Virtual Memories unlocks the true power of digital media, combining your pictures with your favorite music to create dramatic, one of a kind DVD's that you will enjoy forever.

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Tips for sports photo shows

A Virtual Memories photo show is a unique and affordable way to commemorate your team's year. We will produce a keepsake DVD production of your team's season professionally editing those photos to music, making an entertaining show that will delight your players and their families.

Getting ready for an effective team photo show is a "team effort." You will want to assign the following roles, either as "official" assignments or at least as informal but well-understood tasks. It is possible, but brave, for one person to play all three roles.

1. Director. One individual (sometimes but not usually the coach) needs to make the creative decisions or preside over the democratic process of making those decisions.

• Will the photo show be all action shots, or should there be posed "baseball card" photos of each individual?
• When will the group photo be taken?
• Will the photo coordinator and/or the photographers get any special benefit aside from the team's thanks?
• Which color uniform will the group shots be in?
• Can a "practice in uniform" be scheduled when photographers are allowed on the field/court to shoot photos, or will all the action shots be from real games?
• The director should also help team members determine how many photos will be included, so that team members can agree that the final result will be affordable for all who want them. The minimum effective sports photo show is between 40 and 50 photos; the maximum is about 200. Beyond that number, the director and the team should consider doing more than one photo show.

2. Photo coordinator. This will be the individual that we at Virtual Memories work with. A photo coordinator might be someone who likes to take photos and is computer savvy.

• He or she will collect all the photos and insure that the final selection is representative of the whole team.
• Note that if the project is being done on behalf of a league or group of teams, there should be a "coordinator of coordinators" so that Virtual Memories still has a single point of contact for the project.

3. One or preferably more Photographers. Parents or adult team members should take lots of pictures. See below for some photo tips.

Photo coordinator tips

1. Get at least 1-2 pictures of every team member. Try to get shots of groups of players also. Use the team roster and check off names as pictures are taken.

2. Select a practice date with the coach in which the players wear their uniforms.

• This will give you and other photographers an opportunity to take individual pictures of each team member as well as an informal team picture with the coaches.
• By having this practice, you will also be able to get onto the field and take "action" shots of the team practicing.
• Use drills (penalty shots in soccer, layups in basketball, batting practice in baseball) that isolate individuals in action, and have more than one photographer shoot the individual action if possible.
• Action shots are notoriously difficult, so the more the merrier.

3. Choose and enforce realistic deadlines -- you don't want to exclude anyone, or pass up any photographer's good shots, but neither do you want to miss the end-of-season dinner or the coach's retirement or whatever target date you have set.

4. At least a week before your team deadline approaches, collect pictures from photographers. Select only the best photos you have. Make sure the photos you select to be included in the show are clear and in focus.

Photographer tips:

Use the right tools

If you are still shooting with a film camera, use high speed film, and carry extra rolls. If you are shooting with a digital camera, see if the camera will allow you to choose a fast shutter speed and/or high ISO setting. Familiarize yourself with the zoom and telephoto capabilities of your camera, and consider an add-on zoom lens if your camera has that option. If your telephoto lens requires it, plan to use a tripod or monopod to steady the camera for long-distance shots. If you are using a digital camera, make sure you have enough memory space or extra memory modules for all the shots you'll want to take, and enough battery life to cover the warm-ups, the game, AND the victory celebration. (See Shoot, shoot, shoot below.)

Position yourself

Think about where the action will be -- the goal, the basket, the bases, home plate, the goal line. Get as close to that action as you safely can, without interfering with play. Then watch the game with your finger on the shutter button and the camera close to your face. With practice, you may be able to do as professional photographers do, watching the action with both eyes open, one on the viewfinder and one looking past the camera.

Lead the action, don't follow it

Let the action come to you. If you are chasing the players, you are shooting backs, not faces. If the action is moving past you, minimize blur by moving your head and camera to track the action. Be aware of how much shutter delay your camera has. Many cameras will capture the image a significant fraction of a second after you click the shutter, so if you are moving the camera, follow through and keep it moving after you click.

Practice

If you have the chance, take pictures at practices as well as at the game. At practice, you may (with the coach's permission) be able to come out onto the court or field and shoot from perspectives that are not available during the game. Practice will also involve repeated actions like shots on goal from every player, or thirty serves in a row, that would never happen in a game. Most important, YOU will practicing with your equipment while the players are practicing their skills, so you will both be ready for "the winning shot."

Shoot, shoot, shoot

Don't be stingy about how many photos you take. The event will only happen once, this batter may not be up again before the end of the game, number 55 may be replaced by a substitute next quarter. Keep shooting. Make your selection of shots after the game from many times more photos than you need. Remember that Virtual Memories may be able to tighten or re-center a rushed, wider-angle shot by cropping away some of the distracting or extraneous parts of the image.

Links

• Photographing sports and action tips from Kodak
• Your guide to editing, printing and sharing your digital photos