Volleyball Photography: How to Capture Epic Sports Shots

[@Gingergall17]

love how you treated the girls! Professional / big brother respect. You were great with them.

[@NP3D]

Thank you so much! I have shot these girls since they were little. Being able to joke and kid around with my clients has always been my thing. I don’t typically shoot teams or for people I don’t know. Thank you for saying that!

[@michaelarmbruster3282]

i really love your pictures and think your a really good photo taker

[@NP3D]

Thank you so much!!! I appreciate you for the comment and watching!

[@markparris5255]

What brand of the boom arm? So awesome… thank you ~ Great video.

[@saulobelter]

Pleaae could you describe Flashs you are using at the photo shooting ?

[@davidwethington2957]

Cool video! Seems like you have a good rapport with the team. That's awesome! I'm gonna chip away at watching your other videos!

[@NP3D]

Honestly, having good vibes with the teams or people that you shoot can make the difference between a one time shoot and many. I love what I do so it comes off hopefully when I'm shooting for people. Thank you for watching!

[@mariomoreno4022]

Really glad I stumbled onto this video! Love watching the workflow and how you handle yourself. Do you have a video of how you edit your photos? Amazing work!

[@NP3D]

I have never really thought about showing the editing process. I hav a lot of local competition so keeping some things to myself seems to keep me with small advantages if that makes sense. I’ve learned the hard way on some things I’ve shared a long time ago. lol. Once I’m so massive and untouchable…maybe I can start doing some of that. Thank you

[@MindBodyWhole]

Hey Jason, can you really be that good? 😊 I really enjoyed this behind the scenes look at how you work. It feels natural and you can tell you really enjoy what you do! Keep it up.

[@NP3D]

Thank you buddy! I think I just need to show the grind more. I tend to be long winded! Hahaha. You are the man!!!!

[@marijn17]

What lens do you use for shoots like this? What would you recommend for a team photo as well?

[@joeybuyske891]

I hope you’ll see this, but what is the light stand you are using with your key light? It looks so much easier to use than a traditional c-stand. Also, what size is your soft box? It looks to be maybe 25” or 36”. Thanks for the video, it was great information.

[@NP3D]

I am using a Cambo light boomer is attached to a large pro version of a flashpoint stand which is amazing! The wheels make it so helpful! It is not a light/weight set up at all! lol. I can set it up by myself but it definitely helps to have two people. I will tell you that I just recently purchased some 15 pound sand bags because wind doesn't care how great your equipment is. I lost 3 7 foot umbrellas last year due to the wind pulling my stands over. I was lucky because the umbrellas got the worst of the damage. The beauty dish is a 26 inch one from Westcott. I love it so much! I probably should buy one that is just a little bit bigger but it does the job and no use spending more on gear.

[@ginasalang9378]

Can you share what settings you use to underexpose the background.

[@NP3D]

I don't typically talk about setting too often because it gets too confusing for most people. What I will tell you is that you should at ISO 100 for anything you shoot first, I don't shoot super wide open for these either because adding light can get you into a situation where you are really blown out. Take a test shot with your lights off and you should almost get a black screen., Then add one light at a time to see what it lights up and make sure its doing what you want. Then repeat the process until you have what you are looking for. Again, you can DM me on instagram if that will help with better information.

[@suparick]

Would this style be something as a part of the normal picture packages we normally order or would this be something extra? It SMSD better than the boring old team pictures.

[@indrajitadvani3742]

Please share more pictures and settings

[@lauraleal8395]

Great tips! What lens did you use to shoot the individual portraits?

[@NP3D]

I love the Sony 24-70 2.8 G-master. Thank you by the way. What do you shoot? Do you have an Instagram?

[@royaltykidstv]

Cool video. Question, I did a cheer team photoshoot and many athletes came out blurry. I shot at f/5.6 ISO 2000 and Shutter speed 1/250. I used ISO 2000 due to the fact that I yet don’t have flash. Was I supposed to shoot at f/8-f/12?

[@NP3D]

Well I don't know what camera you are using but sometimes ISO that high can create some noise. I think you could go a bit slower on the shutter speed and go a bit lower on your ISO. Just tell people to try to stay still and you should be fine like 100th or 150th. Once you get a flash you will not have to turn your ISO up so much. I suggest getting a flash that will shoot in High Speed Sync. Thank you for watching!!!

[@royaltykidstv]

@@NP3D thank you

[@phknutson]

Were the individual shots with just one light?

[@NP3D]

Yes this was with one light. I have changed up how I shoot these or at least I have this year. I think these were a good way for people to see that a one light set up is possible. I do say though that having a back light or hair light/ Rim light is preferable.

[@daralynn4614]

I always have the blank part of the ball facing the camera. The writing on the ball distracts the eye.

[@NP3D]

It’s nice if they have a blank ball but writing was all over this ball.

[@MrJupton1]

Need stronger kick/rim light and def a background light.

[@NP3D]

I appreciate the advice! That’s the beautiful thing about what I do! I’m constantly learning and I’m never beyond taking some advice from anyone willing to speak up! Sorry it took a while to answer! Thank you so much for watching!!!

[@Ldalesports]

Bro show more pictures

[@NP3D]

I'm sorry, I have been hit or miss recently. I guess I am just now getting out of my funk with all the stuff I have dealt with over the las couple of years. I am really hoping to get a lot of content out though very soon.

[@isoawe1888]

This isn’t a video about shooting volleyball, it’s a video about shoot sport portraits

[@NP3D]

I appreciate you watching either way. I guess if you come to my channel and look at my content, you can see that I do a lot of stuff. Action Volleyball vids would be something I guess I could do if that is something people would be interested in seeing.

[@jaxchambers7652]

Sports photography is really changed over the years. It’s looks like a Portrait with a ball in uniform on. Not sports . Portrait Lighting I know I know don’t send me nasty grams.

[@Pochi1]

Too much touching of the players. Really should just direct them to move their hair or position rather than touching.

[@NP3D]

The guy that is adjusting their hair is their Coach. I need to go back through the video to confirm, but I really try not to at all. I agree I try my best to never have to do that or I have someone with them that does that. The world is crazy so I am hyper aware of that stuff especially being a guy in this environment. I appreciate the thoughts on it and I totally agree.

[@Pochi1]

@@NP3D Yes it looks like their coach. He should really know better. I think I only watched you doing just once or twice. I try to direct them to how I want the hair if not hopefully I have a parent or their friend do it. It doesn't matter the gender I just never do it. Some photographers get a reputation as being touchy and it just takes one complain to really ruin your business.

[@Pochi1]

@@NP3D Also forgot to mention that is a great light stand. I need to invest in one like that. I read another comment about tethering and if you have a short window of time it really slows down your workflow as it takes forever to pop up and then everyone wants to gather around and look at the photos. If you have time and with one or two models it works great inside.

[@NP3D]

I totally agree, it’s something I’ve said to other photographers before as well. It’s a nice reminder though because it can happen. I’ve shot these teams for years and I have a good relationship with the players and parents but you are right in that it just takes one thing that can make a bad situation. I appreciate it man!

[@NP3D]

That stand is a flashpoint with casters…I wanna say I paid less than $300 for it. The boom arm was crazy pricey but well worth it. Sometimes I don’t have any help so being able to adjust quickly is huge. You are right about Tethering…I’ve tried and just hated the pause in the work flow. I typically have a 2 hour or less windy to get everyone captured so I have to move fast! Appreciate the interaction on the vids man!

[@isoawe1888]

No offense buddy, but you took all that shit to a gymnasium and didn’t take a laptop to shoot tethered so they didn’t have to look at a 3” screen. 🤔

[@NP3D]

Honestly No offense taken at all. It’s an interesting topic truly and one I struggle with. I’m usually limited on help and on time for these shoots. Even to set up this additional tripod to capture myself can get frustrating to coaches when they want to get these done quickly. Yes being tethered is nice and if I had a consistent helper for setup and take down it might be something I’d be more open to try. I agree that them being able to see their photos is nice but on limited time what ends up happening is them looking at each photo and stopping the flow and thus increasing my time there which for most is an issue. I get an hour to two hours max to set up take a team pic and typically 35 to 40 players. Tethered would be great if time or space availability were not a factor. Do you have some videos of you doing it or how you managed setup and take down by yourself that I could view? I am by myself on my shoots so it would be beneficial if you had video that could help me see what you do to reference. Thanks for the valuable input! I appreciate it!

[@johnb0002002]

This is a well lit portrait shoot. This not shooting volleyball game in gym without light rigging. Seems like a misleading title.

[@NP3D]

I can see your point. Adding a title to anything can be difficult honestly. The title says Sports Photography and the description says what it is as well as the thumbnail indicates it’s not action shots. I need to do an action shoot for volleyball because it is very difficult to shoot and so many shooters have difficulty doing it. I appreciate the input and thank you for watching!