As prices have dropped over the past several years, sales of the Digital SLR have flourished. Many of the cameras have found their way to the hands of parents on the sidelines of youth sports.

However, many of these parents have been disappointed by their results. However, a few simple steps can help anyone improve their results on any camera.

FIND THE RIGHT POINT OF VIEW
Every game has an established pattern for how the players will move. In football, the offense always is moving towards the end zone. In soccer, the teams are always moving towards the goal.

Position yourself to face towards your childs face. When they are on defense, they will usually be facing you. When they are on offense, they will be moving the ball towards you.

GET LOW
One of the major problems I see anyone takes a picture of a child is they are usually focused downward. They are standing up and directing their child to look up, or taking a photograph of the top of their head.

Obviously, in a football, soccer, softball or other sporting event you cant pull your childs attention away from the game. Put your camera at their eye level or below, and more of their facial expressions will be captured. Especially in sports like soccer, so much of the players attention is focused towards the ball on the ground. You must be low to capture their expressions.

TIGHTEN UP THE FRAMING
Use a zoom lens to reduce the amount of empty space in the frame. Fill as much of the frame as possible with the player and the action.

ANTICIPATE THE ACTION
Every position on the field has a moment of critical action, whether its the quarterback in football, the goalie in soccer, or the hitter in baseball or softball.

Keep your camera up and ready to shoot, and keep your autofocus locked on your subject.

SHOOT THROUGH THE ACTION
Many of the latest cameras will allow you to shoot three to six frames every second, and shoot a burst of pictures of ten to fifteen pictures. Take advantage of this performance when you anticipate the action coming.

 Keep shooting through the action and pick up the reaction. Sometimes the reaction to a goal or touchdown is an even better photograph than the goal itself.

TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES
Its really simple - the more you shoot, the more good photos you will probably take. Theres always an opportunity to edit and throw away some of the shots with closed eyes or bad facial expressions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dennis Murray is a Sports Photographer based in South Forsyth County. He is available for individual, team and league portrait and action engagements at all levels of play and in all sports. He regularly blogs about photography at Dennismurrayphotography.com.