Doing my first baseball game!

So, a buddy at work has a contact at the Delaware Blue Rocks (our minor league team) and has managed to grab us a media pass to one of their games. I'm not sure what kind of access this offers... I'd love to be on the field, but this will be my first professional level sports event.

Here's my equipment and plan, any advice is appreciated!

Manfrotto Monopod with a 488RC0 ball head.
Canon 50D w/extended battery grip
70-200 f/2.8L IS USM
1.4x Teleconverter
BlackRapid sling strap.

Canon XSi w/extended battery grip
Sigma 10-20mm f/4.0 - 5.6

Since my buddy has slower glass, he's getting us the pass for a day game, which is fine for me. I'll shoot in shutter priority at 1/640th with the L glass, primarily from the 1st Base position or from behind the plate if I have access. I was debating what lens to use on my backup camera, I have a 50mm f/1.8 a 60mm f/2.8 and a 17-55mm f.3.5 - 5.6 if I recall...

I know I'll be able to get some good sweeping shots with the wide angle, but any ideas for shots with that glass, or strategies in general for getting some good shots would be greatly appreciated!

Can't wait!!

rent a 300 2.8 and have fun!

then you can put the 70-200 on your backup

I totally agree with eigga! Rent a 300 for the once-in-a-lifetime access. If you go with a rented 300, you're sure to get some really great shots, and it might help you gain a foot in the door for more work and more access like this......

Great idea!

Thanks, guys.

Also...

How do you know the shutter speed already? This isnt indoors....right? If not M then shoot in Av to control your DOF...adjust ISO to keep shutter over 1/1000...should be no problems with that in daytime.

1/640th will be enough to freeze the action, especially in Baseball, so why sacrifice image quality when it's not necessary?

Well if you expose correctly you wont "sacrafice" image quality with ISO up to 1600 on the 50D. To each his own...just the way I do things when I cover baseball.

You might want to check out this thread... Mike knows what he is doing

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=679599

First picture in the thread on a sunny day
f/2.8
1/2500

at 1/640 you would need to shoot at f/5.6 for the same exposure and it would NOT be the same image.

My personal preference is to leave my ISO as close to the lowest value as possible -- honestly, regardless of exposure, an image at ISO 100 is going to have less noise than an exposure at 1600, so if I can do that, all the better.

I'm a big follower of Scott Kelby and I got the 1/640th value from him. Not saying he's the premier photographer out there, but I'm going to try to follow the advice of a someone who's shot Superbowl's and Tiger and make adjustments from there.

I do appreciate the feedback on the lens, though -- most definitely going to make that happen; I'd never even considered it.

Thanks!

Well if your going to stick to the 1/640 rule let me save you some money and dont worry about the 300 2.8. You wont be able to use 2.8 at 1/640 on a sunny day.

Just for fun, I pulled out my camera and did some metering -- at ISO 100, I set my 50D in Av mode, at f/2.8. It's a sunny day here, so I metered the grass and got between 1/800 and 1/1000 from the grass in the shade to the grass in the light. I metered a dirt-colored area that's likened to the color and reflective properties of the dirt on the diamond and got 1/1250.

Just to double reference, I switch to shutter priority and set my speed for 1/640th and re-metered and metered the same areas... I stayed between f/2.8 and f/4.0. That, in combination with raising the ISO slightly if I want a shallower depth of field and considering that, shooting in RAW, I'll have a two-stop grace, it'll be more than sufficient.

So, honestly, I'm not quite sure what type of advice you're trying to pass off here. You say, "To each their own," but are quick to discount and even provide information that has the appearance of being intentionally false. Just the claim alone of saying, "It's impossible to shoot f/2.8 at 1/640th on a sunny day," in and of itself, makes me face palm.

Hey, I offer real world advice...not some magic ratio I got from a pro of a blog. I do this for a living and cover a lot of baseball. I dont think there is anyone that walks to a baseball field on a sunny day and uses TV at 1/640 and f/2.8. Show me a real world picture and I will apologize... I learn new things every day

This is not correct...if you are in Tv at 1/640 and raise your ISO you will get LESS depth of field because the f/stop will get smaller( larger #). There is NO way to get a shallower depth of field if you are stuck at 1/640.....That was my original point. Your testing confimed what I was saying.... Av at f/2.8 will get you between 1/1000 and 1/2500 on a typical day.

I want to help you get good results...I am sorry if I came off rude. I hope you have a good time and get great results!

eigga wrote in post #7750809
Hey, I offer real world advice...not some magic ratio I got from a pro of a blog.

Now you're misquoting or not reading -- I said that I'd start at 1/640th and make adjustments from there... It's not a ratio, it's a shutter speed that will freeze time; I made no mention of shooting specifically at f/2.8, only that my lens was f/2.8 and, as I'm sure you know, the aperture can be increased.

Like I said, I appreciate your advice, but, as a baseline, I'm going to start with a shutter speed recommended by someone who's shot Tiger Woods and Superbowls -- no offense. However, I just don't see the need for overkill... if 1/640 will freeze the action and you can use your desired aperture setting with a lower ISO, shooting at 1/1000+ just because you can makes no sense.

Again, never said I was shooting at any specific aperture.

Not sure if his EXIF data is available, but it's still a very nice portfolio to look at: http://www.scottkelby.​com/portfolio/

Changing your ISO does not change the size of your aperture -- it digitally increases the sensor's sensitivity to light, that's what creates the noise. The ISO is independent of aperture and shutter speed.

I'm hoping we can keep this cordial -- I do appreciate the advice and I *promise* I will most certainly take some photos using your suggestions and see how things turn out. I'm sure I'm going to need to jack up the ISO a bit, because I'll most likely have a 1.4x TC on the lens.

Thanks again.

Go put your camera in Tv mode and change the ISO....to get correct exposure something has to change....I bet its the aperture.

Obviously I am not going to get across, maybe someone else can explain better...

Okay, I get the point... I apologize there. If you have a properly exposure image and you raise the ISO from 100 to 200, I could either 1) slow the shutter speed by one stop or 2) increase the aperture by one stop. I misunderstood... Thank you for clearing that up.

Also, this is something that was a good read -- the photographer of which I spoke shot an Indy race last week and posted a nice FAQ, including the settings: http://www.scottkelby.​com/blog/2009/archives​/4118 -- granted, Indy cars are going much faster than most athletes, but it's an interesting read, none the less.