No eye on the ball

TonyCooper

I recently posted a photograph of my grandson, the catcher,
going after a fly ball. What made that image was his eye on
the ball and his intensity.

His older brother plays a level up in Babe Ruth ball, and a very
good first baseman. They're kids, though, and don't always
make every play with their eye on the ball.

jmphotocraft

I pay for most of my camera gear by shooting and selling little league photos. At this point the batter has already judged the pitch to be a ball, and is starting to look back towards the umpire for confirmation. He's not making a play, and in the context of the game it's a minimal event. Additionally it's not much of a "sportrait" compared to all the other sportrait opportunities in baseball, so personally I would have deleted this shot in-camera.

I'd also recommend shooting with your lens wide open to isolate the player and blur the background. Unless that's Dad back there. Also a shutter speed of 1/500 is in no-man's-land. It's often too slow to produce a crisp shot of the batter swinging the bat, and it's too fast to create an artistic shot deliberately showing motion blur to convey speed. Go for 1/1000 or faster to freeze action.

The biggest tip for making kids look like pros is to shoot from down at their level. That means getting down on your knees or sitting on a small stool or milk crate or the ground. Shooting kids from a standing position yields the same old perspective as you are used to seeing every day.

Hope this helps.

PS, go Sox. ;-)

TonyCooper

jmphotocraft wrote: »

I pay for most of my camera gear by shooting and selling little league photos. At this point the batter has already judged the pitch to be a ball, and is starting to look back towards the umpire for confirmation. He's not making a play, and in the context of the game it's a minimal event. Additionally it's not much of a "sportrait" compared to all the other sportrait opportunities in baseball, so personally I would have deleted this shot in-camera.
PS, go Sox. ;-)

Thank you for your comments and your tips. You and I have different objectives, though.
You are shooting other people's children in hopes of selling the photographs. I am
photographing my own grandchildren. My "keepers" are not your "keepers".

Over the season, I get a sufficient number of traditional "sportraits" of the boys. I like
to include some that are a bit different for the humor in them...the twisted batter after
the whiff, the bobbled catch, the exaggerated lean-back from an inside pitch, and
traditional-in-a-different-way "crotch grab". Not your Topps card photos.

This one was posted here in contrast to my other shot in another thread of the other
grandson who did keep his eye on the ball as catcher...just for the contrast and humor of it. It was
not intended as an example of a good "sportrait".

I envy the "official" photographers who are allowed on the other side of the chainlink
fence. They can get low and shoot unobstructed. They don't have to fight for an
opening in the row of parents in lawn chairs along the fence. They don't have to
shoot through diamond-shaped openings if they want to get low.

However, I'm also there for the pure enjoyment of watching a baseball game and
watching my grandsons play. I sometime enjoy it so much I forget to raise the
camera.

What is most difficult is paring down all the shots taken over the season to one
file for posterity. I do include some that you would delete in camera, but these
reflect part of the real baseball season for my grandchildren. I don't mind if
there's a coach or another player in the frame. In fact, I deliberately include
some so the boys will remember who they played with.

jmphotocraft

I only shoot my town's Little League, and both my kids and many of their friends are in it, so our objectives are more similar than not. I try to make the kids look like stars, or at least like competent baseball players. I probably do less "photojournalism" than you do around the game in general, as I tend to concentrate more on individual players, but I guess I don't see how this shot tells much of a story. To each his own. Anyway, I always assume photos posted to photography forums are intended to not only be enjoyed but also constructively critiqued. Sorry if I assumed incorrectly. I did enjoy the shot of your grandson catching.

TonyCooper

jmphotocraft wrote: »

I only shoot my town's Little League, and both my kids and many of their friends are in it, so our objectives are more similar than not. I try to make the kids look like stars, or at least like competent baseball players. I probably do less "photojournalism" than you do around the game in general, as I tend to concentrate more on individual players, but I guess I don't see how this shot tells much of a story. To each his own. Anyway, I always assume photos posted to photography forums are intended to not only be enjoyed but also constructively critiqued. Sorry if I assumed incorrectly. I did enjoy the shot of your grandson catching.

My major interest in photography is documentary and street, so that does
influence everything I do. I'm used to capturing things as they are, and
not just the sanitized scenes.

At the end of the season, I end up with a series of photos capturing the whole
season, and shots of all the players, with some hero shots and some not-so-hero
shots. I make a disc of the season and give one to each team member's family
and the coaches. At the end-of-season party, when they use the disc for a
slideshow, the goofy shots are as well received as the hero shots by the parents.
I've done this for two seasons of Babe Ruth Baseball and Pop Warner Football.

No single photo is required to tell the story, but it can add to the story when
part of a series. Each is part of the path, and not the destination. At the post-
season All Star game, the best received photo by the parents was the one
I took after the "official" photographer took the group photo and I waited
for the one with the boys mugging for the camera and goofing around.

I don't mind, and do appreciate, critiques and suggestions. I don't mean to
get snarky, and apologize if I came off that way, but the suggestion to
delete in-camera the less-than-perfect hero shot goes against the grain for me.
They're kids, it's part of the game.

jmphotocraft

That's cool. Having to shoot the entire league, I don't really have the luxury of being able to document the whole season for a team. I do take a goofy shot right after the team photo though.

shphotos

Tony-For what it's worth, I got why you posted this one. I thought it was funny, and I thought your explanation was clear and classy. Your kids, grandkids and their teammates are lucky to have you.