1st Time shooting Pro Baseball CC please

[beichh4046]

This is my first time posting shots from a professional minor league game. I shot the Savannah Sandgnats and Rome Braves today. At first glance I was pretty happy with the shots but then after cropping some it seemed some were soft in the face. I would appreciate some overall comments of the shots themselves and also your opinions of the sharpness to these.

Here is a side note. I have more pictures to upload. I thought the max was 8 at a time but it is allowing me to only post 2. I will upload some more but if someone can tell me how to get all in one post I would appreciate it.

[beichh4046]

Here are two more

[beichh4046]

Another two

[beichh4046]

And the last two.

[izatt82]

well i like them but i think they might be just a tad underexposed well there faces i mean.

looks like to got some cool shots, but what about the players sliding in to a base or close play shots?

look good though

[beichh4046]

The night time shot I know is going to be grainy because I think I was at 1600 and could only go so high in shutter speed. Believe it or not. There were two games yesterday and also two today. I shot one game both days. Total from the game yesterday five hits. Sandgnats won 2-1 on a walkoff homer in extra innings that I missed because I was getting a hotdog for my son.

Today the final I think was 2-1 in the first game also. Just not many guys on base to stir up much action.

[izatt82]

there we go, i really like the second one get that facial expression.

nice shot

[manutd101]

The sandgnats??

[tomdlgns]

is it me, or do most of these look soft?

[beichh4046]

that was my question. To me they do. But I wanted others to look and verify what I thought. At what point is a face to soft?

Now, I do believe some of the shots are sharper than what they are appearing once uploaded.

When I am shooting I try to have the AF point on their face at move with them. When you guys are shooting sports where do you try to lock in on?

[aram535]

The lighting wasn't helping you in these shots, you might have to overcompensate with the exposure to get a decent shot to pop with the colors.

In the pitcher pictures, a smaller depth of field would have reduced the OOF signs in the back, which are a little distracting.

Did you have a seat or you get on the field, because the POV is excellent and it looks like you moved around a bit.

[beichh4046]

I was on the field up against the backstop. I was also shooting at 2.8.

[Smad728]

A little soft, underexposed, the first action picture seems OOF.

[DaveL]

composition wise you did a very nice job. I do agree the focus is a bit
soft, I'm wondering if you handheld. With a thin depth of field, the focus
can sometimes grab the glove or the arm and render the face slightly soft
however I'm not seeing that here...

keep an eye on the horizons as well... but by all means keep shooting

[beichh4046]

I am guilty of hand holding. I had my monopod but I get aggrevated with it and find it easier to handhold. But, if the result is not going to be tack sharp then I see that I better learn to love the monopod.

I don't understand "eye on the horizons".

As far as the other comments about underexposed. I agree. I originally wanted to see how high I could go in shutter speed to stop the action. I thought I could dial back a little in Lightroom. But, as I saw in editing that isn't always possible with good results.

[aram535]

Which monopod do you have? I used to have a non-ball head mono which drove me mad for such things. Now that I have a Manfrotto mono and ballhead, it's a lot easier to use.

[beichh4046]

I have a manfrotto ballhead. I just bought it but what was driving me crazy was when I wanted to move slightly to keep up with the pitchers delivery the monopod was throwing me off.

I assume it is just going to take practice. I will be out again in a week when the Charleston RiverDogs come to town. They have some good prospects that I want to shoot.

[aram535]

The nub on how hard the ball is, is the key. Just takes a little bit of practice, and also don't be afraid to tilt the camera to get your shot, you can always reframe/crop latter to get it straight. I use my shoes and legs to keep the mono steady in all sorts of wacky poses.