Softball - chain link fence isolating or distracting?

alphonsis wrote in post #5836448
dmwierz,

Those are some awesome full-frame shots! Do you search wider, and tighten in as you see a shot you want? Perhaps you just keep it tight and follow the motion?

I was so concerned with lopping off limbs, bats or balls, I kept it pretty wide. I'll definetly be trying vertical shots and keeping it tighter next week.

The thing with baseball shots is because the positions are pretty static, you are able to get in pretty tight without worrying about cropping. Certaintly tighter than you are here! By the way Dennis, that first shot is fantastic!

alphonsis wrote in post #5836448
dmwierz,

Those are some awesome full-frame shots! Do you search wider, and tighten in as you see a shot you want? Perhaps you just keep it tight and follow the motion?

I was so concerned with lopping off limbs, bats or balls, I kept it pretty wide. I'll definetly be trying vertical shots and keeping it tighter next week.

The only real cropping I normally do on a shot like this is to straighten it, but IIRC both of these were pretty much as-shot.

Sometimes, you will have to follow the action and allow a little room for the forward stride, but it can get even more challenging. This shot is full frame (night game in St. Pete - the lighting is challenging) and in this instance, you had to follow the ball and the bat in order to get both in frame. This photo location is right near the on-deck circle, and this was also taken with a 400 on my MkIIn.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

Dennis I am always in awe at the sharpness and color of your photos. You nail it every time!

Anyway, is there ever a time where one can crop too tight? In reply #14; the 2nd photo is amazing but you could have cropped more. Why didn't you and how do you decide?

As far as vertical vs horizontal; I started shooting batters vertically because I found I could zoom even closer to the players. I've had the same fear alphonsis has about losing hands, feet, limbs etc..

Andy - Good question. When I crop/shoot, I am restricted to a 2x3/3x2 aspect ratio as dictated by the wire services for whom I shoot. This sometimes makes it impossible to crop as tight as I'd like to, however I think the shot of Luis Rodriguez of the Twins is plenty tight for a full-body capture.

I agree that vertical usually works best for batters, but sometimes (and I more or less "feel" this) it's best to go horizontal, as when you suspect a bunt is coming (the Nick Swisher shot above), or you're trying to get a player like Fukudome whose swings takes a lot of room, from the "open" side.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

Those are some clean images for 1600. What are you using in pp to clean out the noise?

I really like the nick swisher shot, but where were you? From the positioning, it doesn't seem like an ideal location for batter photos. Were you looking for shots of infielders and just happened to get this one?

a -

Why do you say that?

I was in the standard 3rd base photo well at US Cellular Field. Shooting MLB is one of those times when your locations are relatively restricted. And, surprisingly, this is a good place to photograph batters. It's also where you cover the infield (and outfield - like I said, shooting an MLB game, you often have limited options where you're allowed to shoot from).

ah, my perspective got all turned around. Seemed like to me you were back and to the right of the ump. Don't mind me! ^_^

I actually took the majority of my photos of the game from around the third base coach's box.

So how do you know the stories behind your shots? Do you take notes as you shoot? It just seems like you could take alot of shots at a game and I can't imagine keeping track of it all for more than a day or two.

alphonsis wrote in post #5844174
So how do you know the stories behind your shots? Do you take notes as you shoot? It just seems like you could take alot of shots at a game and I can't imagine keeping track of it all for more than a day or two.

I keep score (usually) but even when I don't, I use the MkIIn's voice memo function to add comments to files I know I'll want to keep. Plus, often, I'll be editing, captioning and transmitting live from the photo well as the plays are happening, and sending the remaining "best" images immediately following the game from the media workroom. If I can't recall specifics of a play after the game, I'll refer to the game notes which are distributed in the press box, and if all else fails, I'll go to ESPN.com to check the play-by-play.

Sorry to hijack the thread like this. One of these days we ought to do a "What's it REALLY like to shoot a pro event" thread - might take some of the bloom off the rose of being a pro sports shooter if everybody knew what all is involved.

dmwierz wrote in post #5844457
..... One of these days we ought to do a "What's it REALLY like to shoot a pro event" thread - might take some of the bloom off the rose of being a pro sports shooter if everybody knew what all is involved.

Yeah that would be great, you should do that Dennis.

dmwierz wrote in post #5844457
I keep score (usually) but even when I don't, I use the MkIIn's voice memo function to add comments to files I know I'll want to keep. Plus, often, I'll be editing, captioning and transmitting live from the photo well as the plays are happening, and sending the remaining "best" images immediately following the game from the media workroom. If I can't recall specifics of a play after the game, I'll refer to the game notes which are distributed in the press box, and if all else fails, I'll go to ESPN.com to check the play-by-play.

Sorry to hijack the thread like this. One of these days we ought to do a "What's it REALLY like to shoot a pro event" thread - might take some of the bloom off the rose of being a pro sports shooter if everybody knew what all is involved.

Great idea (off to do that)...