An hour to kill on a warm afternoon - lets go try some more baseball (image warning)

[Croasdail]

Had a quick hour to kill so I headed over to Duke to catch a couple of innings. Tried so new angles, a little through the net, yada-yada.... still figuring things out. Anyway... here are a few shots ... comments, tips, tricks all appreciated.

[greg20d]

WOW!!!!!!!! I dont have words ....

[jsnoah]

Picture #1 could be the best I have seen in a while!!! You got the SEAMS!!!!!! Sheesh! Perfection? I think!

[gmen]

Nice, nice, nice... these are stonkingly peachy...

#1 really makes me want to see the three guys in the foreground from the front :lol: but that's the beauty of the image I guess!

#2 is really cool... something's making me want to crop it from the left... to remove that umpire bloke from the pic... to focus the attention on the pitcher...

That big green 'wall' around the playing area makes for a great background as well.

Jubbly.

EDIT: To get the juices flowing even more, have you seen this pic on ss.com: http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1502 ?

---- Gavin

[MazerRakhm]

Very nice! I really like the second one! I think a crop like gmen suggested would really make it even better. More of a pitcher vs. catcher theme.

[emurph2]

Great baseball shots!!!

[Croasdail]

Gavin - I have poored over that article and it is what got me shooting from that angle... but thanks again the link. I have also looked at his other work... the kid is going to go places (kidness is relative to my age). Wish I had his eye. In fact, I think I might have gotten the link from you originally.

So here is a variation on the second shot. I tried recroping but wasn't able to get a look I felt good about... the nice thing about baseball is you get lots of chances to learn on the pitchers. This was a pitch or two before that first post as I was working on my timing. Is this more what you had in mind?

http://www.buzzershot.com/images/668B8854_edited-1.JPG

If anyone wants to recrop the second shot... be my guess... always open to some free learning here.

[fslshooter]

Mark -

Exceptionally nice work -- and shooting through the net too! #s 3 and 4 are perfect for baseball cards and the action stuff should be exactly what clients want for publication. Personally I don't think you have anything else to figure out about shooting baseball -- you've got it my friend! IMO #3's your best shot but that's the kind of stuff I shoot so I might be biased.

[gmen]

Ok.... while we're (roughly) on the subject... and we're upping the ante ;) ...have u seen these spring training baseball portraits?...

http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=1745

---- Gavin

[burntbizzkit]

Wonderful shots! I like the new angles. Everything about these shots is just beautiful. Great composition and exposure. #3 is my favorite of the bunch.

[Croasdail]

WOW!!!!!!!! I dont have words ....

Thanks - none needed, appreciate the comments

Picture #1 could be the best I have seen in a while!!! You got the SEAMS!!!!!! Sheesh! Perfection? I think!

Thanks, it kinda turned out neat I thought. But to see what can really be done check out the link in gman's first post - now that is awsome... mine is just a poor attempt to steal a good idea.

Very nice! I really like the second one! I think a crop like gmen suggested would really make it even better. More of a pitcher vs. catcher theme.

I tried, and looked at some other shots I had and none really did what you all were talking about. I am shooting the game this afternoon again, and if the crowd is light enough I may try some more different positions. Thanks for the comments though - it is good to see this through others eyes.

Great baseball shots!!!

Thanks Erica, I try....

Exceptionally nice work -- and shooting through the net too! #s 3 and 4 are perfect for baseball cards and the action stuff should be exactly what clients want for publication. Personally I don't think you have anything else to figure out about shooting baseball -- you've got it my friend! IMO #3's your best shot but that's the kind of stuff I shoot so I might be biased.

Thanks Jerry - yes there are certain aspects of the game I am feeling comfortable with, but there is still much more to do. There were two back to back infield errors that I should have been able to catch, that I didn't respond fast enough too. So more work to do. Also, looking a Gavins second post.... that is my biggest hole. I totally lack the skills to do the creative shots like in that post... much much work to do there.

Ok.... while we're (roughly) on the subject... and we're upping the ante ...have u seen these spring training baseball portraits?...

http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=1745

Argh! The bar just got moved way higher! That kind of work just scares the you-know-what out of me. Certain things I feel pretty comfortable with now.....but shooting into the sun, using artificial lighting, and anything creative scare me to death. Someday I'll get it....just not there yet. Thanks for the link though as always - something more to study.

Wonderful shots! I like the new angles. Everything about these shots is just beautiful. Great composition and exposure. #3 is my favorite of the bunch.

Thanks Chris...the nice thing about baseball is you get a lot of chances to shoot the same subject tweaking your shooting a little each time. Wouldn't it be nice if in Basketball we could have the shooters take the same shot several times so we can tweak our shooting location and setup.... but with baseball you get that chance. The hard thing about baseball (or Softball) is once there is contact, the ball moves really fast over great distances and there isn't a chance to be setup for both the hit and the defensive play.... at least not that I have figured out.

Thanks all for the looking and the comments.

[piazza31]

#1 and #2 are fantastic!
#2... Sorry for the question, I'm a complete newbie... did you shoot this with manual focus I suppose to have the pitcher in focus? Is manual focus for those shots necessary at all, or could I stick with the autofocus feature and achieve those particular focus shots?

Thanks

[Croasdail]

hey Piazza31... with a 20D or a 350D you really have two choices. The safest and easiest is to use the cameras AF to lock on focus on the pitcher - click the AF to Manual and recompose. The down side to this is if there is a hit you need to move back to AF really quick and I just miss the switch sometimes. The other way which I don't use but many love is to use the * button to trigger AF - lock on to pitcher - the release the * and recompose. For scenerios like this, if you have the ability, that method would work great. With the 1d series, you have enough af points that you can actually setup for the shot by having the hot zone just off center. But for me, being super simplistic, I like the old manual focus method.... it is just more reliable for me.

[DavidEB]

Mark -- excellent work. 1 is a lovely shot, with the ball frozen at the strike zone. I like pitcher shots, and 3 and 4 are fabulous. Either way, hoping heels win.

[Dragonfli Spirit]

Fantastic shots!
Being a newbie, I've not even attempted sports of any kind as yet :)
# 3 is my favourite - he kinda reminds me of elastic man ;)

Donna

[Croasdail]

Thanks David...

Hey Donna - thanks for looking and commenting.

If you all haven't seen http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1502 yet ... go look - totally cool shots. This is the best I have been able to get to replicating this... good thing the season is still young.

http://www.buzzershot.com/images/Ball_Shot.jpg

[liza]

Excellent shots, Mark. Personally, I like the action captured in #5. I'm gearing up for baseball season, too. Only one more week!

[Croasdail]

Many thanks Liza..... looking forward to seeing your shot.

[QUASIPHOTO]

Awesome shots Mark......dang snappy work here!!!!! I like the different perspective. I've tried to do a little bit of that.......as of yet nothing right behind the plate though. Possibly will get the chance in the next few weeks for something like this. Thanks for posting and the ideas. Very creative.