While covering the Half Moon Bay-Aragon volleyball match Tuesday, I was approached by an Aragon student photographer who wanted some tips on sports photography. It turned into my first on-the-fly tutorial, which got me to thinking: with the proliferation of student photographers on sidelines and baselines of high school sporting events, whether for student newspapers or yearbooks, I figured it might be a good time to give student photogs some tips when it comes to shooting sports.

Let me first say that I am not a trained photographer. I did not go to school for photography and I had never shot a single sporting event in my life until I joined the San Mateo Daily Journal. But in the intervening 22 years since I came to the Peninsula, I will say I have gotten pretty proficient at sports photography.