How to shoot best sports photos with Nikon D3000 with 55-300mm lens?

I just got this camera and am trying to figure out the optimal settings and the best way to get the perfect photos.

I have it on the sports setting and it will generally come out blurry when shooting volleyball pics. Can anybody please help me out here? Pretend you're talking to an idiot as I'm pretty much clueless on camera terminology.

Make sure you shutter speed is set to 1/500th second and make adjustments in your ISO setting and shoot with the lens wide open. You will get good exposures outside in bright sun, but at night under lights or indoors, you may be fighting a losing battle until you can afford a faster lens (f/2.8)

If you shoot at a longer shutter speed, you images will be blurry from either subject or camera movement, probably both

Here is a sample shot indoors using a 300 mm lens at f/2.8 and the shutter speed set to 1/500th second at ISO 3200.html? Sort=3&o=14

Sports is an extreme photo environment, and your camera will not be able to do a very good job unless you go into manual or shutter priority mode. Also, your lens is a general purpose lens, and not the best lens for sports photography.

tip 1: get out of sports mode and learn how to use manual or shutter priority. Set your shutter speed to around 1/125 minimum (and you may have to go higher to prevent blur - but never lower than 1/125). You will have to increase ISO to get proper exposure - but realize that when you increase ISO, the quality of your photos will go down.

tip 2: do not use your lens all the way zoomed in, Use 150mm max (your lens is faster the less it is zoomed in). This won't help much, but you need to get everything out of your lens that you can.

And then pick up Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" to help you understand how to use your camera in manual exposure mode and to setup your camera properly:

http://www.amazon.com/...817439390/

If you are shooting indoor volleyball, your lens may not be up to the task. In that case, for the best results, you will need a sports lens. The least expensive good sports lens is probably the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8.It costs around $1, 200 - but that is what it takes. And it is about half the price of the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8, so in relative terms, it is a cheaper solution.

I've just got this great pair of swimming shorts, how do I learn to jump off the top diving dale and do triple somersaults like an Olympic Champion… Without making too much of a splash.

It looks really cool when you see athletes doing it on the telly?

Set camera at shutter priority S, select fast shutter speed, Continuous focus( if the subject moves, it stays in focus), keep subject in your chosen focus area, ISO 200.