Little League is Here!!!

[Copdaddy5]

After months of anticipation, and countless off-season pitching sessions, baseball season is finally here. I took these last night with my Rebel XTi and a Sigma 70-200.
ISO 1600
shutter 500
F2.8

They still came out very dark and I had to do fairly extensive post-processing, including noise reduction. Does anybody have any tips on how to get better initial results without using flash?

e://IMG_4731_b.jpg


e://IMG_4732_b.jpg

[Copdaddy5]

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s247/TX_CanonMan/The%20Kids/IMG_4731_b.jpg

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s247/TX_CanonMan/The%20Kids/IMG_4732_b.jpg

[Peter G]

These are not bad at all under those conditions. You did well with the noice reduction in PP. Other than cranking up the ISO and/or getting a faster lens not much more you can do under Little League lighted fields. Wait for day games and you'll knock'em dead!

Your son looks to have solid mechanics. Easy motion and good leg drive. Glove a bit low on front side and might cause to lose a few high. Otherwise, very solid and I bet a hard thrower. Once a pitching coach, always a pitching coach :smile:

Have a great season.

[TurboDean]

Copdaddy5, could you send me the original of this image? I would like to see the before and after. I tried some practice shots yesterday at ISO 800 (XT) and am thoroughly disappointed, as I expected I would be. Granted, even the best shot is a bit underexposed, but the noise is horrendous. XT and 70-200/2.8L + 1.4x TC.

What do you mean by extensive post-processing, for a single image? 10 minutes? 20?? 30?!?

[Copdaddy5]

Turbo, I'll send you the original this evening. I actually only spent a couple of minutes, mainly adjusting curves and white balance, but from what I've read, it's best to get it as close to ideal as possible in-camera. It was so dark that it was hard to make out. Since I'm trying to take pictures of the whole team, a couple of minutes per picture x dozens or more pictures adds up to a lot of time.

[TurboDean]

Thanks, I'll look for it.

A couple minutes I can live with, but yeah, lots are not something to look forward to. We have several hundred (3 of us shooting 3 cameras) from Christmas in Ireland I have to got through still. Ugh. :)