How To Take Pictures from the Stands at Sporting Events

Speaking of the flash, how many times have you seen hundreds of cameras firing off from the stands during a sporting event in a large stadium? Alas, what a waste of film, battery power, and space on memory cards.

The flash range of most point-and-shoot cameras is about 10 feet. That means that if you're shooting from the stands, you're illuminating a couple of rows of seats in front of you, and that's about it. Instead, turn off your flash and use existing-light techniques. If you can adjust your camera's ISO setting bump it up to 200 or 400. This will increase your camera's light sensitivity.

When you take the shot hold the camera very steady, because the shutter speed will be slow and you'll want to minimize camera shake, which degrades image quality. Better yet, use a tripod if the situation allows.

Even if you hold the camera steady, the action on the playing field will blur, so try to make your exposures right after, or before, the action.

Obviously, you're not going to get Sports Illustrated shots from the cheap seats. But for memorable occasions, such as your hometown team winning the NCAA championship, it's great to have a few well-exposed images from the event to keep in your scrapbook.