Tennis Anyone?

Lately, the similarities of tennis and photography have been on my mind. Random? Maybe. But for a gal who's dad likes to relate life to football, relating one's vocation to tennis seems somewhat natural. Although, my father wouldn't be caught dead playing or watching tennis. It's just not macho enough, nor is it a team sport - something he highly values - believing it builds good character. Course, I don't know what that says about all the years he spent as a bookie while I was growing up, and how much I used to love answering the phones for him when he needed to hop in the shower, "yes, I have it written down, Jimmy "the worm" wants a 5x parlay on San Fran. Got it." ----- but that's throwing us way of course.

My husband, on the other hand, is an avid tennis player (don't worry, my dad doesn't hold this against him nor any of the other "clean cut" aspects about his appearance and behavior, but there I go again, digressing) and, so as I was saying, on Sunday's we've been playing together. Although I played a little in high school, I was more interested in touch football, double dutch and I even rowed crew for a couple years. So, what's got me all curious about the game of tennis is that it's all about being ready, alert and focused. That there, is similar to photography. It's also important to line yourself up with the ball, get your body and racket into position, and hit the ball at just the right time at just the right angle. Then, you must quickly prepare for the next oncoming ball. If you're not concentrating it's really easy to become distracted and the whole system breaks down completely. Again, ever-so-similar to photography, just swap out the ball for your subject.

So, this is where I have an opportunity to up my game - where photography can help me with tennis and tennis can help me to take better pictures. When I'm shooting, all I can think about is the shot. I'm obsessed like a squirrel with its nut. When I'm playing tennis, however, I'm thinking, "oh, that girl behind the fence has cute shorts on. Oh, those kids over there are alone, wonder where their parents are. Man, those birds are loud." In tennis, I need to de-clutter my mind, and in photography, I need to slow down and really prepare/set up the shot. If you hit the ball too soon or too late when you're on the court, it's sloppy. The same for photography. It's about taking a breath, having all the bells and whistles lined up and knowing just when to snap the shutter so you hit the image clean over the net.

Not sure if any of this made a lick of sense… But oh, well. At the very least, it's interesting to recognize and be open to diverse activities that help you strive to be better at whatever it is you do. Next time I'll blog about the trip I took with my uncle to Bike Week in Daytona - seven days on a Harley - and how my images were published in Outlaw Biker. : 0