These are great. Volleyball is hard to shoot one reason is the ball spends so much time away from the players and a key to a good shot we are told is eyes and ball in the frame. You have nailed the photography part! Well done! If it were me what I would work on now is composition. With any sport you always want to capture either emotion or the height of the action. For example the shot of the young lady on the floor and the ball is past her. Good shot but the great shot, the money shot would have been a split second earlier when she was diving for the ball and the ball was in front of her. Not an easy shot to get at all. But when you catch it, it is always a winner. Don’t be afraid to anticipate action and “spray and pray”. Burst shooting in sports is your friend.
Another thing many photographers forget (myself included) is the emotion shots. We get so caught up in trying to catch the action we forget there is other stories going on. Sometimes the best shots can be of the players on the court after a point and either their celebration or dejection if it was scored against them. Emotion in sports is compelling. Even shooting reactions of players on the bench watching can give you great images. Don’t give up on the shot either. Another example might be when someone is serving. My tendency is to automatically follow the ball and try and catch the action on the other side. Sometimes the best shot is to stay right on the player serving and catch their reaction to whether it was a good or bad serve. Be aware and look for those moments also. I think it was Barry Sanders mother who told him always act like you have been there before. So after a touch down he would just drop the ball(boring). But these look like high school kids, they haven’t been there before and they will show you lots of emotion if you look for it.
Great work looking forward to seeing more! Good luck.

These are great. Volleyball is hard to shoot one reason is the ball spends so much time away from the players and a key to a good shot we are told is eyes and ball in the frame. You have nailed the photography part! Well done! If it were me what I would work on now is composition. With any sport you always want to capture either emotion or the height of the action. For example the shot of the young lady on the floor and the ball is past her. Good shot but the great shot, the money shot would have been a split second earlier when she was diving for the ball and the ball was in front of her. Not an easy shot to get at all. But when you catch it, it is always a winner. Don’t be afraid to anticipate action and “spray and pray”. Burst shooting in sports is your friend.
Another thing many photographers forget (myself included) is the emotion shots. We get so caught up in trying to catch the action we forget there is other stories going on. Sometimes the best shots can be of the players on the court after a point and either their celebration or dejection if it was scored against them. Emotion in sports is compelling. Even shooting reactions of players on the bench watching can give you great images. Don’t give up on the shot either. Another example might be when someone is serving. My tendency is to automatically follow the ball and try and catch the action on the other side. Sometimes the best shot is to stay right on the player serving and catch their reaction to whether it was a good or bad serve. Be aware and look for those moments also. I think it was Barry Sanders mother who told him always act like you have been there before. So after a touch down he would just drop the ball(boring). But these look like high school kids, they haven’t been there before and they will show you lots of emotion if you look for it.
Great work looking forward to seeing more! Good luck.

I have no complaints at all about your images. They show the action extremely well and the players are well isolated in the frame. Try sitting on the floor if you want to get some really cool dig shots as the ball comes over the net. Watch for the serve with your other eye and then wait for the girls gathering where the ball is anticipated.

By the way, what was the camera, lens, and ISO you were using. I'm particularly interested in the ISO because I shoot a lot of volleyball and basketball in a dim gym.

Hi Tom:
The shots of the player serving are wonderful.
In my opinion your taking the shot after the play is over. Volleyball is a very tough sport to shoot. I sit on the floor to the right or left of the net, you will find after a few plays the ball basically goes to the same player on the opposite side, the ball goes to the setter, from the setter to the front line for the play. For the digs focus and watch in anticipation for that player.

I also take pics. of the players during practice, they all go up to the net to spike the ball. You can get some good shots that way, you can prefocus on the player once again. Try it and you'll see this works.

Good luck on your next shoot. What settings, equip. 85 1.8 ???

I agree that volleyball is tough to shoot, especially in dimly lit gyms. This is one sport in which I use my faster primes and I get lots of use out of my Sigma 135/1.8. I shoot wide open at @ 1/1000th and use AUTO ISO. When shooting indoors I prefer to take light readings on the court and use the results as long as the lighting is somewhat even. For White Balance I either set a custom one using an ExpoDisk and/or get a couple of shots with a color chart/grey card. The wide open aperture helps blur the background. Best of luck.

These are great. Volleyball is hard to shoot one reason is the ball spends so much time away from the players and a key to a good shot we are told is eyes and ball in the frame. You have nailed the photography part! Well done! If it were me what I would work on now is composition. With any sport you always want to capture either emotion or the height of the action. For example the shot of the young lady on the floor and the ball is past her. Good shot but the great shot, the money shot would have been a split second earlier when she was diving for the ball and the ball was in front of her. Not an easy shot to get at all. But when you catch it, it is always a winner. Don’t be afraid to anticipate action and “spray and pray”. Burst shooting in sports is your friend.
Another thing many photographers forget (myself included) is the emotion shots. We get so caught up in trying to catch the action we forget there is other stories going on. Sometimes the best shots can be of the players on the court after a point and either their celebration or dejection if it was scored against them. Emotion in sports is compelling. Even shooting reactions of players on the bench watching can give you great images. Don’t give up on the shot either. Another example might be when someone is serving. My tendency is to automatically follow the ball and try and catch the action on the other side. Sometimes the best shot is to stay right on the player serving and catch their reaction to whether it was a good or bad serve. Be aware and look for those moments also. I think it was Barry Sanders mother who told him always act like you have been there before. So after a touch down he would just drop the ball(boring). But these look like high school kids, they haven’t been there before and they will show you lots of emotion if you look for it.
Great work looking forward to seeing more! Good luck.

Agree with these comments on the timing, and the emotional captures. Harder this season in vball, but the players are usually pumping each other up between points. Your SS and focus are nice.

I also agree with Jules about location. I like sitting at the net on either side. Shooting up from that angle to the net is dramatic. You are about on height with the setter, and low enough to get great dig shots, capturing faces, eyes, and ball all together.

I got a mid zoom lens to do this - a 50-150 on my crop d7200 which films the frame nicely if I am about 10 feet off the court line. The 16-85 was a tad short.

Agree with these comments on the timing, and the emotional captures. Harder this season in vball, but the players are usually pumping each other up between points. Your SS and focus are nice.

I also agree with Jules about location. I like sitting at the net on either side. Shooting up from that angle to the net is dramatic. You are about on height with the setter, and low enough to get great dig shots, capturing faces, eyes, and ball all together.

I got a mid zoom lens to do this - a 50-150 on my crop d7200 which films the frame nicely if I am about 10 feet off the court line. The 16-85 was a tad short.