Taking shots at Redsox Game 7... need help

[New Hobby]

Looks like I may be going to fenway to see the Redsox at game 7 tomorrow (Sunday) and was thinking about picking up the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS with the Extender EF 1.4x II. The seats will be in row 3 right next to 3rd base. (they are season tickets handed down from father to son) I will be using a 40D. This is a night game.

Now the questions...

Will this combo have the reach to get to home / pitchers mound? If so, will it reach any farther?

Will the 2.8 + the one stop of the extender be good to stop action at this night game?

Any other hints / tips would be great.

Sorry for the short notice but I just found out a few hours ago. Any help would be great.

Thanks

[T0DD]

Looks like I may be going to fenway to see the Redsox at game 7 tomorrow (Sunday) and was thinking about picking up the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS with the Extender EF 1.4x II. The seats will be in row 3 right next to 3rd base. (they are season tickets handed down from father to son) I will be using a 40D. This is a night game.

Now the questions...

Will this combo have the reach to get to home / pitchers mound? If so, will it reach any farther?

Will the 2.8 + the one stop of the extender be good to stop action at this night game?

Any other hints / tips would be great.

Sorry for the short notice but I just found out a few hours ago. Any help would be great.

Thanks

I think you'll be ok with that. Essentially you'll be shooting 280mm F4, with that set up. Just adjust your ISO as high as you need to go in order to get your shutter speed fast enough to keep it from blurring. I'm by no means a pro, but I'd be trying to get a minimum shutter speed of 1/250th, which means you might need to set your ISO to 800 or higher. I've taken a few photos of motocross on an overcast day and lost a lot of photos shooting below 1/250th of a second.

I also shot some "lawn mower racing" under stadium lights and I was at ISO 1600 barely pulling 1/125th shutter speed at F2.8. But I think the baseball game will have a lot better lighting than the lawn mower racing I was shooting. :D

To summarize, me, I'd probably start in TV mode and put it at 1/250th (maybe 1/500th if it will work). You just might need to put your ISO at a higher setting is all.

Enjoy!

[dmwierz]

Hobby,

You're gonna want your shutter speed at least at 1/500. 1/250s is BARELY fast enough for Little League, and there's no way it's gonna get the job done.

I would not shoot Tv, but Av, using the ISO to adjust your shutter speed (Lotsa posts on this - some just this past week).

I haven't shot at Fenway, but have at a half dozen other MLB parks, and most pro venues will allow you to get 1/640s at around ISO 1000-1250 or so at f/2.8, so you're gonna have to push your ISO to the max to keep your shutter speeds where they need to be at f/4.0 . Which camera are you using?

FWIW, here are the pertinent items from Fenway's site:

Bags, Containers and Coolers
No bag or item larger than 16"x16"x8" will be permitted inside the Park. Hard-sided coolers and glass containers are not allowed.
Cameras
Cameras and video cameras are permitted inside Fenway Park, but cannot be used to reproduce the game and must not interfere with other fans' enjoyment of the game.


So whatever you bring needs to fit in the 16x16x8 bag.

BTW, why not bring a wide lens and document the experience rather than trying to "reach" farther? Seems to me these shots would be better than pushing your camera to its limits. Plus, you'll enjoy the game a LOT more, not having to try and capture action shots.

[docfav]

Whatever you shoot, make sure you post them up here. Being a diehard Sox fan I wish I was going. Alas, I'll be on the couch watching it. Unless, of course, you have an extra ticket? ;-)

Doc

[fslshooter]

What Dennis said above. To add a bit, have you noticed on TV the equipment pro shooters are using in the photo wells? The great majority of them are shooting with 400mm f/2.8 glass and while you don't know their settings you can bet shutter speed is at or above 1/500 and ISO is high enough to use the SS they want. Now take a look at game shot images in your local newspaper and at MLB.com and examine the image quality -- this is the best they can get with the equipment they're using and they're shooting from field level. You can't come close to IQ like theirs with your equipment shooting from the stands so trying to do so will only detract from what might be a once in a lifetime experience. If I had seats like those at that game, I'd want to record the experience of being there rather than attempting action shots. I'd use the fastest zoom I could get past security and take snapshots during the game then shoot non stop during post game celebrations. You can bet either the Red Sox or Indians are going to celebrate big time and these might be your most memorable shots of the night.

[New Hobby]

Thanks everyone for this info. The seats is they are about 30-40ft from where the pros shot and Fenway is not that large. I was watching the game last night and I thought I saw some 300mm 2.8s along with the 400mm 2.8s. (also some Nikons?? odd)

Going by memory its in the front of section 73. See this link... http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/seating.jsp The camera section is the white box in front of section 67.

dmwierz thanks for the web info, I saw that last night and one of my bags fits that. I should be able to bring the lens (70-200mm + extender) and my 17-55MM 2.8. BTW my body is a 40D.

As to living the experience I'm not planning on just shotting but also enjoying the game.

[jcpoulin]

New, I don't think you should take your camera....or you...just leave the tickets at will call and I will pick them up for you!!! LOL Have a great time tonight, hopefully Dice-K can earn his keep tonight! Those seats should be nice!! Nice shots of Ortiz!! Post some picts when you can.

[New Hobby]

Here are some shots from last night. Thanks again everyone for the help. They are shot at between 1000-1600 ISO and there is no noise reduction but I think they cam out pretty well.
I took about 700 shots. It will take me a few days to get them up but there are the first few. The link in my sig will have the rest.

BTW this is the first time I shot manual. Talk about drinking from a fire hose. The light at the park was great.

I don't think the pros here need to worry about me taking business any time soon. ;)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2045/1690455283_5c5e2f5454.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/1690765217_22344ec9e8.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/1690845261_fa2bc8f4c3.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2019/1690967253_60aa4638ba.jpg

[fslshooter]

New - I was thinking about you being at the game last night while I was watching it on TV. That had to be fun! Looks like you had better light that I thought you would too. Nice capture of Manny's facial expression -- we can see his personality in it!

[APG-Angus]

AWESOME!!!

I am very jealous. Looks like you were shooting from where the pros shoot. or are you just above visitor dugout?

I am gonna bookmark your flickr page for sure.

Great images!

[New Hobby]

Thanks. I had pros about 7 feet in front of me and 10 feet to the right of me. I could not have been in a better spot. I think they spent a good amount on lighting in that place. The field was almost the exact same exposure everywhere.

I'm hoping the guy I went with likes the shots and invites me to a World Series game. :-)

Should I give him free images for the same seat at a World Series game? LOL I know the answer to that one!

[New Hobby]

The out that wasn't an out...
I lucked out on getting it.
Sorry about the size. Just thought it would be better a little larger.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2133/1694507848_be4a7a50ea_b.jpg





http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2096/1693095609_5d2b5f9d5b_b.jpg

Not sure why the 2nd one is a bit soft.

[jcpoulin]

great shots!~!!! Great game....lofton was safe but we all need calls some times!!! Wed!!!!!

[JMHPhotography]

did you get the part where he popped up off of the bag? They showed a replay where Lofton was in the air not making any contact with the bag, but not where Pedroia's glove was in relation. Lofton didn't really argue so I'm wondering about that.

[JMHPhotography]

did you get the part where he popped up off of the bag? They showed a replay where Lofton was in the air not making any contact with the bag, but not where Pedroia's glove was in relation. Lofton didn't really argue so I'm wondering about that.

[Steezy303]

awesome job!

[New Hobby]

did you get the part where he popped up off of the bag? They showed a replay where Lofton was in the air not making any contact with the bag, but not where Pedroia's glove was in relation. Lofton didn't really argue so I'm wondering about that.

I just looked and I didn't get that one shot.

Thanks again everyone. Here are a few more.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2201/1692740828_0c75e37ba3.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2177/1694742241_871334cb83.jpg