MLB: The Disappointing Mets Play out the Strand

It's been five straight tough seasons in a row for us Mets fans, beginning with one knee-bending Adam Wainwright curve ball keeping them from the world series, followed by two consecutive improbable collapses, a ridiculous string of injuries and a total offensive brown-out essentially eliminating the team from contention by the all-star break in '09 and '10. Still, they're my team and if someone sends me a photo pass, I wouldn't miss it for the world (even though I have a 40-game ticket package). Here are a few shots from August 26, 2010. Just wait 'til next year!

1. Josh Thole and Hanley Ramirez

fellow baseball fan here. truly amazing shots! did you shoot them from the stands, or from the dugout? what lens did you use?

once again astounding pictures, these are the shots i dream i can make.

From his sig...im going to guess its going to be the 100-400 or 300.For me i would be using the 300

Hahahahaha! I love the tongue out in that last shot Nice pics, all around.

llie19 wrote in post #10943333
fellow baseball fan here. truly amazing shots! did you shoot them from the stands, or from the dugout? what lens did you use?

once again astounding pictures, these are the shots i dream i can make.

Thanks so much! I dreamed of being able to take shots like this 3 years ago and (though I still have a long way to go), learned everything I know from studying POTN and practicing by finding opportunities to get close and low to shoot games without spending a fortune on tickets (which is why I go to spring training, the Arizona Fall League and a lot of minor league games).

I was in the photo well which is just adjacent to the visitor's dugout.
boboy888 is right on - all were taken with the EF 300 2.8 IS with the exception of #3, which was taken with my EF 70-200 2.8 IS. I think my 100-400 is an exquisite lens, but it's just not fast enough for late day/night baseball IMO. Hence I use two bodies with the aforementioned lenses (300 +7D on a monopod, 70-200 + 40D handheld). I also add a 1.4x TC occasionally.

That reminds, me, I haven't listed it yet, but my mint 100-400 is for sale if anyone is interested (and doesn't expect to use it at night!).

Snydremark wrote in post #10943487
Hahahahaha! I love the tongue out in that last shot Nice pics, all around.

Thank you!

So who were you shooting for?

Spectacular shots!

canonnoob wrote in post #10946848
So who were you shooting for?

I wasn't shooting for anyone. My pass was arranged for me by a friend in the Mets organization that has seen my shots and knew I would enjoy/benefit from having some shots from the well.

Cdellama wrote in post #10947000
Spectacular shots!

Thanks very much!

I check yahoo mlb gallery almost every day, and frankly a lot of pictures on it don't compare to these in their color rendition and composition, at least to my taste.

So how did you acquire the permit to get in the photo wells? Are you a professional? Since I got into photography I would always keep an eye on the photographers at the end of the dugouts, and see them migrating between the 2 dugouts. Indeed shooting from a low angle looking up boosts the impact of action shots.

tagvestibule wrote in post #10946569
Thanks so much! I dreamed of being able to take shots like this 3 years ago and (though I still have a long way to go), learned everything I know from studying POTN and practicing by finding opportunities to get close and low to shoot games without spending a fortune on tickets (which is why I go to spring training, the Arizona Fall League and a lot of minor league games).

I was in the photo well which is just adjacent to the visitor's dugout.
boboy888 is right on - all were taken with the EF 300 2.8 IS with the exception of #3, which was taken with my EF 70-200 2.8 IS. I think my 100-400 is an exquisite lens, but it's just not fast enough for late day/night baseball IMO. Hence I use two bodies with the aforementioned lenses (300 +7D on a monopod, 70-200 + 40D handheld). I also add a 1.4x TC occasionally.

That reminds, me, I haven't listed it yet, but my mint 100-400 is for sale if anyone is interested (and doesn't expect to use it at night!).

That's awesome! Also get a chance to see players up close.

tagvestibule wrote in post #10949757
I wasn't shooting for anyone. My pass was arranged for me by a friend in the Mets organization that has seen my shots and knew I would enjoy/benefit from having some shots from the well.

Thanks very much!

Lucky!! I was at this Mets game. Its a shame they lost

solid set you have!good job!

llie19 wrote in post #10949808
I check yahoo mlb gallery almost every day, and frankly a lot of pictures on it don't compare to these in their color rendition and composition, at least to my taste.

So how did you acquire the permit to get in the photo wells? Are you a professional? Since I got into photography I would always keep an eye on the photographers at the end of the dugouts, and see them migrating between the 2 dugouts. Indeed shooting from a low angle looking up boosts the impact of action shots.

Those are some flattering comments - much appreciated. Shooting from a low angle does give you a tremendous advantage. It's tough because it's almost as if you need to have the kind of shots you can only get from the photo well in order to get yourself access to the photo well!!

If you're not lucky enough to be friends with an executive with your favorite MLB team, try to talk-up some minor league or independent league photographers or employees and see if you can get down there on a slow night. I wound up in the photo well at Fenway Park during the Cape Cod League All-Star game after chatting with the pros that were there. I was asking questions and discussing techniques without annoying or disturbing them while they were busy and, eventually, they let me hop in there.

As for being close to the players - I'm a huge baseball fan and have been all my life. I still have a child-like love of the game. If I was just sitting in the front row, I would be extremely excited to be close to the players. But when I'm shooting, all of that goes out of my mind and I'm thinking only about the shots. This summer, I've had photo passes for my favorite team (Mets) and favorite band (Wilco). I've also sat in the front row as a spectator for both. I was surprised to discover that it's a completely different feeling. Although, I have to admit, casually passing Hanley Ramirez in an empty hallway was kind of amazing, even though he hates the Mets!

TheThunderclap wrote in post #10952732
Lucky!! I was at this Mets game. Its a shame they lost

They lost? Ha ha - I was so thrilled to be shooting it that I hardly noticed the score. I WAS, however, disappointed that there wasn't more action to shoot. You would think with the amount of runs scored that there would be great opportunities for action shots, but not so much.

zildjansg wrote in post #10954562
solid set you have!good job!

Thank you very much!

oh wow, nice work here