Sports: JMU vs. Georgia State Men's Basketball

As our first sports photography assignment approached, my focus was on fast shutter speed and capturing the peak action in the frame.

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Two examples of missing the action from the frame.

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What I'm Shooting With

I guess the first place to start would be to tell you what kind of camera I have. When I asked first my parents for a camera in 2009, my requirements were that it was "big like Dad's, has a big zoom in the front and takes good quality pictures." If you couldn't tell I was an amateur yet, I just gave it away. I'm sure after a few months of diving deeper into the world of photography I'll know exactly what I should have asked for that Christmas. But since I'm not there yet, I can say that I'm extraordinarily happy with my camera, as it does everything I first asked it to do.

On that winter wonderland morning I unwrapped a Nikon D5000. It's pretty basic, and has a LCD screen that flips out and can take videos. It came with a lens of 18-55mm.

This camera has led to a great lineage of gift ideas for my parents each holiday. My camera case didn't come with the camera that first Christmas, so for my birthday in February, guess what I got in the mail? I'd just like to point out my mom's creative edge to monogramming a gift such as a camera bag:

I'm about to turn 22 and yes, I still have that on my bag. Christmas the next year I got an AWESOME spy lens, a 55-300mm..which means if you are across the room from me, chances are I can zoom in on your eyeball. It's just the way it is. It was amazing to have when I was studying abroad and I wanted to zoom on monuments or buildings, or European people across the street.

Thing I first learned about the spy lens: Great for detail, terrible for landscapes.

So that's pretty much all the information I can provide about it. Here are some deets I gathered from some research for the more advanced, techy photographers who want to know more:

• It's an upgrade from the Nikon D60 but sits below the D90. I hope I'm not the only one that doesn't wonder why they went from the tens to the thousands.
• 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
• 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
• Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
• Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
• Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
• 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
• IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
• 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
• Expeed image processing engine
• Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
• Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
• New battery with increased capacity
• 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback

So there you go! Please feel free to add any suggestions or tips as I go along.