Doube Celebration

Jubilation in the background can greatly enhance a foreground celebration photo.

Bowdoin's Zoe Ryu (10) celebrates as teammate Chloe Snyder (18) on the bench leaps for joy during volleyball win over Tufts.

The Photo
Volleyball players provide numerous opportunities to capture happy faces and celebrations, as players react and cheer one another after almost every play. Players on tne court will be ecstatic, as well as teammates on the bench who are constantly yellng encouragement and reinforcement.

In this match, Bowdoin was the home team, eager to beat Tufts, then sitting much higher in the NESCAC volleyball standings. Throughout the contest, individual Bowdoin players in the game would congratulate one another after each point, and teammats cheered just as hard from the bench. I was able to capture multiple photos of passionate and happy faces, but so far these weren't anything overly special or unique. Instead I began to concentrate on one of Bowdoin's most active players, who was scoring many of her team's points, and I expected to get a nice action shot. However, she quickly scored scored a key point and raised her arms in a "V" for victory sign, which I quickly photograsphed.  Meanwhile, one of her teammates on the bench in the background celebrated with the same "V" while jumping up and down.  I changed my focus to capture them both in the same image, giving me a terrific conbination of foreground and background celebrations.

The foreground player was happy and in focus, while the bench player's "V" and leap off the bench, although not in sharp focus, added more emotion to create a powerful celebration photo that encapsulated Bowdoin's 3-1 win over Tufts.

3 Tips
1. Always capture the foreground celebration first.
2. Reframe the photo to include visible happiness by other players, fans, or coaches nearby or in the background.
3. Even if the background celebrations aren't fully in focus, the multiuple levels of joy make the photo much more powerful.

I Got This

It's unusual to have a clear shot of a volleyball player diving to make a great play, but you always want to stay ready.

Bowdoin College volleyballer Anna Yeh dives to tip the ball to a teammate, helping her #10 ranked team upset #2 seed and cross state rival Colby College in the NESCAC playoffs.

The Photo
Volleyball is a wonderful sport to photograph, with impressive athleticism and fast action, but the most common photo opportunities are the terrific emotional reactions and expressions from players celebrating practically every good play.  Great volleyball action photos are tougher to get because the playing area is small, you often have to guess who will hit the ball because there's not enough time to react, and players frequently block the clearest view of great plays.

In this NESCAC Conference quarterfinal playoff match, the #10 ranked Bowdoin Polar Bears were the underdog playing at the #2 Colby Mules. After Colby won the first game, it looked like the home team favorite would win the match easily, but Bowdoin quickly rallied to win 2 games and take a big lead in the next game, putting them on the verge of a tremendous upset match victory.  When Polar Bear defensive specialist Anna Yeh dove to tip the ball to a teammate, the other players miraculously moved out of the way to give me a clear view and a great photo, and Bowdoin went on to score the match-winning point and advance to the conference semifinals.

3 Tips

1. Great volleyball action photos are challenging to get because the playing area is small and players often block out a photographer's view of the best action.
2. Expect powerful emotional reaction photos, since volleyball players react intensely to practically every positive play.
3. Always stay ready to react quickly and capture great volleyball action shots, because they can be spectacular.