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BY KATHY BURNS-MILLYARD

If you’ve ever tried capturing fast moving sports action with your camera, you may have ended up frustrated and confused about why the pictures didn’t turn out so hot. There are some common mistakes beginner photographers make when shooting sports, and it’s not overly easy for many professionals to do either, but don’t despair. There are several tips that might help you get better sports action shots in the future.

The first thing you need to realize is: Not all of your pictures will turn out just right. I was recently at my son’s high school football game, and took over 400 pictures before the third quarter was finished. Of those 400, though, only about 40 were excellent, and roughly 75-100 were good enough to keep.

Thankfully that is one of the beauties of using digital cameras: You don’t have to waste expensive film while you’re learning. Instead, when you come across any pictures that didn’t turn out well, you can simply delete them to make room for new ones.

With that said, let’s get into some useful tips.

Because sports photography is quite fast paced, you’ll need to start with a lot of light. If you’re trying to take pictures of an indoor basketball or volleyball game, you may have problems getting good pictures. If you have a very strong flash for your camera, that will help quite a bit. Many point and shoot digital cameras don’t have strong enough flashes for this, especially when parents tend to try taking the pictures from the stands that are a bit too far away from all the action.

So try getting closer. See if you’re able to stand at the edge of the court, or maybe right behind the basket if you’re at a basketball game. Then set your camera on Sports mode — usually identified by an icon that looks like a little running man on your camera’s control dial — and make sure your flash is turned on. These settings will help your camera give you the best settings it can deliver in your current lighting conditions, and if all goes well, you’ll get some great action shots in the end.

If you’re taking action shots outside, things are much easier… particularly if there’s bright sunlight. The more light you have available when taking your pictures, the better you’ll be able to stop the action.

Again, put your camera in Sports mode, and again try to get as close to the action as you can. Position yourself behind the goal posts at a soccer or football game, or close to one of the sides if that’s the best you can do. Just pick one spot and wait for the play to come your way. There will be times where all the action is too far away to shoot, but just wait a little while… the activity usually comes close to every part of the playing field.

Even if you have bright sunlight to shoot in, you can still use your camera’s flash. Keep in mind that it might not be strong enough to reach very far, and if that’s the case it won’t do you much good. If, however, you get to take a picture of a tackle taking place just five feet in front of you, the flash should be able to light that scene easily from that distance.

If you know how to use your camera in manual or semi-manual mode, you’ll want to control the shutter speeds to catch the sports action. A shutter speed of at least 1/500 usually does the trick nicely.

Kathy Burns-Millyard publishes the Hobby Hour site. Check out its hobby photography area for more tips, advice and techniques. Stop by her SasEz! site to see some of her recent stock and portrait photography.