Little League Majors

[strokeofg]

Caught another game tonight. this is around 7 pm. I'm racking my brain to get these images sharper and clearer and...(imagine me clenching my fists and dramatically pounding the desk in frustration) I want to be awesome already!!

[Pete's Prints]

Really like your second image. The young man looks to have good form going into the slide and you have captured that moment. Take time with your photography, I believe you will get there. Keep your finger on the button.

[Angry Dad]

I really like #1. You caught the exact moment the ball hit the outside of the glove. Nice and sharp too.

[strokeofg]

thanks for the comments. for some reason though, I just have this nagging feeling that there is something more that I could be doing to get better. More reading, more study, more questions.

[drmac]

What I have found shooting baseball (little league) is getting multiple players in action in the shot. For example, the player sliding... get the other team making the tag or have the ball in flight to the player making the tag... (Parents seems to like that because they can make up their own story... my son made the tag OR my son beat the tag... :) )

Also, be careful of making a particular player look "bad"... For example, in photo one you have a great action shot with wonderful player expression, but if you look at his glove the ball is not going in, but rather hitting the outside... Also, in picture two, if this is a steal play, the player should be sliding with his back to home plate.... I watch for "closed eyes" (blinking) so coaches/parents cannot come back and say "I told you to keep your eye on the ball"....

Just my thoughts....

[strokeofg]

You make a great point about the eyes being closed and making a player look bad. It's unfortunate how some of the best images will often contain the odd expression or tightly shut eyes.

I've not so much had a problem catching players in action... I think it may be more about the quality of the images, sharpness, clarity, color, exposure, and uniqueness.

Attached is the finished slide. And another bad example of a picture not to give a family.

[drmac]

#2 is awesome!

[Brad Remick]

#2 is great!

[bobbyz]

Try shooting from lower angles.

[Angry Dad]

OUCH poor kid!

[snyderman]

Your shots are very good. On the ground ball to short, you probably saw it going there. Did you have your camera on AI Servo and keeping the focus button (*) held down while shooting? This might have gotten the player as in-focus as possible.

The catcher shot is pretty cool. Pretty good focus--just a bit noisy and a tad underexposed. The 'caught stealing' (I'd have called him out!) was great other than the large white sign playing with exposure.

Are you shooting in full manual? This makes me think I'm going to take a lot of shots between innings and make some exposure setting notes from different shooting points on the field prior to trying to catch some real action shots. Then capturing the action should be as simple as point, focus, shoot.

Lastly, don't beat yourself up. Those are pretty good images!

dave

[strokeofg]

Your shots are very good. On the ground ball to short, you probably saw it going there. Did you have your camera on AI Servo and keeping the focus button (*) held down while shooting? This might have gotten the player as in-focus as possible.

Funny you should mention that. I actually had just read about it a couple of days before and was trying to figure it out on this game. I've started to try and use it more often. I'm still trying to understand it's functionality. My assumption is that instead of continuing to re-press the "shoot button" (is there an actual name for that thing), you hold down the (*) and follow the action with the lens and the camera will maintain it's focus.

The catcher shot is pretty cool. Pretty good focus--just a bit noisy and a tad underexposed. The 'caught stealing' (I'd have called him out!) was great other than the large white sign playing with exposure.

This has been a big problem for me. Lots of games in the evening. Starting at 6 or 6:30 and finishing around 8 pm. But with the large oak trees surrounding the park, it's tough for the sun to break through. It's a continual process to try and figure out how to ease the noise without having to post-process all the time. Usually by the 4th inning I'm shooting around 1600 to 3200 ISO, 1000 - 1500 Shutter and 2.8/f. I'm constantly racking my brain to fix the problem.

Are you shooting in full manual? Yes. This makes me think I'm going to take a lot of shots between innings and make some exposure setting notes from different shooting points on the field prior to trying to catch some real action shots. Then capturing the action should be as simple as point, focus, shoot.

I guess it's time to start experimenting.

Lastly, don't beat yourself up. Those are pretty good images!

Thanks. While I do enjoy the action and the freezing of the moment, I wish the quality of the image was better. That's my pursuit.

dave

A couple more from this weekend. The only PP is the crop and on the B&W - desaturation to get to the B&W.

(Sorry for the BOLD and color, I haven't figured out how to separate someone's comment to respond piecemeal.)