Making The Game Easier, Sports Videography Tips: Why You Keep Missing Shots in Sports Videography (And It’s Not Your Camera) -

If you’ve ever come home from a game and felt like you somehow missed every important moment, your first instinct is probably to blame something external. Maybe your autofocus wasn’t fast enough. Maybe your exposure wasn't right. Maybe you need a better lens. I’ve been there. But the truth is, you’re probably not missing shots because of your camera, instead you’re missing them because of how you’re approaching the game. Welcome back to my series: Making The Game Easier: Sports Videography Tips.

Sports videography isn’t just about reacting. If you’re only reacting, you’re already late. The difference between consistently capturing key moments and constantly missing them comes down to anticipation. Take baseball/softball for example; when a batter makes solid contact, your first instinct would be to follow the ball. Your camera, sometimes even subconsciously, will follow where your eyes go. We all want to see a home run or other cool play for ourselves but we risk missing out on the actual player who made that play. In keeping with baseball/softball: if a batter hits a ground ball to our third base player, we know there will be a throw to first. So then why would we track the ball to third base if we know the play will happen at first? Good shooters don’t just follow the ball because they already understand what’s about to happen before it does. That means knowing the sport, recognizing patterns, and putting yourself in position before the play develops.

In my experience, a lot of missed shots come down to positioning. If you’re standing in the wrong place, you’re not getting the shot. This is a great time to discuss using shots with the crowd in the background. Shooting college football, I have seen too many photographers position themselves inefficiently. If I am shooting for the home team, why would I position myself with the away bench/crowd in the background of my shots? If my team is wearing red jerseys, would it make sense to have a background of purple fans? These are decisions that make the difference between cheap highlights and intentional storytelling. This is especially true when you’re working solo. You physically cannot cover everything, so you have to make decisions.

Another big issue is trying to cover too much. This is something I see all the time at events like Track and Field. I see people bouncing between events, chasing action, and ending up with nothing usable. The reality of the situation is that you as a solo shooter can’t be everywhere. The better approach is to commit. Pick your moments. If you’re shooting track, for example, you’re going to miss an event or two. That’s fine. What matters is that the events you do cover, you cover well. We will talk about this in a later blog post but in general, it is more important (especially at smaller events or as a solo shooter) to tell the story of the event rather than worry about getting every single piece of action.

There’s also a discipline factor that doesn’t get talked about enough. It’s easy to get bored or lose focus when nothing is happening (such as when you happen to be filming a team on the losing end of a blowout). Then the one moment you needed is gone. Poof. No redo. I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay locked in, even when the action slows down. The best shooters are engaged the entire time, not just when the obvious play is unfolding.

Where you stand, what you choose to shoot, and how well you understand the flow of the game will always matter more than specs. If you want to stop missing shots, stop thinking about your camera and start thinking like the game. Learn the patterns. Anticipate the moments. Be intentional with your positioning. And accept that you’re never going to get everything...but you can consistently get the moments that actually matter.