My first "Frozen Ball"

[shootinsmiles]

I went to my nephew's little league baseball game today and after reading so much about the "frozen ball" I thought I would give it a try.

I got about 4 decent shots but the background and where the ball is frozen in reference to the background makes a HUGE difference in the way the ball jumps off the page. I have made no changes to the photo in PP other than to add my signature.

http://www.castenphotography.com/Sports/Athletics-3-13/Frozen-Ball-4x6/809423085_WXVfV-L.jpg

[L.Morey]

Nice

[jimmywires]

damn... lucky you

[mathogre]

Wow! That's impressive. Nice job! :D

[43 North]

So I have not read on this subject, how do you make it happen?

[DHMN]

There was a whole thread on it last season...
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=680879&highlight=frozen+ball

[lettershop]

Nice capture. I went back and read the background to learn more about it. Thanks!

[shootinsmiles]

Thanks for the kind comments. It was a lot of fun to challenge myself in this area. It's nice to have a forum like this where you can learn new things and go out give them a try.

[Lori Putman]

Congratulations!

[dank ink]

Great timing!

[DHMN]

The closest I came last year myself was only (clickable thumbnail)
http://www.viewthroughmylens.net/Galleries/CloquetSports/Baseball/AtProctor/tn_BaseballAtProctor10.jpg (http://www.viewthroughmylens.net/Galleries/CloquetSports/Baseball/AtProctor/BaseballAtProctor10.jpg) at F5.0 so hopefully I can get a decent one at F2.8. We'll have to bring last year's thread back and grow it with this season's shots!

[bps]

Fantastic capture! Very nicely done...

Bryan

[MDJAK]

excellent work.

[skygod44]

Great capture.
Especially with the ball coming at you, as opposed to travelling on a parallel path!

[BenJohnson]

Looks great. I've found that if you understand the technique (prefocus correctly) and hammer away and fill up a card or two it's pretty easy to get a handful of these to look decent. A little higher frame rate can help a lot. Like you said, the hardest part is getting the ball placement and background player positioning to look "good". Your example looks great. Was this through the backstop?

[squashed]

I just came from the Glamour and nude section and the title of this thread scared me !!

Great shot BTW !!

[shootinsmiles]

Looks great. I've found that if you understand the technique (prefocus correctly) and hammer away and fill up a card or two it's pretty easy to get a handful of these to look decent. A little higher frame rate can help a lot. Like you said, the hardest part is getting the ball placement and background player positioning to look "good". Your example looks great. Was this through the backstop?

Mine was definitely easier due to the fact it was a 12 year old pitching so the speed was reasonable. I only shot photos for one inning and only one photo per pitch but I had great positioning behind and to the side of the catcher and the umpire stood a shade to the left of the catcher. It gave a perfect line of sight and I've learned to shoot with two eyes, one through the viewfinder and the other on the subject. I was shooting through the fence and netting but it did not seem to disrupt the photo too much.

I knew I nailed it as soon as I saw the preview on the back of the camera. It's a lot of fun and is great conversation piece. The pitcher's dad was so excited he wanted to buy it on the spot. I'm not sure why the pitcher's dad would be so excited about it, you can't tell who the pitcher is. But if he's that excited I told him he could buy it off my website.

[John Hayes]

I just came from the Glamour and nude section and the title of this thread scared me !!

Great shot BTW !!

Ha Ha!

[NY Irish]

Great shot

[Harleypugs]

Very cool. Thinks for linking to my post from last season.

These shots are a lot of fun.

[mightycrystu]

Totally amazing. I love it.

[Coach21]

Nicely Done!

I'm starting to shoot some baseball now and I'll give it a try.

Andy

[AxPhoto]

Incredible capture! Well done.

[Strnge]

Love it. I did as you did and took one shot at a time and did not "rapid fire" the shutter. It took me 2 batters before I got one I was happy with. This was my first time as well.