Fastpitch softball in the fall

[QUASIPHOTO]

Here are a couple shots taken from this past weekend of a fall softball tournament. The first one was taken with a 70-200L IS USM, Av mode wide open at f2.8 with a 1.4 tc on. Shot from center field fence 200 ft. away. Kind of a cool angle......just a bit different. The second one was shot at night under the ever evil field lighting 70-200L IS USM wide open at f2.8 without the 1.4 at 1600 ISO no noise reduction was done to it.
Both shot with a 20D. Thanks for looking.

[ACDCROCKS]

nice shots, lookslike the lighting is a killer,3200 ISO wouldn't kill the pic, but Iwould try it on a few pics and see if you like it on the computer...nice composition

[QUASIPHOTO]

One thing that I did learn shooting the night pics. Especially with the white shirts and dark pants. Since I was shooting in Av mode wide open, I found that setting the metering on the dark pants and locking it in before taking the shot was the way to go. If I metered off the white shirt.......the shots came out way to dark. And I thought about stepping up the ISO to 3200, but I was trying to not get to much noise in the shots. The bat blur and the ball blur is kind of a cool effect, something a bit different.
Thanks for looking and commenting.

[Croasdail]

Agreed Quasi.... I have seen some really good stuff at ISO 3200, but your exposure has to be just snap on perfect to avoid noise - and I would prefer some motion rather then noise and hyper contrast. I am just not good enough to nail exposure that well - so 1600 is the edge of my personal comfort zone. I really like the second shot... good feel to it.

[QUASIPHOTO]

Thanks Mark.......I posted these mainly to give others an idea of results with lens/camera combination. The first shot is highly cropped, I'm surprised that it came out as good as it did. The original shot has the pitcher in it as well, thats where that BIG glass would come in really handy.....i.e. a 300mm or 400mm or larger. And I wanted to see what type of shot that would be for high school ball this next spring. That really is a bit far for that 70-200 even with the 1.4 with it. And yes I did try and shoot some in manual at the night game. The key word there would be TRY. Alas.....back to aperture priority I went. Anyway......this gives some of us with questions about this and that......what can happen. I'm hoping that's what this forum is about........learning and learning from others. At least I know that's what I get from here........tons of knowledge from everyone.

[ACDCROCKS]

Thanks Mark.......I posted these mainly to give others an idea of results with lens/camera combination. The first shot is highly cropped, I'm surprised that it came out as good as it did. The original shot has the pitcher in it as well, thats where that BIG glass would come in really handy.....i.e. a 300mm or 400mm or larger. And I wanted to see what type of shot that would be for high school ball this next spring. That really is a bit far for that 70-200 even with the 1.4 with it. And yes I did try and shoot some in manual at the night game. The key word there would be TRY. Alas.....back to aperture priority I went. Anyway......this gives some of us with questions about this and that......what can happen. I'm hoping that's what this forum is about........learning and learning from others. At least I know that's what I get from here........tons of knowledge from everyone.

If I were in your sitiuation I would of used Manual, F2.8 Iso 1600With a flash and 3200 with out.....1/250 A second, softball is a little slower than football, should be pretty easy to shoot.

[QUASIPHOTO]

Thanks for the suggestion. Can you do that? Will they let you use a flash for softball at night? I never have thought of asking.

[ACDCROCKS]

hmm..Softball, I don't see the problem, as long as you don''t flash it 9 Times is a second lol (caugh caugh pros ;) I admit, I do it) j/k... I would ask first,they allow it in football, which is more dangerous, they allow it in soccer, and basketball, it's kind of like a kids game compared to all of those, it's that easy, and if they complain there just nit picky... just like the soccer refs in my area "Stay behind the yellow line...( I was behind 3 feet), He said told the coach, the coach knew the referee was posessed and wierd, he did't care.But I would ask...If they say no then no harm, a trip to B&H (or where ever they sell it) to get Ninja Noise Software (if you wanted to and think 3200 IS is grainy.)
Thats what I would do, or go into the stands and use the flash and blame the guy next to you;) j/k...

Peace

[fslshooter]

QUASIPHOTO - What you learned about white uniforms throwing off exposure metering at night is even more applicable in bright sunlight. Your idea to shoot from center field with big glass is a good one. I have a PJ friend who sometimes shoots from the scoreboard in left center field with a 600mm and 1.4x TC before the sun goes down -- he gets some good stuff! As for using a flash, as long as you're outside the fence you might not get tossed -- I sure wouldn't suggest you try it if you have field access though.

[QUASIPHOTO]

Thanks for the tips Jerry. When I was shooting then night stuff, at first I was focusing on the white jerseys with my center point and then halfway depressing the shutter button, and I realized that that was setting the expousure on the white jerseys. After a couple or so shots I chimped to see where I was at and I noticed that the shots were WAY dark. So that got me to thinking, so I tried setting the focus on the jersey THEN depressing halfway shutter on their dark pants.......and whalaa...........exposure was much better.
I didn't even think that that would be the same case in the daylight. I have had a problem with these girls' uniforms. They have some grey shirts and dark shorts/pants that have seem to mess me up as far as the exposure thing. I still have to figure that out.
Yeah I bet some BIG glass out from center field would be great. I have to figure out how I can finagle that one.........lol. What about stacking TC's? What would that do to the quailty of the pics?
And as far as using flash at a sporting event........that makes me VERY nervous, just for the reason that you said. I try and keep a pretty low profile and stay on the good sides of the coaches and refs/umpires. I dont even cheer for my team.........lol.
But thanks for looking and helping me out with your suggestions.

[fslshooter]

What about stacking TC's? What would that do to the quailty of the pics?
Afraid I can't answer that one -- I don't own any TCs myself. Perhaps someone else can help. I would think that the image quality might suffer some but with good light it might be minimal.

I dont even cheer for my team
I've made this mistake. The most memorable time was once when I was shooting from directly behind the opponent's bench outside their dugout. When one of our guys hit a home run I cheered and a guy on the bench turned around and casually asked if I wanted him to put my camera in a place where the sun doesn't shine :o .