PhantomTides

Games

Photographing sports is a completely different endeavor from photographing scenes or people. Ansel Adams famously said that there was a difference between making a photo and simply taking a photo — thoughtful photography is generally the result of the former. But sports requires timing and technical expertise to take a photo in a different way, since the photographer seldom gets another try at the same scene. Baseball is relatively straightforward: There are lots of good angles, and the movement is predictable to a great degree. Volleyball is hell: The court is small, the action is extremely fast and usually unpredictable, and the lighting is horrible, forcing photographers always to balance image quality against speed. Still, I'm getting better by experience. I got a handful of shots last season that make me proud — out of several thousand images. Sigh. I'll keep working.