Do you shoot?

I really like getting shots like this. Anyone can get the hitter or pitcher shots, but I feel the fielding pictures are some of the best for baseball and softball.

 

I agree. Fielding shots are tough in softball and baseball, especially for me as I usually shoot with an 80-200 lens and would ideally need a 300 or higher to get decent outfield shots.
Still, I loved this shot I got at a game last week:

I haven't shot much softball or baseball lately though as I've been spread throughout all our spring sports. Grabbed this at a track meet a few weeks ago:

Also really liked this pic from volleyball a week or two ago:

The best thing I've shot recently though is this. Third game in a best-of-three hockey series for the "state championship." Local team's goalie gives up the game winner in overtime when it seemed just minutes earlier his team had it wrapped up. He was on the ice by himself for a great while.


I recently bought a Nikon D3 so I'm excited to see what I can do with it when I actually get to shoot sports I love (I.E. Football)

 

Fielding shots are the toughest to get. You've got to be quick. Plus, you've normally got other players in the background that can be distracting.



This is one of my favorites from last season. Too bad the third baseman had to be in the road, though.

 

I could have touched this up a little more but I didn't want to ruin the sunshine illuminating her red.

She goes to Bennington College. We're showing her work in a few days. The teapots are funky cool.

(click on the shot to enlarge)

 

Great looking work, guys!

Xan, that's great work using the window to create directional light and an interesting shadow pattern. Really nicely done. Would have loved to have seen just a wee bit more light in her eyes. And there's almost nothing I hate more than the existence of EXIT signs. Blergh (totally not your fault). Great work getting down and getting a different perspective.

shiezainc, love that long jump shot! Was it overcast? This kind of shot begs for crisp, bright sunshing, y'know? Lovely work, though. The action in the baseball shot is great, too. You're right about a longer lens. Not only would it get you closer to the action, it'd help eliminate some of the background elements, and really focus the image.

'Phib, that's good work getting that kind of moment. Do you mind sharing the camera settings? I'd have loved to have seen that ball frozen.

Keep up the good work!

 

Overcast day indeed though I didn't mind. I got a similar shot about two years ago in the sun at the state outdoor track meet but I like the detail of this one a lot better. Much clearer on the grains of sand.
And I actually kind of like the added elements of the shortstop and left fielder looking on. It was a tough catch in the infield and I like that his two teammates seem to be accepting it was going to drop.

 

Fair enough. One of the things I love about photography is that it's flexible, and we can have lots of different opinions about it.

 

Love having ADod's commentary. She's brilliant, for those who don't know or aren't familiar with her work.
I've been shooting some portrait stuff and getting paid - not much, mind you. Just some friends who want pics of their kids and like my work enough to ditch the photog they've been using in favor of me.
I'm done doing stuff by appointment for free. My policy is if they call me, they pay. If I go to something (a birthday party, for example) on my own accord and take out a camera, I have no problems not paying.
What I'm battling is how much to charge. I shot a cousin-in-law's kids football game and gave her the pics, but put a bunch up on flickr and sold some for a healthy price. My friend asked me to shoot some portraits and I did; then she asked me to get them printed and I was terrified to charge full rate. She ordered 29 4x6s, 6 5x7s and 2 8x10s based on my prices I charged her 50 percent less than I should.
I don't shoot as much sports as I want but I still love doing it. Right now I think children's portraits is a market I could settle in to as a cheaper alternative to people I think are much better than me.
This pic is one of my favorites. It's my daughter at a sunflower thing my wife's family goes to. Of course, me being an asshole, I lost the jpeg and had to download this off Facebook so I had a copy. I wanted to print it huge for our new house, but oops, I'm an idiot.

 

No problem. Shooting with a Nikon D300 with a 300mm/F2.8 lens. I had it open to 2.8 and that shot was at 1/1250. I was shooting on aperture priority since the sun was weaving in and out of the clouds all day, and that shot was almost directly into that late afternoon sun. I'm not sure where my ISO was, but I don't remember bumping it up from where it was earlier in the game, so it must have been in the 400 to 800 range.

 

Shooting a high school band concert tomorrow - any ideas/thoughts how to make it not boring?

 

Would love to see this in color.

 

Awesome.