Baseball Shots

[downhillnews]

took some baseball pics today about 20 stayed about 5 minutes! Used the 100-400 worked good I think?
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/downhillnews/edit2ABB1107.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/downhillnews/EDIT1BBA1107.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/downhillnews/ABB110720073.jpg

[asysin2leads]

To be quite honest, these pics aren't that great. The background is way too distracting in all 3. I'm guilty of the same thing though. Hard to get good background separation when they're that close and cluttered. The only face you can see in #2 is the umpires. In #3, you can only see a portion of the kids face. That's why you should face pitchers/hitters when you get shots of them. Makes a better picture. What was the reason behind selective coloring in #3? Everything is already a shade of black/white except the numbers. That being said, the colors are nice and bright. Just my amateur impression.

[downhillnews]

To be quite honest, these pics aren't that great. The background is way too distracting in all 3. I'm guilty of the same thing though. Hard to get good background separation when they're that close and cluttered. The only face you can see in #2 is the umpires. In #3, you can only see a portion of the kids face. That's why you should face pitchers/hitters when you get shots of them. Makes a better picture. What was the reason behind selective coloring in #3? Everything is already a shade of black/white except the numbers. That being said, the colors are nice and bright. Just my amateur impression.


Yeah I cant afford a 400 F2.8 to blur away the parents. Thats the best my 5.6 could do. I think maybe being about where 3rd base is and using a fast short lens would work better. Just left his number red for some color in it??

[asysin2leads]

Yeah I cant afford a 400 F2.8 to blur away the parents. Thats the best my 5.6 could do. I think maybe being about where 3rd base is and using a fast short lens would work better. Just left his number red for some color in it??

I wish I could afford the 400, too. Oh well. Shooting right handed batters from first base side and south paws from the 3rd base side works best. Trust me, I've learned the hard way, too.

[dmwierz]

FWIW, I concur with Kevin.

1/1250s f/5.6 ISO500 400mm

You were at 400mm, so why is the shot so loose? One way to minimize background distractions is to shoot a lot tighter. Where were you shooting from? Yes, for the most part, RH batters should be shot from 1B and LH batters from 3B, however you need to be a LOT tighter on the batter. The catcher and the umpire (and certainly the third baseman) add virtually nothing to the shots. Plus. shooting from closer will reduce the DOF somewhat.

Also, try shooting from a lower perspective.

Here's a great primer on shooting LLB:

http://www.digital-eos.com/PDF/Shooting_LLB_Baseball_Handbook.pdf

What do you notice about the images in the above document?

Very tight shots and expresssive faces - ball and bat in most of the shots.

Shoot tight, crop tighter.

Hope this helps,

Dennis

[downhillnews]

I was outside of the fence between 2nd and 3rd about 75 yards out I would guess? Kinda far. These are cropped a fair bit also.... Will give it another go when the season starts.
THANKS

[asysin2leads]

Here's a great primer on shooting LLB:

http://www.digital-eos.com/PDF/Shooting_LLB_Baseball_Handbook.pdf

Dennis

Dennis,
Thanks for the link. Very informative and a great read. Any chance we can make that a sticky?

I was outside of the fence between 2nd and 3rd about 75 yards out I would guess? Kinda far. These are cropped a fair bit also.... Will give it another go when the season starts.
THANKS

I shot w/ my 28-135 at 135mm from about 10' in front of the base at the fence and had some decent shots, but still weren't tight enough. I can't wait to take a crack at baseball w/ the 70-200 (and 2x).