ECU v. UMD Baseball (Feb. 26 2012)

What would you recommend say with normal lighting on a mostly clear day like that one?

Phased wrote in post #13987686
What would you recommend say with normal lighting on a mostly clear day like that one?

that's the beauty of it: what shutter speed do you want? Keep going until you get it. It's all about tweaking it until you find the sweet spot.

Yeah I agree with the sweet spot thing that's what I was trying to figure out that day. But for example if I want to stop the ball and bat in a swing what would be the optimum shutter speed for that?

Phased wrote in post #13987826
Yeah I agree with the sweet spot thing that's what I was trying to figure out that day. But for example if I want to stop the ball and bat in a swing what would be the optimum shutter speed for that?

In my experience, to freeze a ball perfectly it's going to take north of 1/2500 at the very least, probably higher.

for a frame of reference, this is 1/4000 and the ball isn't frozen

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Gotcha, what was your ISO at for that image?

Phased wrote in post #13987942
Gotcha, what was your ISO at for that image?

On my 1D Mark III it was at 400 with aperture wide open at 2.8. Even with 2.8, it might be a little higher ISO on your camera because of the difference in sensor size.

Yeah probably a bit, I'm shooting with a 70-200 F/4L

Phased wrote in post #13988042
Yeah probably a bit, I'm shooting with a 70-200 F/4L

Yeah, so a stop slower and smaller sensor, you're probably going to be up above 1000 I'm guessing. But don't be afraid because a properly exposed photo will clean up better too.

Alright, I'll keep that in mind next time; thanks a lot for the tips.

Few more

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ichaelseegars/6​787333704/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ichaelseegars/6​940470625/

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The pitcher, the third one is good. On the other two there are focus issues. In the first one, his face is just not in focus and on the third one, the catcher is sharp but the batter's face is not. Just keep going at it man, it takes practice. Guys who are doing this thing at the highest level don't get every shot. The only thing you can do is be prepared and be present. I know that some of the nitpicks might seem small but if you are thinking about doing this for a living, and I don't know that you are, you're going to have to hold yourself to a high standard because the competition is stiff at every level of this game. You have to be as constructively critical about your own stuff as anyone else is.

I really appreciate your tips, they help a lot. With those two after looking back over the thread I didn't even catch it at first on my flickr just b/c I didn't view them as large yet I definitely see the focus issues there.
I'm going to put a couple in their place.
And thanks again, I definitely appreciate and understand your words.

Phased wrote in post #13988407
I really appreciate your tips, they help a lot. With those two after looking back over the thread I didn't even catch it at first on my flickr just b/c I didn't view them as large yet I definitely see the focus issues there.
I'm going to put a couple in their place.
And thanks again, I definitely appreciate and understand your words.

I'm really glad you're taking the advice in the spirit it's being given. A lot of people get upset or think it's a personal thing when you start critiquing someone's photos but it's not a personal thing. In fact, I think most of the time you get a better critique than you might from someone who knows you. The new ones you put up are much better. The only critique I would have is the baserunner. Just not enough face showing and the angle is just not right to get that shot. It brings up a good lesson though. You won't always be in the right place to get THE shot of a certain situation. It helps if you know the sport and can put yourself in good positions but a lot of the time it comes down to luck. Guys don't like to admit that but in sports photography, it's definitely true. You are either in the right spot to get the shot or you aren't. If you just want a baserunner shot, a player who is running to first makes for an easy target.

Sometimes, like in this shot, the guy hit it in the gap so he's pushing for second right out of the gate and you have a chance to get some good expressions. It's a touch underexposed on his face but that can be fixed if I was going to use it. I hate late afternoon games btw LOL.

2431 x 2321

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If its a bright sunny day, why are you boosting your ISO so high and overexposing your shot? The 1/4000 shutter speed serves no purpose. You don't need over 1/1000 to nail your shot and 1/800 works just as well. It would be much better to keep your ISO down and have a cleaner image than push it for no reason for the sake of an unnecessary shutter speed