Girls Softball, first timer - Looking for some critique and tips

Went to my first 'sports' shoot today, a girls softball game. This was for a friend and to add to my portfolio... anyway if I can get you gurus to give me some feedback that would be fantastic because im doing it again tomorrow morning... Im looking for suggestions on where to stand, what shots to capture, angles, etc...

note: I had my 40d set for noise reduction on high iso or something like that. I must have set this custom function II one day not knowing what i was doing. This caused the camera to choke after about five or six consecutive shots. I reset it to off and want to try again tomorrow...

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You have caught some nice action.

I would start by cropping them tighter, there is a lot of negative space that tends to distract the eye.

The shot of the pitcher is great, and would only benefit from a tighter crop.

For the future, try and capture the faces. This will bring some entertaining facial expression and make the pictures more exciting overall. (Like the shot of the catcher in #7 for example).

Nice work for a first time out. Practice is really what ends up making the shots in this game. I notice that my shots are much better at the end of the season than at the beginning .

Keep sharing and having fun!

Also, take a look at this thread it is for Baseball, but pertains to softball as well (the game with bigger balls ).
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=136949

I have a question that relates to sports photography, specifically fps... Is file size or image size a factor when trying to get the max of 6.5 fps out of my 40d? I am under the assumption that I should be using the largest file size my 40d can produce (jpg) so that I can offer it to customers that may want to blow it up. However I was thinking that it may be slowing down my camera.

Using the large .jpg, and a fast shutter speed, you should be able to rip them off at 6.5 fps. Mine does. You do have your burst mode set to "H", huh?

Mike

Burst mode as in 'drive mod'? if so yes, if not what is burst mode?

thank you!

MT Stringer wrote in post #5221730
Using the large .jpg, and a fast shutter speed, you should be able to rip them off at 6.5 fps. Mine does. You do have your burst mode set to "H", huh?

Mike

Well the first thing that comes to mind: you have a 70-200 f/2.8....so why are you using f/6.3? You have some really nasty backgrounds so take advantage of the DOF of the 2.8. Do you have field access or behind the fence? I suggest before the game starts ( during warmups ) Take some pics, first to make sure you have the right settings for the conditions and second to look at the backgrounds and see were you can shoot from to clean them up. I have field access so I shoot from the dugouts entrances most of the time. Stay low, shoot up to see faces under those %$#@* helmets. I spend 3/4 of the game on my knees or butt.

I don't know what settings you will be using but here are mine. I shoot a MK2N and 70-200 most of the time: Center point focus, AV, AWB ( unless the conditions warrent a change ), I start ISO at 200 and adjust if needed and AI Servo.


As for your pictures I have to be honest, on my monitor, several are soft or OOF. If possible you need to shoot tighter. Most have way to much wasted space all around them. All need post work.

#1 Soft/oof, need to crop around the batter and lose the rest. Horizon is tilted.
#2 Soft/oof, crop to the fielder.
#3 Good shot but crop to the batter and straighten the horizon.
#4 Very good shot, but crop to the action and lose all that empty area around it.
#5 You got the money shot in #4, this one doesn't say much.
#6 Another good capture, just need a crop to the action.
#7 Good shot, prime action. Crop again and if at f/2.8 might have blurred a bit of that background.
#8 A good shot but looks soft and a little dark.

You have an eye for the action you just need to work on technique, practice, practice, practice. Also don't be afraid to shoot from behind the fence. Just remove your hood and place the lens/filter right on the fence, you will never even see it.

Remember, shoot tight, crop tighter. You can check out my softball on my web site if you want. Good luck on tomorrows shoot.

Vetkrazy, great feedback, thank you! I wanted to do 2.8 but heard that using it wide open would cause softness. I guess for the money it should perform, ya? I used all the same settings as you did but I used manual instead of av. I did use center focus for mos of the shots and ai servo. What causes the softness and oof? I know, many things. but what should I look to tweak to ensure crisp shots?

vetkrazy wrote in post #5222017
Well the first thing that comes to mind: you have a 70-200 f/2.8....so why are you using f/6.3? You have some really nasty backgrounds so take advantage of the DOF of the 2.8. Do you have field access or behind the fence? I suggest before the game starts ( during warmups ) Take some pics, first to make sure you have the right settings for the conditions and second to look at the backgrounds and see were you can shoot from to clean them up. I have field access so I shoot from the dugouts entrances most of the time. Stay low, shoot up to see faces under those %$#@* helmets. I spend 3/4 of the game on my knees or butt.

I don't know what settings you will be using but here are mine. I shoot a MK2N and 70-200 most of the time: Center point focus, AV, AWB ( unless the conditions warrent a change ), I start ISO at 200 and adjust if needed and AI Servo.

As for your pictures I have to be honest, on my monitor, several are soft or OOF. If possible you need to shoot tighter. Most have way to much wasted space all around them. All need post work.

#1 Soft/oof, need to crop around the batter and lose the rest. Horizon is tilted.
#2 Soft/oof, crop to the fielder.
#3 Good shot but crop to the batter and straighten the horizon.
#4 Very good shot, but crop to the action and lose all that empty area around it.
#5 You got the money shot in #4, this one doesn't say much.
#6 Another good capture, just need a crop to the action.
#7 Good shot, prime action. Crop again and if at f/2.8 might have blurred a bit of that background.
#8 A good shot but looks soft and a little dark.

You have an eye for the action you just need to work on technique, practice, practice, practice. Also don't be afraid to shoot from behind the fence. Just remove your hood and place the lens/filter right on the fence, you will never even see it.

Remember, shoot tight, crop tighter. You can check out my softball on my web site if you want. Good luck on tomorrows shoot.

Great site you have there, lots of softball! By the way, you are right in my area (Torrance).

vetkrazy wrote in post #5222017
Well the first thing that comes to mind: you have a 70-200 f/2.8....so why are you using f/6.3? You have some really nasty backgrounds so take advantage of the DOF of the 2.8. Do you have field access or behind the fence? I suggest before the game starts ( during warmups ) Take some pics, first to make sure you have the right settings for the conditions and second to look at the backgrounds and see were you can shoot from to clean them up. I have field access so I shoot from the dugouts entrances most of the time. Stay low, shoot up to see faces under those %$#@* helmets. I spend 3/4 of the game on my knees or butt.

I don't know what settings you will be using but here are mine. I shoot a MK2N and 70-200 most of the time: Center point focus, AV, AWB ( unless the conditions warrent a change ), I start ISO at 200 and adjust if needed and AI Servo.

As for your pictures I have to be honest, on my monitor, several are soft or OOF. If possible you need to shoot tighter. Most have way to much wasted space all around them. All need post work.

#1 Soft/oof, need to crop around the batter and lose the rest. Horizon is tilted.
#2 Soft/oof, crop to the fielder.
#3 Good shot but crop to the batter and straighten the horizon.
#4 Very good shot, but crop to the action and lose all that empty area around it.
#5 You got the money shot in #4, this one doesn't say much.
#6 Another good capture, just need a crop to the action.
#7 Good shot, prime action. Crop again and if at f/2.8 might have blurred a bit of that background.
#8 A good shot but looks soft and a little dark.

You have an eye for the action you just need to work on technique, practice, practice, practice. Also don't be afraid to shoot from behind the fence. Just remove your hood and place the lens/filter right on the fence, you will never even see it.

Remember, shoot tight, crop tighter. You can check out my softball on my web site if you want. Good luck on tomorrows shoot.

Thanks. I use the 70-200 at f/2.8 for 99% of most everything. Mine is plenty sharp but remember your DOF gets thin wide open so you must maintain focus lock. I prefer AV because I have an almost 2 stop difference from the home plate area to the infielders. The action move way to fast to try to make the adjustments in manual. Indoors I shoot 100% manual. Do you shoot in raw? If so open Zoombrowser and check your focus points to see where you are aiming. What type of sharpening are you using in post?

One last question. Do you focus with the shutter button or CF 4?

Im shooting jpg, using the focus button, and don't do much post processing besides levels, usually auto. I have played with the raw editor that came with the camera.

vetkrazy wrote in post #5222070
One last question. Do you focus with the shutter button or CF 4?

I agree on the tighter crop...

One problem I have (personally) and I notice on your pictures is the background. If you shot tighter that would help blur the busy background.

Where were you shootinig from?

vetkrazy wrote in post #5222065
If so open Zoombrowser and check your focus points to see where you are aiming.

How do you check focus points?

Also you might want to shoot with the camera orientated 90 degrees into portrait. This will allow you to get a tighter crop.

There are a lot of activities going on in the photos and my eyes wonder to see what it is. Most or all of the shots are at higher f/stops which is bringing the other distractions into view.

In photos 1 & 2, I think you are too wide and very soft/OOF. I can't see what is focused, except for maybe the backstop poles or the third base coach in two. You cut out the catcher on three, why not cut out completely...it appears you are trying to show the batter in action.

Again, they shot in a wide format, maybe trying to shoot verticle and tighter (if possible) with a wider/more open f/stop. I think most of them, shot in vert, would make for a better shot. Maybe crop for effect too!

That's just me!

Thanks for all the feedback. Today I shot in 2.8 and used AV, what a difference AV makes, it was so much better than trying to adjust for batters and outfield. I will post todays shots later but wanted to thank all and I did take the suggestions from many on getting in tighter and using a vertical perspective... stay tuned. One question in the meantime and I'm sure I could've looked it up but how do you lock the focus on a subject/distance besides using manual focus?