some more practice at baseball

Oldaker

Hello,
after reading and reading about shooting sports, i went out to practice again today,
can you all look at my gallery here

http://www.oldakerphotography.com/gallery/8202473_vrFQ2#535953211_qWoUy






and give me some more advice or let me know how they are looking

Thanks

Mike J

In general, it is more effective if you post your photos directly in the thread rather than directing people to a link. Here's how to post your photos: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1083138


I did take a quick look at the gallery. You've stripped the EXIF data so it is hard to see the technical details of the shots.

The hardest part for me is to work to find a place where the background is not so distracting. In a number of them, there are posts coming out of helmets. At a lot of baseball/softball fields, there is not much choice in the matter though. The background is what it is. Moving a couple of feet in one direction can help.

One thing I've read over and over is to shoot tight and crop tighter. The 2nd shot is moving in the right direction. Compare that to #6. Too much in the frame.

Having said all of that...you did a good job of getting the ball in the frame. I also assume the shots from behind the plate were shot through the fence? I'm trying to get better at that technique.

Oldaker

Mike J wrote:

In general, it is more effective if you post your photos directly in the thread rather than directing people to a link. Here's how to post your photos: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1083138


I did take a quick look at the gallery. You've stripped the EXIF data so it is hard to see the technical details of the shots.

The hardest part for me is to work to find a place where the background is not so distracting. In a number of them, there are posts coming out of helmets. At a lot of baseball/softball fields, there is not much choice in the matter though. The background is what it is. Moving a couple of feet in one direction can help.

One thing I've read over and over is to shoot tight and crop tighter. The 2nd shot is moving in the right direction. Compare that to #6. Too much in the frame.

Having said all of that...you did a good job of getting the ball in the frame. I also assume the shots from behind the plate were shot through the fence? I'm trying to get better at that technique.

Ok i put the exif data back on, didnt realize i took it off, ya there were a few shots that i did behind the fence there
ya it is really hard to not get people in the pictures, because there is 4 fields right there together

Tosser

Baseball
I do a fair amount of little league shooting, and while I'm certainly not an expert, here are a few tips.

First, shoot at a wider aperture. You should get good seperation at 2.8 as opposed to 4.0 or 5.6.

Second, vary your shots and don't limit yourself to the batters and pitchers. When there is a runner on 1st, pre-focus on second and work to catch the play there. You can shoot from either behind the plate or to the side of 1st or 3rd base. While I find that the ball on the bat can be good, it seems most of the more exciting action happens on the bases.

Third, get the faces of the players and make sure their eyes are sharp. Pictures like the ones of the backs of the batter don't grab the attention (I know, I've tried).

You might also try to increase saturation/contrast/sharpening to see if you can get more "pop."

If you have to shoot through the chainlink backstop, put your lens right on the fence and shoot through the holes. Use a hood to protect your glass. It also looks like you can go to the sides and shoot over the lower section of the fence, and that will give you better image quality.

Sometimes you cannot avoid getting poles sticking through helmets, but try to do so. This shot, for example was shot through the backstop after preparing for a shot at second. If I was worried about the pole (I was shooting the runner), I'd have to throw the shot away which would have been too bad because both the runner's family and the shortstop's coach really liked the picture.

http://www.jimlanter.smugmug.com/gallery/8139913_c32A3#531027699_rEgmG

munmi

One thing I have done to try to improve my own baseball images was setting my DSLR to back button focus. This function removes the autofocus from the shutter release to a button on the back of the body. Once a focus point is set, it won't try to readjust when you go to shoot.

Check your owners manual to see how to set this function for your DSLR body.

Oldaker

Tosser wrote:

I do a fair amount of little league shooting, and while I'm certainly not an expert, here are a few tips.

First, shoot at a wider aperture. You should get good seperation at 2.8 as opposed to 4.0 or 5.6.

Second, vary your shots and don't limit yourself to the batters and pitchers. When there is a runner on 1st, pre-focus on second and work to catch the play there. You can shoot from either behind the plate or to the side of 1st or 3rd base. While I find that the ball on the bat can be good, it seems most of the more exciting action happens on the bases.

Third, get the faces of the players and make sure their eyes are sharp. Pictures like the ones of the backs of the batter don't grab the attention (I know, I've tried).

You might also try to increase saturation/contrast/sharpening to see if you can get more "pop."

If you have to shoot through the chainlink backstop, put your lens right on the fence and shoot through the holes. Use a hood to protect your glass. It also looks like you can go to the sides and shoot over the lower section of the fence, and that will give you better image quality.

Sometimes you cannot avoid getting poles sticking through helmets, but try to do so. This shot, for example was shot through the backstop after preparing for a shot at second. If I was worried about the pole (I was shooting the runner), I'd have to throw the shot away which would have been too bad because both the runner's family and the shortstop's coach really liked the picture.

http://www.jimlanter.smugmug.com/gallery/8139913_c32A3#531027699_rEgmG

Tosser, thanks for your advice, i would love to be able to shoot wide open aperature at 2.8 but i dont have that good of equipment right now, i have the 55-200 and f4 is the best i can get right now, hoping to get a 2.8 glass soon as i save up some money