Four Places to Stand When You're Shooting Volleyball
Volleyball might be the hardest sport I shoot. The court is small. Six players move through it fast, and good ones work hard not to telegraph where the ball is going. Even when you're in the right spot, the ball itself is tough to freeze.
I made a video walking through how I approached a middle school volleyball match: the gear I brought, four positions I typically shoot from, and one tip that's helped me more than any lens upgrade. Watch it here, then keep reading for the short version and a free shooting map.
Why volleyball is hard to shoot
A few reasons, if you haven't tried it yourself:
- The court is compact. Six players share a 30-foot by 30-foot side of the net. That's tight quarters, and players get between you and your shot constantly.
- The action doesn't telegraph. Good players deliberately hide where the ball is going. You can't anticipate the way you might in a sport with more predictable patterns.
- Players face away from you half the time. Digs send players looking down, away from the overhead lights. Sets send them looking straight up. Either way, getting both eyes and the ball in one frame takes timing, not just a fast lens.
One tip before the gear list
Know what shot a position will actually give you before you commit to it.
In tennis, if I'm on a player's forehand side, I get forehand shots. That's it. I'm not going to get a backhand from there because the player is facing away from me. The same logic applies everywhere. A position isn't good or bad on its own. It trades one shot for another.
What I brought
Nikon Z9, D5, and Z6III. The 70-200mm f/2.8 did most of the work, with the FTZ adapter since it's not a native Z lens.
I also worked the 300mm f/2.8 from the bleachers and experimented with the Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 and the 24-120mm f/4. Neither is a typical sports lens for this situation, but both were worth testing.
Four positions I typically shoot from
Courtside, one side of the net. This is where bumps, digs, and celebration shots happen. You'll need to stay mobile. Players come this direction, and you have to be able to clear out without getting in the way.
Elevated in the bleachers, shooting down. Good for players near the net, close-ups of setters looking up, and serve shots. You don't need a 300mm to work this position. You just need to know what you're after before you climb up.
One end of the court, shooting a single team over the net. This gives you a clean read on one team, but autofocus can lock onto the net instead of the players. A camera with reliable eye tracking earns its keep here.
Behind or beside the scorer's table. Fans and parents usually sit across from this spot. A wide-aperture lens blurs the crowd into a real background instead of a distraction, and the shot ends up feeling more like the actual game.
The volleyball shooting map brings these four positions together on one page and connects them back to the principle of knowing what shot a position is likely to give you.
What would you do differently?
This isn't a tutorial. I'm showing my own decisions so we can all get better at this together.
If you shoot volleyball, or any sport with the same kind of unpredictability, I'd genuinely like to know: which of these four positions would you have gone to first? Is there a lens or a spot I'm missing?
Leave a comment on the YouTube video. I read them, and the next video in this series covers what I changed based on what people said.