Durham Bulls Baseball Part II (many images - sorry)

[Croasdail]

So, still working on the right location to be able to shoot both infield action, but still get those illusive outfield shots. Not completely happy but getting there. Nice thing about baseball is you get lots of opportunity to practice. These all shot with a Sigma 120-300 with either a 1.4x tc or 2.0x tc attached. For outfield shots, you really really need a 400 2.8 at a minimum.

This guy had a great wind up.....



close-up of the Bull Pitcher



Sending a message to the runner on first


and making the runner pay when they don't listen...


he didn't listen to the warning either and paid the price...



a little payback from the bulls...



and some of that illusive outfielding - I am really struggling with these


thanks for looking and any pointers are well appreciated.... cheers all!

[Bill S]

Nice sharp shots good action.
Which shots are with the 2.0 TC? Which TC is it Sigma or Canon?

[MazerRakhm]

Great action shots.

[Greg P.]

Very awesome. Some helpful critiquing, as hard as it is to time it, the last photo would be alot better if you had taken the shot maybe a half second later, when the ball would be nearly in the glove like it was in the shot before, which is sweet.

[musicmate]

Superb work excellent exposure baseball is a sport i would love to shoot i will have to look to see if there are any local teams here in the UK.

Steve

[gmen]

Nice stuff Mark...looks to me that focal length is the key here... time to hire a 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4 I reckon.... it's very much like cricket... I'm starting to shoot at 800mm just to save cropping and to blow the backgrounds.

Superb work excellent exposure baseball is a sport i would love to shoot i will have to look to see if there are any local teams here in the UK.

Steve

http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/

---- Gavin

[Croasdail]

Nice stuff Mark...looks to me that focal length is the key here... time to hire a 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4 I reckon.... it's very much like cricket... I'm starting to shoot at 800mm just to save cropping and to blow the backgrounds.

---- Gavin

This is where that need to focus on specific sports comes in that I have been struggling with. I can really see that if I were to do baseball on a regular basis, the 600 f4 would be a peach of a lens to have in my bag. I am trying to keep my kit under control so I am trying to find sports that use simular equipment. The idea is to be able to add some unique value that the rest of the people out there are not satisfying. So to your last comment... 400 + 2x or 600 + 1.4x.... which is better? Cheers

[coryjohnson]

how did your 20d repair turn out mark?

[maderito]

Mark,

Good work. I'm surprised how hard it is to isolate subjects despite the 300mm + TC. Looks like you're about 100-125 feet away from the mound. Your looking at a real $$ investment to increase your reach. :confused:

Have you shot Bulls night games? Do you get more "pop" in the images (well-lit players against darker backgrounds)?

The 1st shot best captures the essence of the game IMO. The pitcher in the 3rd shot is cropped nicely except for the missing glove. The focus is possibly on the forearm, not the face. If you can get that angle on the mound again, well worth spending time to get a perfect shot.

[chrishunt]

Super shots Mark. #2 is my favorite and such a great photo with the 2x!! I've never shot baseball with more than 200mm, so I totally understand the outfield dilemma. I don't even try to get that stuff. Hopefully someday I'll have something long enough to make that possible. Thanks for the post.

[Croasdail]

Cory - Bill was $207 for a shutter replacement and camera cleaning. Overall I am not unhappy. I am not a carefull as others with my equipment - it gets exposed to a lot of rough and tumble, so I wouldn't read a lot into my results as compared to what you should expect.

Woody - sharpeness is still relatively there with the TCs, what suffers is color saturation which hurts. Yep, looks like a big lens is the future..... when... probably not until next March. Night games are tough. I haven't posted any yet as I haven't shot many night games. I will though soon and let you be the judge. On the pitcher shots... needing a good contrast line, the camera picked up the arm with just enough DOF to sneak the face in there. I should have used a lower focus point to grab the belt for focus... but didn't think of it at the time because they looked good at the time.

Chris - I shot ACC softball championships this weekend and tried a few from the outfield since it was only 200 feet deep. I only had the 1.4 with me, and for anything other then plays at second base, it was still too short. With a 400 + 1.4 tc, I think the whole field is workable in softball. Hardball adds another 100 feet, so were up to a 500 or 600 f4 to get anything reasonable. But the outfield shooting offered some pretty neat angles that I am going to explore more next season.

Cheers all.

[superdiver]

Gmen, how do you shoot at 800 with a 600 f4? or are you using a different lens then that?

[Bill S]

Croasdail,

Great shots good action. Are you using Sigma TC's or Canon's?

[QUASIPHOTO]

Mark,
Really awesome shots!!! Those 1st few are the shizzz!!!!! I know what you mean about the focal length. A big HUGE piece of glass would work wonders for the outfield. My little 70-200 does OK at infield stuff.....but to reach the outfield........very frustrating.

[Croasdail]

Hi Bill - these were with the Sigma branded TCs. I am just too cheap to buy the Canon ones because I don't use them enough to justify the price difference.

Hey Quasi..... haven't seen you around. I actually thought of you the other day as I was shooting the ACC Softball Tourney. I dicided to try shooting from the outfield which was a change. Need to work on if for next year. Here are a some test shots I took... I liked the angle. I haven't spent really anytime with them and they are suffering from being over TC'ed... but you get the idea.


Who says girls don't play hard...

and an actual outfield catch caught close up...

[Knightshade]

I really like that first picture, lots of energy.

And if those pictures are an example of your struggles with outfield pictures, I need ALOT more practice than I originally thought I did!!

[QUASIPHOTO]

Diggity Dang Mark, those softball shots are totally awesome. Wow some really nice grabs there. I've been around somewhat, but been really really busy with domestic stuff. I'll try and post some stuff later. Thanks for posting those softball shots though.....really nice.

Jeff