boys' baseball...shooting tips?

Elaine

My 7yo son will be playing coach-pitch baseball for the first time, and practices start today. How does one go about getting good shots of the batter? Can you stand off to the side, or shoot through the backstop, or??? Is it best to get the ball in the shot with the batter? What are the classic baseball type shots to look for?
Yesterday in our backyard, he wanted to practice hitting, so he tossed himself balls while I practiced shooting. I know I won't be this close at a game, so I'm not sure it really was good practice for me. And I wasn't sure if I should be shooting portrait or landscape for a batter.
You guys helped me out so much with soccer last fall! Any helpful hints for baseball would be appreciated!

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johng

Elaine,
I apologize I can't see your photos, as my company blocks smugmug. So I'll just provide some general comments.

Baseball, like so many other sports, it is essential to get FACES. Especially with young kids - the action isn't always great so what makes a great photo is the expressions. This is especially true for batters/runners because form is usually still poor at this stage. Positioning you don't want to shoot from behind - you want to shoot from down the baseline or even in the outfield if you have a long enough lens (for coach pitch I'll do this but not usually for higher levels of play). Camera orientation depends on the type of shot. If full body shot then shoot portrait oriientation. The only time I'll shoot landscape is a torso crop during swing or tight head shot when standing at the plate. But shooting full body landscape shots leaves too much distracting background in the frame. The tough thing about batting shots is capturing contact - for kids this age don't worry about it. Just get the ball in the frame.

Try to position yourself so you're using as much lens as you have to minimize DOF and keep distractingg elements to a minimum. Pay attention to the kids running - usually you'll get more interesting shots than them batting.
Some sample shots:

Elaine

Thanks much, John! Great tips and examples! When I shot soccer, I used AI Servo with center focus point selected. I see baseball as a bit more stationary, except for the base running. For batters and fielders who aren't moving much, should I stick with one shot and high speed drive? I'll probably be using my 70-200 f/4 L IS. It's the longest thing I've got.

johng

Elaine,

No, I don't recommend one-shot. Fielders move so you don't want to use one shot. But, baseball is a perfect sport for back-button focus (switch focus to back button but leave shutter on the shutter button). Here's the example - batter is at the plate, you focus on the batter's face once they're set at the plate then remove your thumb. Now, recompose the shot so the framing is how you want it. If you're framing tight (as you should be) you don't have to worry about the batter shifting out of the focus point. Because the batter won't change focal planes during the swing you don't need the benefit of continuous focus. NOW the batter gets a hit and starts running. Put your thumb back on and start tracking and take your shots of them running - you can' t do that in single shot. At older age groups the same concept applies for plays at bags or steals but you always get the benefit of starting to track as soon as you want to.

Also - now that I'm home I can see your photos. They're not bad - the biggest issue is the backgrounds. SInce you're using the 70-200 f4 make sure you're at 200mm f4 when you take the shot.

Also, get lower - sit or kneel on the ground so you're not shooting down on your subject.

Shot 1 is good framing. For the 2-4 sequence I suggest framing much tighter - frame at the torso and above - it will highlight the expression and give more detail. For shot 2 the interesting thing is him watching the ball so that should be your subject. But you need to frame much tighter to get the detail to make it an interesting photo (i.e. don't plan on cropping down that much). Framing that tightly will also decrease the DOF.

Elaine

johng wrote:

Elaine,

No, I don't recommend one-shot. Fielders move so you don't want to use one shot. But, baseball is a perfect sport for back-button focus (switch focus to back button but leave shutter on the shutter button). Here's the example - batter is at the plate, you focus on the batter's face once they're set at the plate then remove your thumb. Now, recompose the shot so the framing is how you want it. If you're framing tight (as you should be) you don't have to worry about the batter shifting out of the focus point. Because the batter won't change focal planes during the swing you don't need the benefit of continuous focus. NOW the batter gets a hit and starts running. Put your thumb back on and start tracking and take your shots of them running - you can' t do that in single shot. At older age groups the same concept applies for plays at bags or steals but you always get the benefit of starting to track as soon as you want to.

Also - now that I'm home I can see your photos. They're not bad - the biggest issue is the backgrounds. SInce you're using the 70-200 f4 make sure you're at 200mm f4 when you take the shot.

Also, get lower - sit or kneel on the ground so you're not shooting down on your subject.

Shot 1 is good framing. For the 2-4 sequence I suggest framing much tighter - frame at the torso and above - it will highlight the expression and give more detail. For shot 2 the interesting thing is him watching the ball so that should be your subject. But you need to frame much tighter to get the detail to make it an interesting photo (i.e. don't plan on cropping down that much). Framing that tightly will also decrease the DOF.

Thank you, John! I will definitely try these tips out! These shots in my yard were at 70-80mm, so hopefully backing up and zooming in to 200 will help with the backgrounds, even at f/4. Good to know about shooting tighter...I tend to want to show the whole body's position and give the ball somewhere to go. But it does leave too much empty space, in landscape. I've not really needed to use the back-button focus technique before, but I'll give it a go!

Rocketman766

I am not trying to steal the thread, but also, I see alot of shots that appear to be taken from somewhere behind the chain link fence, but can't see the fence in the shot. How do you do this? I hope that made sense, I am interested in also shooting baseball, but don't think I will always be able to be in a position where I am not behind the fence.

tjk60

john has great advice here. Faces, faces faces!

1). watch your backgrounds
2). get down to their level (knee or sit)
3). Learn to use +/- EV to expose the faces correctly
4). To shoot through the fence, just ignore it! wither get REAL close, or back about 10'. The lens will likely autofocus thru the fence and blur it...
5). TTF (thru the fence) stay square to the fence and use your lens hood.
6). Use the fastest shutter you can without bumping ISO to high...
7). Use the widest aperture to limit DOF. Helps isolate the player even more

here's an example TTF:



and another: