A Little C&C, please.

littleleaguer

This is my first request for C&C, so go easy :wink. I took these shots this past w/e and wanted to see where I can improve. Here are a few that I thought would be good to get a review on. I especially like #1, but that may be because it is my son, what do you think of the composition?

#1


#2


#3


#4


These are shot with an XTi with a 70-200. The rest of the gallery is here: http://onfieldphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4812591_Rwuom#286071360_DGpGV

I used to coach, but tired of certain aspects, shooting the action is so much more fun and parent's don't complain about it (to me anyway).

Thanks, I need all the help I can get and it is great to have a place so full of wisdom to get it.

Greg.

J Allen

Awesome shots! I to used to coach...baseball, ice hockey, soccer, football...I have three growing boys, so I stopped all the coaching stuff and decided to get into photography My site- www.joerallen.com I went with the 40D & a 70-200 2.8L as my very first SLR and lense... I love taking pictures of my boys in the Little League! I dont have to many words of wisdom except keep shooting and posting those pics...I like #1 the best but maybe it would have been better in landscape, so you could see all of the batter.

JohnEBongo

These are nice tight shots captured at just the right point in the action. One thing I would do diferent is dial in a little +EC to lighten up the shadows under the brims of their caps/helmets. You will likely get some blown out spots elsewhere but IMO, the faces are more important part of the image....

littleleaguer

family guy wrote:

I like #1 the best but maybe it would have been better in landscape, so you could see all of the batter.

Let's try it...


I think I agree.

I have (at last count) 4 boys and a girl. Oldest is getting ready to move on and the baby girl (my avatar) is 3 now. Don't ask. I think my blood pressure has dropped since I took up shooting, but I have noticed that cameras are ball magnets.

JohnEBongo wrote:

One thing I would do diferent is dial in a little +EC to lighten up the shadows under the brims of their caps/helmets.

I have been experimenting with this, this was a late morning game and it was hard to find the right +.

Thanks for the feedback. I truly appreciate it.

jonh68

I disagree on cropping to have the batter in the picture. If the picture could stand it, I would crop tighter where the batter is but a hint, or at least it frames the pitcher. You want to put more focus on the pitcher, especially his facial expression. A wider crop put more emphasis on the blurry batter and takes away from the pitcher.

littleleaguer

I liked the portrait crop. I liked the landscape. Now I really don't like either one because I got too technical, but I love both crops for what they are (I'm the PWAC ). Technically, I'm not making this one work out right. I think I need to work on composing the shot from a different angle. I like the idea of the shot, I just think I need to capture it from a higher angle to get the pitcher to be "above" the batter. I think I'm gonna try to get several shots from different angles to see what works. I should be able to accomplish that during one of the next 4 weekends, three of which will be nothing but baseball.

Thanks

jonh68

littleleaguer wrote:

I liked the portrait crop. I liked the landscape. Now I really don't like either one because I got too technical, but I love both crops for what they are (I'm the PWAC ). Technically, I'm not making this one work out right. I think I need to work on composing the shot from a different angle. I like the idea of the shot, I just think I need to capture it from a higher angle to get the pitcher to be "above" the batter. I think I'm gonna try to get several shots from different angles to see what works. I should be able to accomplish that during one of the next 4 weekends, three of which will be nothing but baseball.

Thanks

I would try to get all kinds of angles. If there isn't a backstop, almost directly in front of the pitcher is a great angle. One thing about getting the pitcher above the batter is it makes the pitcher less heroic. When people stand to take sport pictures, expecially little league, it makes everything look lik a snap shot. Sometimes that's not possible with fences in the way, but sports look better shot low to the ground looking up.

There's nothing really wrong with your shot angle. It would help cropping if the ball were not so close to the bat. That takes timing or fast burst mode.

leaforte

I like number two. That's keeping your eye on the ball.

joshhuntnm

Great shots. Number 1 is good no matter how you crop it!