Youth baseball: C & C appreciated

Before I say anything, I don't have money for a better body, lens, etc... right now, lol...

All three of my boys are playing baseball this year, and for the first time their teams have a website. There is a photo gallery for each team, and since I've been taking about 100 shots per practice anyhow, two of the coaches asked me to take pics for the site. Now I am very new to this, and I know they aren't expecting 'professional' images, just some fun shots for the kids & parents to look at, so I ask the question:

Are these good enough for a youth baseball website? If not, how do I improve on them? I've only had my camera for two months now, so I am open to all sorts of opinions and criticisms...Thanks!!

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These were taken at evening practices, is the lighting acceptable?

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Acceptable is relative- from how you describe their expectations, I think you will will be fine with those images.

Some thoughts- Shoot tight, crop tighter. Try to get the sun at least partly behind your back for the best lighting. Faces and balls in the same shots work best, but you did well with capturing some emotion away from the ball too.

One final thought- As a Flyer fan, the Penguins shirt really takes away from the shots.... maybe there is still time to reform that poor, misguided child....

I could ramble on about do this or don't do that but I think you did fine. The photos are in focus and most parents just want to see their kids having fun and I think you accomplished that. I would agree with the shooting tighter though. Good job.

I think that for what you're doing, they're fine. But, some cropping and editing can go a long way. Here are a few I did, just to show you what I mean. I think you captured the action well, but I'd try cropping tighter. People want to see their child, not all the stuff around them. All I did to these was a little cropping, and popping the colors a bit. Hope this helps! And good luck, I do the same thing for my son's lacrosse and baseball teams. I sell them prints, trading cards, etc.

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Thanks everyone, and thanks LaxMom for the crops/edits! Unfortunately I was pushing my 55-250 to it's limits for most of the shots, so I guess I will be doing some cropping in the future. I did some PP on all of them, I believe, but I'm so afraid to 'over-do it' and make the image look worse. I also don't trust my monitor when it comes to saturation...it always seems like too much and I cut it back (but the edits look great!). I'll try to keep the sun to my back, also. Once their season actually starts, I hope it's staying light out a bit longer, providing better light for the shots.

Thanks again for the help, I'm really looking forward to seeing my pics on the team's site!

~Steve

...EDIT: LET'S GO PENS!!!!

As you've likely figured out by now, baseball is not an easy sport to shoot. Action is random at best. Then mix in the young guys and pretty much ANYTHING can happen anywhere at any time. All of this makes it difficult to come away with meaningful shots.

Your shots lack any sort of 'context.' I don't see bases to show that a kid fielding or throwing is playing infield. Looks like practice or pregame type work. Here are some ideas to help.

1. Show up at a game and focus on getting batting shots. You know the kids are going to swing and are likely to hit the ball. Setup in a good position to get the batter, catcher and umpire in the shots. Sets up a bit of context for the shot that relates 'baseball' to the viewer.

2. Work on infield plays at first. Most of the time the young guys hit infield ground balls. If you have a decent short / 2B player, they'll field the ball and make plays to first. 3rd base between home and 3B should get you the runner and the 1st baseman making a play on the ball.

3. Pitchers: It's the easiest shot to get. It's the one thing that is 'for sure' at this level. Pitcher has ball and will make a throw somewhere toward the catcher. Right-handers can be shot from behind the plate or between 3rd and home. Watch for the backgrounds and try to eliminate non-baseball stuff or get other players in the shot.

Good luck. Season just started. You have a lot of games to improve on the shots. And you will!!!

dave

snyderman...yeah, these are just from practices, the season really starts on the 23rd. Thanks for the tips, I can't wait until they have their uniforms on and such! Right now it just looks like a pickup game on a sandlot, lol.

Ace and Deuce wrote in post #14234301
snyderman...yeah, these are just from practices, the season really starts on the 23rd. Thanks for the tips, I can't wait until they have their uniforms on and such! Right now it just looks like a pickup game on a sandlot, lol.

Ok, now it makes perfect sense. Definitely looks like practice! Good on ya for showing up early and getting the hang of things. Look forward to seeing some 'game action' of the kids.

dave

One more suggestion... Shoot more vertical shots. An inexpensive grip will go a long way to making it more comfortable and having 2 batteries online doesn't hurt!

Nice shots. Are you going to be allowed on the field or do you have to shoot through/over the fence?

I take pictures at my son's 5U games with almost the same gear you do (assuming you are using what is listed in your signature line). T1i & 55-250 IS. IF that is the case... you will struggle with low light. Next night game I am considering just messing with the video settings or not doing anything at all.

Some shots/poses that I have found interesting, some of which I got from here.

• IF you are set up opposite the batter, most "parts" of the swing can be interesting (pre, mid, contact, post contact), except perhaps the follow through. At least on 5U, the bat and swing strength usually pulls their head towards their back and/or they follow the ball (when hit) which is pulled, so their eyes/face are going away from you at the end of the swing.
  
• If you are set up behind the batter, I don't find many instances that are that interesting, especially pre contact. I find the best shots to be during the follow through, for all of the reasons above.
  
• Get the batter leaving the box after a hit (suggestion I saw from elrey, which has worked FANTASTIC). I have found this works well from both sides.
  
• Players interacting with coaches on the bases
  
• I find myself shooting fielding from the first base side mostly. Everything goes to first, for the most part, and you can cover home "in profile" instead of "in line". This may be different for higher leagues because from this side, you are "in line" with second base, which may get more action. At the 5U level, second gets touched a lot, but not a lot of plays occur there.
  
• Third base side is good for covering action at second and the first baseman. There can be some interesting in-line shots at home as well. When I am on the third base side, I like to try and get a little infront of the second-third base line, to try and get the left side of the infield fielding in profile, if I can.
  
• Don't forget the catcher.
  

Not bad! Just keep in mind where the sun will be when you're shooting as well(in front of the subject, or behind)

If it's horribly back-lit, perhaps expose for the bright areas behind the fella and make him a sharp silhouette??

One thing I can think to add that I do not see is get lower. It looks to me that you are standing up when you are shooting. It is more noticeable when the subject is closer but I think I see it in all of them.

I also agree that shoot the candid moments. I have been shooting my boys in little league for about 4 seasons. It seems that some of the favorite pics of mine and other parents in the moments of interaction between the boys or the boys and the coaches.

This is a father and son.

One of my favorite pics from last season was actually during a "challenger" division game that my boys were helping out in. I like it for the emotion that I see in it

Excellent comments, guys...thanks!!!!!

I took these at last night's practice. It was around 6:00pm, and it was going from sun to rain, so the lighting really sucked by the time they got to batting practice.

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