3rd Attempt at Baseball, Mainly Pitchers

[Aaagogo]

My college hosted the NAIA Atlantic South Baseball Super Regionals.

Evening game, best of 3 series, tonight was the 1st game, so i decided to concentrate on the pitchers, and tomorrow I can do the batters.

Here are some of my favorite from the day. EXIF Data intact, cropped, NN and USM

1.)
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8856/img5902xu5.jpg

2.)
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/2174/img6019yy8.jpg

3.)
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/2793/img6085aa1.jpg

4.)
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1397/img6020hk9.jpg

[Aaagogo]

5.)
http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/3552/img5627cb4.jpg

6.)
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1161/img5652yw9.jpg

7.)
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3508/img5680gk7.jpg

8.)
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3493/img5763px5.jpg

[AdamLewis]

Fun fun. Shooting in the middle of the night is no joy. You really like the pitchers, eh?

EDIT: Well thats what I get for reading late at night. Pictures are ok. Nothing great though. Why are you focusing on just the pitchers and batters? Theres a lot more to a baseball game than just those two positions and it normally ends up being a lot less boring too!

[Aaagogo]

Hey Adam,

yeah, I'm trying to get some "stock" images so that I could do some poster types. I just started shooting baseball, so I want to learn the timings and anticipate stuff. Learning how they move and all

I know, there's more interesting stuff, at the 2nd game tomorrow night, I will be watching and hopefully catching some plays.

I want to get good shots that I can put in the school newspaper, but also exciting play shots that I can learn and show as portfolio

[RonnieA]

For what it's worth:

1 - I've never been a big fan of this angle. That said, it would work better for me if it was cropped tighter on the left and on top. Not a big fan of the timing either, as it puts the pitcher's arm in a funky and unattractive position. Since the yellow cap on the outfield fence is the main line in the picture, I'd use that as the horizon.

2 - Pretty much the same as above, but this time your timing has his throwing arm hidden around his body.

3 - I like it. Maybe crop it so it's an upper body-only shot?

4 - Strong, clean image for the conditions. The motion blur works well to me.

5 - Good stuff. Now fix the horizon.

6 - I like the timing better on this one. However, the framing is a little off.

7 - Solid. Good elements here: timing; facial expression

8 - Horizon, horizon, horizon. Fixing the horizon is the first thing I do before cropping and PP work in Photoshop. Like #3, maybe this one would benefit from a upper body-only crop?

[Aaagogo]

Hey Ronnie,

thanx, Woah, I didn't notice the horizon until you pointed it out, will take a look at them.

saw #1, 2 and 6 style of shots in MLB's website, so wanted to learn to recreate it. Kinda hard cause the timing is almost the same as a BOB shot, plus, I learned that not all pitchers can be framed in that angle.

i will watch my cropping too, the main reason the images here are cropped the way they are, because they go up to my site for sale too, so it's a 2x3 crop.

thanx for your detailed C&C,

[AdamLewis]

I think #1 just needs to be shot from a different angle. Its very asymmetrical right now. Maybe try and look into that next time.

[malevy]

second set of pics are nice. i would crop a little tighter and maybe not cut off the legs if you can help it.. i just started shooting baseball also and its fun but you have to be quick.. you can fall asleep waiting for something to happen and then all of a sudden a big play and you missed it lol.

[Aaagogo]

will try, most them that have their legs cut off are as shot, with the 300. it's kinda weird, in landscape orientation, I have front and back space to frame the players but no head and leg space, then i tried portriat orientation, i have head and leg space, but no front and back space, and i cut off their arms, I figured it's better to cut off legs shooting in landscape than in portrait, since i can better turn them into 1/2 body shots.

second set of pics are nice. i would crop a little tighter and maybe not cut off the legs if you can help it.. i just started shooting baseball also and its fun but you have to be quick.. you can fall asleep waiting for something to happen and then all of a sudden a big play and you missed it lol.

will keep that in mind, thanx Adam,

the little crawl space i found for myself that puts me right in front of the pitcher is a little tight for me and 2 bodies.

still learning baseball and i found that not all pitchers can yield shots from that angle, well, everyone else(the non photographers) likes it, but they're not us :p

non of my team's pitchers throw like #8, so I got to learn the angle on the fly to get shots of them like that. :confused:

I think #1 just needs to be shot from a different angle. Its very asymmetrical right now. Maybe try and look into that next time.

Off to shoot Game 2, I hope to get some nice play/action shots.

[malevy]

Hey i like your to buy list the 300 and 400 2.8 i just dont know which one to buy i cant afford both of them obviously and probably wont buy either one right now but i keep thinking about it haha.. one of these days im going to plop that american express down and walk out with one of those lenses meanwhile the 70-200 2.8 will work fine.


will try, most them that have their legs cut off are as shot, with the 300. it's kinda weird, in landscape orientation, I have front and back space to frame the players but no head and leg space, then i tried portriat orientation, i have head and leg space, but no front and back space, and i cut off their arms, I figured it's better to cut off legs shooting in landscape than in portrait, since i can better turn them into 1/2 body shots.



will keep that in mind, thanx Adam,

the little crawl space i found for myself that puts me right in front of the pitcher is a little tight for me and 2 bodies.

still learning baseball and i found that not all pitchers can yield shots from that angle, well, everyone else(the non photographers) likes it, but they're not us :p

non of my team's pitchers throw like #8, so I got to learn the angle on the fly to get shots of them like that. :confused:



Off to shoot Game 2, I hope to get some nice play/action shots.

[Aaagogo]

what body do you have and what do you primarily shoot?

Hey i like your to buy list the 300 and 400 2.8 i just dont know which one to buy i cant afford both of them obviously and probably wont buy either one right now but i keep thinking about it haha.. one of these days im going to plop that american express down and walk out with one of those lenses meanwhile the 70-200 2.8 will work fine.

[vwjoe76]

Have you ever tried shooting down on the pitcher by going up in the stands? It's different viewpoint and provides a clean background. I do that quite a bit for a lot of Fresno State games. You might have to crop a little more with a 300mm, but that lens is so sharp it doesn't hurt. I do like a lot of the stuff you have already, though. :) --Joe

[Aaagogo]

there's no higher ground in the little stadium that my college has, only good and maybe different place i can think off is above the dugouts, but the school might look at it as a safety issue.

[vwjoe76]

there's no higher ground in the little stadium that my college has, only good and maybe different place i can think off is above the dugouts, but the school might look at it as a safety issue.
Yea, I shoot above the dugouts typically. They do not have any issues here with shooting there. But I usually go well up into the seats to shoot down for that shot after I get the dugout angle shots. I wasn't mentioning these things b/c I think you're pictures were bad, it was a suggestion someone had made to me not that long ago and thought it could be useful. Take care! --Joe

[Aaagogo]

oh, no worries Joe, i like your suggestion of above the dugouts, i think it goes to show that I wasn't crazy when i suggest to my school that I want to climb above and shoot from the top of the dugout.

always looking for constructive comments and suggestions. We're all learning and sharing info

Yea, I shoot above the dugouts typically. They do not have any issues here with shooting there. But I usually go well up into the seats to shoot down for that shot after I get the dugout angle shots. I wasn't mentioning these things b/c I think you're pictures were bad, it was a suggestion someone had made to me not that long ago and thought it could be useful. Take care! --Joe

[Banger]

Coming from a simple photo Joe like me I know it does not mean much.......but all of those look really good. WOW.

[Aaagogo]

thanx, but mine is nothing like Adam's

and the sad thing is, we started at around the same time, with about the same number of shooting experience, in terms of games.

Coming from a simple photo Joe like me I know it does not mean much.......but all of those look really good. WOW.