timeimmortal

Sports photography, that is…and I should further clarify the statement by saying that in particular, the kind of sports photography I am speaking of here is sports photography for youth sporting events (like, say, junior-high basketball, or senior-high volleyball).

Yes, I spent the weekend shooting sports photos. Grace and I woke up on Saturday and, at my urging, abandoned our previous weekend plans (cleaning and shopping) in favour of booking it (and I mean ‘booking’ — 140 km/h or more for much of the trip, except a stretch between Elk Island National Park and Vegreville in which I was practically tailgating two highway patrol cars at a comfortable 130 km/h) out to Vermilion to watch her younger sister play in the 1A Zone Championships. It turned out to be just the sort of weekend we needed to have, and we both had a great time.

And I took “somewhere in the neighbourhood of” 300 photos during the three — well, two and a half — games that we watched.

Now, as I understand from co-workers and other contacts of mine, there is a bit of a market for this stuff, for people who will come to swim meets, soccer games, volleyball tournaments, and other such events with camera, computer, and printer in tow. Parents are often interested, I’m told, in getting a printed picture (or CD full of pictures) of their kid in action on the court or in the pool.

And I wonder if I shouldn’t set myself up to do that sort of thing every now and again. Of course, I’d need some better equipment, to say the least — my 17-85 mm IS lens is good for walkabout and travel, but it’s not sharp enough (and causes entirely too much chromatic fringing) for use in a professional capacity. I’ve had my eye on two lenses, both by Sigma (see here and here*), for a while now that would probably work very well for me as lenses in this context, although there’s obviously a price tag attached to getting my hands on that sort of glass.

(* although…that 30 mm f/1.4 lens has come down in price a fair bit, and is on sale this month…)

I wonder if it would be worth it? Would I have the time to do that sort of thing on a regular basis? Would it actually be something one could turn into a moneymaking venture? Maybe I can stress-test the idea the next time I’m out shooting pictures in Vermilion at a sporting event.

~ by Kenneth on November 19, 2007.