why children are like miniature sportsmen

I don't really get bored of taking photographs of kids doing kid things. BUT... I also love to photograph other things. Sports, for example. I love fast moving things because pausing the action with a photograph seems - for lack of a less inept word - magical.

I was hanging out at the Kingston Memorial Centre the other day. I was waiting for the KDG (Kingston Derby Girls, for the uninitiated) to show up because the KDG and I are tight this season. 

So, while I waited, I snapped a few photos of some skaters & BMXers hanging around. It's a pretty sweet spot, really, and it was even sweeter in the dying light of the late May sun.

arms flailing doesn't always mean much. but i do like the action it implies

I used to take skateboarding pictures when we lived in Rotterdam. We went to the skatepark every weekend, and sometimes more often. I am still learning about what makes a good skateboarding photo. Just because there are arms and legs flailing doesn't mean there's real good action worth photographing. Or so I am told.

Anyway, the real point of this is that although children's wild romps through fields and leaps off boulders might be less skillful, they are no less rehearsed than many sports. Kids spend hours a day practicing, after all. And, just like with sports photography, there are some decisive moments that are more magical than others in children's photography.

this little boy decided to jump when he thought no one was looking. but I was looking :)