Baseball: Mets Spring Training 2011

A couple of shots from Port St. Lucie, Florida:

1. Angel Pagan

Wow.. these are awesome! Super crisp, colorful and wicked DOF. Good job on the series Guessing you used the 300 2.8 or 100-400?

Aressem wrote in post #12170735
Wow.. these are awesome! Super crisp, colorful and wicked DOF. Good job on the series Guessing you used the 300 2.8 or 100-400?

exif shows 300 2.8...

@ tagvestibule... Nice shots..!!......

Casstillo was a waste of time for the Phils. And the Mets. Clubhouse cancer rom what I heard.

These are really nice.

Wow, nice crisp shots!

Aressem wrote in post #12170735
Wow.. these are awesome! Super crisp, colorful and wicked DOF. Good job on the series Guessing you used the 300 2.8 or 100-400?

Thanks! hckydad is correct - these were all with the 300 2.8

hckydad wrote in post #12172781
exif shows 300 2.8...

@ tagvestibule... Nice shots..!!......

Thank you!

canons900 wrote in post #12172914
Casstillo was a waste of time for the Phils. And the Mets. Clubhouse cancer rom what I heard.

These are really nice.

Thanks! Castillo seemed like a good enough guy for the most part, but his contract was just ridiculous and that was taken out on him a lot by the fans (although, I was at the "pop-up game" and I'll never forget that sight, so good riddance!)

joonrhee wrote in post #12172978
Wow, nice crisp shots!

Thank you!

Cool shots

A.Salinas86 wrote in post #12200305
Cool shots

Thanks very much

Amazing.

What mode do you shoot in?

HabertPhotography wrote in post #12211713
Amazing.

What mode do you shoot in?

Sorry- just saw this. Thanks for the compliment!
I always shoot manual. If my exif shows any other setting, it's only because I'm demonstrating to someone why I shoot manual!

Great shots! Do u set a custom WB or shoot in auto?

tagvestibule wrote in post #12319694
I always shoot manual. If my exif shows any other setting, it's only because I'm demonstrating to someone why I shoot manual!

I was just shooting an evening baseball game with the sun going down today. Home plate was at least 1.5 stops darker then 2nd base for a bit with the sunset. Would you still shoot manual for this?!??

Drozz119 wrote in post #12319754
Great shots! Do u set a custom WB or shoot in auto?

Thanks - I use AWB. I've tried custom and even bringing a gray card but I find that in the 4+ hours I'm shooting batting practice and a 9-inning game the light changes too much, even in day games.

Cozmocha wrote in post #12319976
I was just shooting an evening baseball game with the sun going down today. Home plate was at least 1.5 stops darker then 2nd base for a bit with the sunset. Would you still shoot manual for this?!??

Unfortunately, yes. I had the same experience during this game. Home plate was in shadows by the end and the infield/outfield were in bright sunshine. That's why I mentioned my exif data. I was showing someone why aperture priority would, in theory, be a great solution for this, but in practice it didn't deliver - at least in my experience (i.e., it unnecessarily slowed my shutter speed beneath acceptable levels when quickly changing to home plate). I still shoot manual in these situations and my solutions, although not ideal, produce better results for me than using AV. If I'm swinging around from the plate to the field (or vice-versa), I just spin the dial to adjust my shutter speed as I'm moving the camera. 3 clicks = 1 stop (4 = 1 and 1/3, 5 = 1 and 2/3, etc.) so I don't have to be that precise about it. From there, they can be fixed in post. I also sometimes set the custom functions on the camera dial where C1 will be for the plate and C2 and C3 for the field (I set both so I dont have to be precise about turning the dial). However, I don't usually use this method during the action. I just use them depending on where I'm going to be pointing to start the play. It's much more natural to adjust the shutter speed without taking my eye off the play than it is to turn the settings dial. Of course, all of this is based on my personal experiences and YMMV!

very nice and sharp. the pictures really have that pop to them. may i ask how you did your post processing and sharpening?

llie19 wrote in post #12332579
very nice and sharp. the pictures really have that pop to them. may i ask how you did your post processing and sharpening?

Thank you.
As for PP, I generally do some basic exposure adjustments in lightroom and then edit in photoshop, starting with the imagenomic noiseware plugin, if necessary, then curves and usually color balance (color correction has been a long work-in-progress for me). I often use varying degrees of the "Daily Multivitamins" and "clarify medium" presets (and occasionally the "smart neutral density" preset) from OnOne Phototools 2.6 for contrast and pop, and finally photoshop's high pass filter for sharpening.