Nice action. Which lens are you using for these. Tight crops are best but
for the larger fields you really need some long glass. A 2.8 lens helps isolate
the players better.
Looking forward to some more shots as the season goes.
thanks, being a beginner (this is my first dslr) I just have a stock nikor 70-300 f4-5.6 lens. Most of these were shot from center field, so I'm making progress. Maybe I can save and get a better lens before the end of the season.
thanks, being a beginner (this is my first dslr) I just have a stock nikor 70-300 f4-5.6 lens. Most of these were shot from center field, so I'm making progress. Maybe I can save and get a better lens before the end of the season.
If you can shoot from the 1st base or 3rd base lines that works the best.
You can get great shots of the batters and pitchers...You would have
plenty of reach with the lens you have for those shots...
thanks, being a beginner (this is my first dslr) I just have a stock nikor 70-300 f4-5.6 lens. Most of these were shot from center field, so I'm making progress. Maybe I can save and get a better lens before the end of the season.
Eh for softball I am not sure how long of a glass you need. I seem to do fine with a 200, I pretty much cant get the center fielder but depending on my position I can get left and right fields.
Softball is proably one of my favorite sports to cover after hockey.
As with any sports thinking of the following will greatly improve your photos:
1) Faces, faces, faces. Faces will tell you the story the action, the thrill of the game. There will be times where for dramtic effict you may want the picture of the back of someones head, but for the vast majority of the photos you will take no one wants to see anyones head or ass in a photo.
2) Backgrounds, you could have a great action shot but the background totally ruins it. Yeah sometimes its great to get a background in there, people cheering in the background but for the most part no one cares and they can be distracting to the photo.
3) Crop it tight! Dont be afraid to get in there with the lens. You said you had a 300, man some of the things I would do with a 300!!! (ok mostly it would make football more enjoyable for me rather than chasing everyone down with a 200!)
4) Never put the camera down! Ok maybe you can check once in a while to see if your settings are adjusted right, espeically if you have clouds that roll in an out frequently making adjustments to the light (this of course is assuming you are shooting manual) but dont chimp during the game, you could miss some great shots that occur in between the play. Keep your eye out!
Shooting outside is great because it puts you on a fairly level playing field no matter what the equipment is! When you get indoors sometimes the guys with the strobes and the F2.8 lens is going to win out, its a light issue. But outside you are all working with the same light!
Softball is great and if you learn some of the basic stategies of the game (and that applies to any sport) you can get yourself into position to get great shots, like steals and tags at 2nd base! Runner heading home!
Here is some stuff that i shot this fall.
Here are some I shot last fall for an alumni game for fun.
I just realised the other day I picked up my first SLR Jan 03 and since then it has been a constant learning experience. Dont be afraid to shoot and make some bad photos cause eh its digital!
If you can shoot from the 1st base or 3rd base lines that works the best.
...
Good advice. The biggest thing you could do to improve your shots is get a lot closer to the action. Right now you're just too far away for the photos to be sharp. If you slide up to just behind and outside the baseline you'll get much sharper shots. Having said that, you still need to shoot TIGHT to get sharp photos.
Thanks for all the input. I guess I'm a little to worried about the action. Here are some additional from the basepaths.
Herb
You know the line "you gotta break some eggs to make an omlette"
Kind of think of it that way. Dont be afraid of missing action.
OR if you want to try something out, try things out the first couple of innings and then go back to your old stand by. (or well print media will do that oppositte, get their "safe shots" first)
I can totally empthais with your position, it took me so long to get used to getting in close. And like I said there are times where going WIDE is great. But for sports, just look through an SI most of those images are TIGHT!!!
Quick tip, you want to clean up those backgrounds real fast! I shoot at the fence, I put my lens right up and it fits pretty much in the space, I will sometimes use the same hand I use to adjust the zoom to keep the lens in place. I am used to tracking the action but if you wander too far when you are right up against the fence the auto focus will pick up the links. But if you keep it centered in the opening you wont see the links at all.
Actually it just so happens that all of those shots I posted where shot through a chain link fence. I will stand at the 1st and 3rd baseline, but think of how the action happens and which way will be facing. That is why I like shooting from down around home plate up, you get way more faces and much less numbers.
Like take that 2nd shot, the play at the plate in the 2nd posting you made. Think about taking 10 steps to your left and shooting that same action. You would have a nice clean background and suddenly that action will pop right at you.
Comments
for the larger fields you really need some long glass. A 2.8 lens helps isolate
the players better.
Looking forward to some more shots as the season goes.
Rod
If you can shoot from the 1st base or 3rd base lines that works the best.
You can get great shots of the batters and pitchers...You would have
plenty of reach with the lens you have for those shots...
Rod
Eh for softball I am not sure how long of a glass you need. I seem to do fine with a 200, I pretty much cant get the center fielder but depending on my position I can get left and right fields.
Softball is proably one of my favorite sports to cover after hockey.
As with any sports thinking of the following will greatly improve your photos:
1) Faces, faces, faces. Faces will tell you the story the action, the thrill of the game. There will be times where for dramtic effict you may want the picture of the back of someones head, but for the vast majority of the photos you will take no one wants to see anyones head or ass in a photo.
2) Backgrounds, you could have a great action shot but the background totally ruins it. Yeah sometimes its great to get a background in there, people cheering in the background but for the most part no one cares and they can be distracting to the photo.
3) Crop it tight! Dont be afraid to get in there with the lens. You said you had a 300, man some of the things I would do with a 300!!! (ok mostly it would make football more enjoyable for me rather than chasing everyone down with a 200!)
4) Never put the camera down! Ok maybe you can check once in a while to see if your settings are adjusted right, espeically if you have clouds that roll in an out frequently making adjustments to the light (this of course is assuming you are shooting manual) but dont chimp during the game, you could miss some great shots that occur in between the play. Keep your eye out!
Shooting outside is great because it puts you on a fairly level playing field no matter what the equipment is! When you get indoors sometimes the guys with the strobes and the F2.8 lens is going to win out, its a light issue. But outside you are all working with the same light!
Softball is great and if you learn some of the basic stategies of the game (and that applies to any sport) you can get yourself into position to get great shots, like steals and tags at 2nd base! Runner heading home!
Here is some stuff that i shot this fall.
Here are some I shot last fall for an alumni game for fun.
And if you wanted to look at almost 800 photos from last season you can try here: http://winger.smugmug.com/gallery/815945#71324956
I just realised the other day I picked up my first SLR Jan 03 and since then it has been a constant learning experience. Dont be afraid to shoot and make some bad photos cause eh its digital!
Good advice. The biggest thing you could do to improve your shots is get a lot closer to the action. Right now you're just too far away for the photos to be sharp. If you slide up to just behind and outside the baseline you'll get much sharper shots. Having said that, you still need to shoot TIGHT to get sharp photos.
Good luck!
Herb
You know the line "you gotta break some eggs to make an omlette"
Kind of think of it that way. Dont be afraid of missing action.
OR if you want to try something out, try things out the first couple of innings and then go back to your old stand by. (or well print media will do that oppositte, get their "safe shots" first)
I can totally empthais with your position, it took me so long to get used to getting in close. And like I said there are times where going WIDE is great. But for sports, just look through an SI most of those images are TIGHT!!!
Quick tip, you want to clean up those backgrounds real fast! I shoot at the fence, I put my lens right up and it fits pretty much in the space, I will sometimes use the same hand I use to adjust the zoom to keep the lens in place. I am used to tracking the action but if you wander too far when you are right up against the fence the auto focus will pick up the links. But if you keep it centered in the opening you wont see the links at all.
Actually it just so happens that all of those shots I posted where shot through a chain link fence. I will stand at the 1st and 3rd baseline, but think of how the action happens and which way will be facing. That is why I like shooting from down around home plate up, you get way more faces and much less numbers.
Like take that 2nd shot, the play at the plate in the 2nd posting you made. Think about taking 10 steps to your left and shooting that same action. You would have a nice clean background and suddenly that action will pop right at you.
I hope I am being helpful.