so its baseball season

[blinking8s]

well, yesterday was my first time shooting college baseball...doesnt look like I will be doing it much if my photos keep turning out as poorly as this set...

I use my own gear (university shoots nikon 1dx's, d100's and d70's and I am just way too die hard canon fan) and my 70-200 f4 just cant cut it. Its enough focal length for the infield but the f4 and AF just are not working out for the way my angles are setup and where the sun is at during game times. I got some "ok" photos...but they just dont have much punch to them...of course being 14 degrees with the wind blowing i was barely able to move my fingers to press the camera controls...

luckly my boss was there with me shooting his nikkor 300 2.8

anyway...here is one i liked

http://www.blinking8s.com/clients/etsu/photo/baseball/05.02.18/IMG_0777_framed.jpg

even though i shot how i saw the pitcher level, which made the BG look crooked, funny how it played with my eyes at the time...weird...the center/right field wall behind him makes it look funky, need more BLUR! haha

capturing the release was next to impossible...getting good pitching shots was a challange though, a fun one...had to MF behind the screen, some pitchers step so far fowards it made it hard...haha

I was pressin iso 400 and f4 to get 1/2000 when the light was at its strongest...didnt do too well for batting shots and if i went to iso 800 i lost all detail in the shadows, which were very very strong on the batter so yeah...basically they turned out crap

[maderito]

I like it too. Classic shot. From your comments, it seems that once the pitcher's arm comes around (90 mph!), your lose the arm to blur. Never tried this - but I can see how it could be a real challenge. OTOH if the pitcher stays in the game, you get about 100 chances to get it perfect. :lol:

The lighting conditions exceed the CMOS sensor's dynamic range. Still, I think you can recover some tonal data. Have you tried to get back details in the highlights with Shadow/Highlight adjustments?

Another way to restore detail in the highlights is to use levels or curves on the upper midtones and highlights as follows:

-in the channels palette, target the RGB layer and click the "load channel as selection" icon (or Ctrl-click the RGB image thumbnail). This will give you a selection of tones > 128. Return to the layers palette; with the selection still active add a curves adjustment layer. The new layer will have a mask that targets upper midtones and highlights. Pull back on the RGB curve to reduce the tonal values of the highlights and add back some gradations to the white uniform.

Hope to see some more shots.

[blinking8s]

thanks for the tips...ill play with the photo later today

that photo was un-processed from the camera outside of minor sharpening, the lighting was pretty funky

they move so fast capuring a good still point without too much blur just seems improssible to me...maybe in perfect lighting, but on average...mad props to baseball photographers

I assume jr league or highschool would be much easier vs ncaa level players. I was quite amazed that there were scouts from 11 different teams at the game.

[tpinchback]

when they are doing the nation anthem take a pano of the team. i sold about 10 so far.

http://www.pbase.com/carboncopy/image/39788703.jpg

[blinking8s]

haha...selling is good :)

[gmen]

There are certain similarities between cricket and baseball it seems! Although in cricket the bowler (= baseball's pitcher) has a run up rather than being perched on a mound...

http://www.tgsphoto.co.uk/forum_images/pf010.jpg

A couple of ideas to help that dynamic range problem... set the in-camera contrast to -1 or shoot into the sun (exposing for the shadows) if possible.

[fslshooter]

capturing the release was next to impossible...getting good pitching shots was a challange though, a fun one...had to MF behind the screen, some pitchers step so far fowards it made it hard...haha

I've found that the best way to pre focus on the pitcher is to do it as he's returning to the rubber after a release. If you'll make a mental note of where his release point is and focus on on him when he's at that spot when returning to the rubber your focus should be on for the next pitch.

[blinking8s]

I've found that the best way to pre focus on the pitcher is to do it as he's returning to the rubber after a release. If you'll make a mental note of where his release point is and focus on on him when he's at that spot when returning to the rubber your focus should be on for the next pitch.

thanks for the tip...baseball is err...different to shoot than i thought. Very slow, yet busts of extremely fast action which seem near impossible to follow and keep in frame

[fslshooter]

A couple more tips but bear in mind that I'm looking for shots for baseball cards and to make prints that mom, dad and fans can frame and hang on the wall vs shots for the newspaper. I assume that you prefer action shots like the play at second base or home plate with the dust flying while I prefer action shots with perfect mechanics. The tips: Other than fielding, most of the best action in baseball happens at an almost exact, known spot so pre focus on that spot. Good action shots, like you and I both hope to get, do overlap in at least a couple of places -- pitching and batting. Shoot pitchers from their throwing side -- from first base line for lefties and third base line for righties. Pre focus, shoot in single shot mode and capture the shot just before or as the pitcher releases the ball -- chimp between pitches to see if you got it. With batters first base line and near the base between it and home plate is the place for you to be for both lefties and righties. Shoot in low speed continuous drive mode and pre focus on a spot at or just inside the first base side of the batters box at f4 or so -- this should give acceptable DOF. Watch the batters eyes and reflexes carefully and you'll soon learn when he's going to swing. Start shooting just as he begins his swing and keep shooting if he makes contact until he's out of the batters box. If he swings and misses you probably won't have a keeper but some of my best shots are batters coming out of the box when they put the ball in play.

[neil_r]

when they are doing the nation anthem take a pano of the team. i sold about 10 so far.

http://www.pbase.com/carboncopy/image/39788703.jpg


Blimy..... Exactly how many are there in the team?

N

[fslshooter]

Blimy..... Exactly how many are there in the team?

N

There are exceptions but most rosters consist of 25 players plus 3 or more coaches. All wear uniforms so sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between players and coaches -- except that the coaches are usually older and fater :) Only 9 men from each team actually play at any given time during a ballgame and many of them are waiting in the dugout for their turn to bat. Of the 25 man roster 10 to 13 are usually pitchers and the rest are position players. Pitchers almost never play anywhere other than as pitchers and very few catchers play anywhere other than that position. It's not unusual for the other position players to play at more than one position and even change positions during a game. Baseball has a substitution rule that differs from most sports -- when a player is substituted for during a game he cannot reenter that game at any time for any reason. He may as well go and take a shower because he's finished for that game. The rules of baseball are similar to the rules of a game that's played in other parts of the world called rounders.

[Volatile]

Here are some other tricks I use:

Shoot pics of the infielders as they warm up before an inning. They field ground balls and throw to first, and when you are in on them tight, no one will ever know that it wasn't during the game.

If a batter hits a routine ground ball, get focused in on first base (or wherever you anticipate the play). You will have about 4 secs to see the hit and get the camera ready. But, a well-timed shot of a play at first is a guaranteed winner.

I agree with fslshooter's tips on where to stand and how to get shots of batters.

Lastly, yes, it might be baseball season, but wait for it to warm up a little for god's sake!

[timmyquest]

thanks for the tip...baseball is err...different to shoot than i thought. Very slow, yet busts of extremely fast action which seem near impossible to follow and keep in frame

I shot a few baseball games last season and the first thing i learned rather quickly was that baseball is not a sport where you follow the action. Rather you must inticipate it and have your camera ready for it in advance.

As you say, it just moves to fast, once there is action, to shoot it any other way.