First Little League Shots

keith204

I was pretty impressed with the way these turned out. I don't know what baseball moms like, so please give me some helpful compliments and helpful advice.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


Whelp, tell me what you think! Give both goods & bads please.

Frog Lady

Hi Keith,

1st off - welcome to dgrin and to sports shooting. Let me start off by saying one of the mantra's of sports shooters is "faces, action, ball" - you should generally try to get as many of these in a shot as is reasonable (although that is probably a bit less true for baseball). The examples you show are mostly static, non-action and in several, the face is only partially shown or not shown (and most moms love to see their kids face - speaking as a mom ).

The other mantra for sports shooters is to "shoot tight, crop tighter". If you don't have a long lens, that may be hard to do, but I think several of your shots would benefit from a good crop.

As to your specific shots:

1) probably a bit too centered; I would crop it so the player is a bit more to the right of the frame.
2) good "sportrait" - but I think here, cropped a bit too tight (IMHO)
3) many shooters go for portrait mode here, but this also works as a sportrait style shot. It is a bit flat and needs some post processing to make it "pop" a bit.
4) this shot doesn't work for me for several reasons: you're focusing on the catcher, but he is way at the bottom of the frame w/ too much of him cut off and no real action - if it was obvious that he had just caught the ball (i.e., a cloud of dust was rising from his mitt), it might have had a bit more appeal. But as is, this shot is lacking in everything that makes a good action shot. On the positive side, the catcher is sharp and the colors are crisp.
5 and 7) these two are probably the bets of the lot, showing the pitcher in action. However, both of these could benefit from a good crop. #5 is too centered - crop off the bottom and left, moving the pitcher to the left side and giving him room to throw into. You caught a good expression and action. Similarly, #7 could use a good crop as well - top (to the fence), left (to about the base runner) and some off the bottom - to really focus on the pitcher and the ball he just threw
6) - classic shot and a lot of fun (although I'm not sure any mom will buy this)
8) nice idea - IMO, just need to see a bit more of his face/emotion to tell the story (cheering on a team mate that just hit a good ball I assume)

overall, a good start, and things that I think are easy to improve on.

Good luck,

C.

Mitchell

These are a pretty good start. You have a good eye, but as previously stated, you want to crop tighter. Mom's will buy good "sportraits". Photos of their children with well exposed faces and tight crops with good expressions.

Occasionally they will buy some good action photos, but these are usually in the minority. IMHO

coskier

As a parent, coach and photographer, I always like the shots that show some action or the anticipation of something beginning. Interactions with coaches, if they are positive, are always good to capture as well.

For the key position players, such as pitchers or catchers, a whole sequence of one throw or one catch can be interesting (more so for the pitchers). Fascinating to watch the pitcher's face as they go through all the motions. I really want to get a camera with more than 3fps to capture those moments vividly, but I have managed to get some good ones so far.

For whatever reason, I really like this shot. I call it "comfortably removed", as I am now "retired" from Little League coaching and was able to watch as a fan.


I also like this one, as it conveys the isolation that a pitcher often feels.

fire1035

#4

The only thing I would say that would improve this one for me would be if I could see all of the catcher. Something about that one just speaks to me.

coleygm

if your shooting to sell to parents, than Frog Lady and the rest have great advice. I shoot for both parents, and for local newspapers and your pictures remind me more of what i do for the papers.

Parents want nice tight face pictures of their kids...editors want pictures that tell stories. Your ump pictures if AWESOME by the way. I recently had of a great cover picture of a girl diving for a pop fly only to have it land 1 ft from her glove...great picture, but not something a parent would buy.

Baseball is really hard IMHO though depending on the fencing around the diamond. Shooting within the fences is difficult and dangerous, which means you're shooting through the fence or you need a super long lens. Sometimes you can shoot from the dugouts, but that doesn't always offer the best angles. ...and because of the angles of everything, getting straight on shots of say the batter or catcher is impossible...unless you have a 1200mm lens from the outfield fence.

I used to hate shooting volleyball, but it's a dream compared to baseball!

IMG_4367-Edit.jpg

Noelimages

coleygm wrote:

if your shooting to sell to parents, than Frog Lady and the rest have great advice. I shoot for both parents, and for local newspapers and your pictures remind me more of what i do for the papers.

Parents want nice tight face pictures of their kids...editors want pictures that tell stories. Your ump pictures if AWESOME by the way. I recently had of a great cover picture of a girl diving for a pop fly only to have it land 1 ft from her glove...great picture, but not something a parent would buy.

Baseball is really hard IMHO though depending on the fencing around the diamond. Shooting within the fences is difficult and dangerous, which means you're shooting through the fence or you need a super long lens. Sometimes you can shoot from the dugouts, but that doesn't always offer the best angles. ...and because of the angles of everything, getting straight on shots of say the batter or catcher is impossible...unless you have a 1200mm lens from the outfield fence.

I used to hate shooting volleyball, but it's a dream compared to baseball!

IMG_4367-Edit.jpg

This is why I shoot T-Ball for all the reason stated above. The players are younger so the parents buy more because it's Johnny's first time playing. Usually, the umpire will let me on the field if I promise not to get in the way and I can shoot it will a 70-200MM and don't have to do much cropping.