AuburnChick's Adventures

Lately I have become quite the photography queen.

I don’t know if you remember when I purchased a new camera this past summer.  It is the Nikon Coolpix P80, and it’s a great camera for the novice photographer.  I talked about my new camera in this post.

With both of my children playing high school soccer, I’m giving the camera quite the workout, averaging over 1,000 pictures per game (if it doesn’t rain).  I use the Sports mode, which allows me to take at least 16 frames every time I hold down the shutter button.

Now, I have watched A LOT of soccer during Soccer Chick’s nearly ten years of playing.  I know how the game is supposed to be played.  However, watching the game through the camera lens is giving me a totally different perspective.  There’s a lot more that happens on the field than appears to the untrained casual observer.

After I transfer the pictures to my computer, I meticulously go through them, shot by shot, to weed out the blurry or random pictures…in the search for THE picture.  The one that captures the moment to a “T.”  Looking at the pictures is almost like watching the game in slow motion…an advantage the spectators do not have because there is no instant replay in soccer.

I am truly in awe at the athleticism of the players.  The height that some of the ladies get on their jumps as they go up for headers reminds me of Michael Jordan.  Folks, most of these girls are not over 5’5″.  My own Chicky stands at a mere 5’2″ and she sometimes gets to the tops of other players shoulders.

Wow!

And the faces the kids make as they prepare themselves to make contact with the ball…scrunching up their faces…squinting their eyes.  They are far braver than I am.  I would be turning tail and running away.

Some of my favorite pictures are the ones of the kids making the extra stretch to tap the ball out from under the feet of other players.  Graceful motion is what it is.

Here’s what I’m talking about.  No, this is not Soccer Chick, but it is a picture from her game.

How can you not love this game and admire those who play it!

Sometimes I wonder what I would see if I took a camera lens to my daily life.  I doubt I would like many of the pictures I would see…the little nuances that I think I’m slipping by everyone.

Hmm…food for thought…

Filed under: soccer | Tagged: nikon coolpix p80, photography, soccer |