoot some images during football practice to get your settings dialed in.

Thanks.

I was just worried about bein the weird guy with the camera going click happy and interfering with whatever groove they were in.

It would make me nervous if someone was pointing one at me while i was trying to have fun.

OK, a couple thoughts based upon your posts:

First: trying to practice shooting sports from the stands at local HS and semi-pro events is making things too difficult on yourself. You need to be close to the action. If shooting HS, shoot freshman or JV - you're much less likely to be turned away from the field.

Second: some sports are similar to one another and others are completely different. The techniques and concepts for skateboard photography are vastly different than football/soccer or many other sports. Stick to one type of sport for a while - throwing something as different as skateboarding into the mix will just confuse things.

Originally Posted by johng OK, a couple thoughts based upon your posts: First: trying to practice shooting sports from the stands at local HS and semi-pro events is making things too difficult on yourself. You need to be close to the action. If shooting HS, shoot freshman or JV - you're much less likely to be turned away from the field. Second: some sports are similar to one another and others are completely different. The techniques and concepts for skateboard photography are vastly different than football/soccer or many other sports. Stick to one type of sport for a while - throwing something as different as skateboarding into the mix will just confuse things.

Thanks!

What makes them so different? I know absolutely nothing.

At this point I'm mostly looking for something that has some action to it and that I can start practicing with higher shutter speeds, and motion freezes.

I've also recruited a friend to bring out her pooches and exercise the heck out of them with frisbees and tennis balls

*click click click

From the standpoint that they both contain moving subjects, nothing. But the STYLE in which they are shot is different. Typically you shoot skateboarding using a wide angle lens relatively close to the subject and you very often use flash for fill. With field sports you're using telephoto and don't tend to use flash for fill. So, if you post a skaetboarding shot and say "how did I do" you'll start getting feedback that deals with the style of the photography. Same is true for field sports.

So, the lenses used are different, and the approach to shooting each is different.

I am much in your position, just do this for fun, no credentials.

I've been pleasantly surprised how many sports just love having someone photograph them. I showed up at a volleyball club (not college or high school, just people), asked if it was OK, and was made incredibly welcome, the players seemed not at all self conscious, and even asked "did you get that" periodically after a good shot.

I personally stay away from anything with minors, unless it is incidental, or reasonably well controlled as an event and clearly acceptable (e.g. lots of other photographers). Not talking law, talking practical, I just don't want to risk an excitable parent wanting me to explain. From a legal side it's actually hard as an amateur shooting public sports to get in trouble; from a practical point it takes only one parent who is dumb or mean or excitable.

Bigger events, like a big beach volleyball tournament - I just go wander around. There's always a lot of pros there also, you are not out of place, no one will think it unusual. Since I lack credentials I stay in the public areas entirely, even though 70% of the time just having a long lens you can walk into the side lines where the pros are. But I'd rather be unnoticed than noticed for the wrong reasons.

While I agree with Johng, I am more like you -- I am just looking for practice. I will shoot anything moving - volleyball, roller derby, baseball, soccer. Very different, yet a lot the same - a need to know the camera well, adjust quickly to changing conditions as they are not models who are waiting for you. A need to compose and shoot in seconds. Besides -- as an amateur there's not enough of any ONE thing available to me. So if you are trying hard to turn pro in a particular field, by all means practice in that field all the time you can. But I also think just being out taking images always helps you learn.

I do try hard not to be shooting from stands far away, even if I have a long lens. Sometimes that's being in a small stadium, but I also try to pick venues that are casual. No major league anything -- too many rules, too little chance of good positions. Minor league baseball is much more relaxed. Non-major college sports like tennis, even soccer are much more relaxed. Outdoor sports seem more relaxed about gear and access than indoor (though may vary depending on venue).

Also, I am probably different from many sports shooters -- I don't care about sports per se at all. I'm there to capture the human element, people striving, in shape athletes doing amazing things, or just pretty girls in bikinis trying to beat the crap out of other pretty girls in bikinis (beach volleyball, stop whatever you were thinking). Capturing the human element, the action - that's common in all the sports.

But to your first point -- by and large people engaged in sports love attention. Rarely will they object to photographs. If a casual thing (e.g. the skateboarders) I'd approach and ask, if at a public game or similar I don't ask.

Thanks very much all!