Do you shoot?

Matt - the celebration shot looked cool. What kind of lens was that?
I have some baseball shots I always try to get out of the way early in case nothing works out:
Ex 1: Pitcher throwing to the plate (shot behind home thru fence with 300 ml lens


Ex 2: Shot of fielder getting ready, using teammates to add depth


Ex 3: Someone diving back to first


Ex 4: People high-fiving


I try to get shots like these shots every game, so I know that at worst, I'll have something usable. Takes some of the pressure off when you're wondering if you've got anything good.

 

Wanted to chime in here.

After years of lusting after a quality camera, I finally saved up enough and just bought a D-7000 with an 18-105mm lens. It's for my personal use but I plan on using it a lot for work to get more experience with it/try to shoot some photo-award worthy stuff (Or at least find out if I am as good as I've always thought I was).

It's a little intimidating because I've always had the "Well, my camera sucks so that's why my photos suck" excuse but, clearly, I can't fall back on that now.

I've been playing around with it a bit tonight, tried to shoot some photos of my cat running around the house but the real test will come tomorrow when I actually get to take it to an event (Yay me!).

Thanks, everyone, for the advice here. This thread has made me feel like I might not fall flat on my face with this new toy.

 

Sorry I missed your post. It's just a 135mm wide angle on a EOS 50D. I cropped it to make it look a little better.

 

Here are a couple from the SW Elite 7-on-7 this weekend. This first one is WAY too bright, but I tried to bring down the levels



I ended up doing a feature on Barry Sanders Jr. He seems like a nice kid. I really liked these, despite how basic they are. Seems to capture his personality:




And these are just a couple random ones:

 

BTW, Rhody-

I really liked example 2. Reminds me of a pan and scan in film.

 

Got this one today at the state amateur golf stroke play event.
If the man tending the pin looks familiar, it's because it's Michael Jack Schmidt.

 

I am looking for a site where I can buy used photo equipment. I thought there were some suggestions on this thread, but I didn't see any when I scrolled through them. Anyone know of a site where I can find used lenses?

 

When I was the SE, AKA jack-of-all trades, I did photog. I probably took 50-70 shots per event, sometimes more and loved going through them all late at night. I lost all of my discs/cards with my shots- probably over 10,000 shots or so, maybe more. That was what I enjoyed about my job; well writing was fun as was designing, but with photography, I loved it.

Anyway, this was years ago and I used the first gen Canon DSLR Rebel because my paper was cheap, but used the leftover cash for the 550ex flash and some glass.

I'm going to look for some shots and try to post them. Great thread.

 

I can't wait for fall just so I can start posting some pictures up here. Right now all I'm shooting with my new toy are weddings.

 

I'm guessing it's the change in perspective...the lens is down low, so it gives the photo a special tweak. I remember reading that tip in SI years back...change your level. Going low like that makes the athletes appear larger than life. The SI example showed a running back breaking through the hole into the end zone and carried a lot of impact.

I keep telling myself, I'm going to throw a small step stool into the trunk, and I keep forgetting to do it. 1) to avoid all the chain link at baseball/softball games and 2) to add perspective in height.

 

At the weekly I work at, you have to take your own pictures. I started there as a sophomore in high school, completely clueless. I've had to do a lot of learning in these last several years.

One thing they've stressed in school is the need for reporters to be guys of all trades these days and know photography and videography. And, I've done a lot of both at my weekly.

As far as photography, I'm a Nikon guy. Started with Nikon in high school yearbook and have no reason to change. Don't like Canon personally, but I don't suffer from the delusion that some do in that one brand is exponentially better than the other.

The biggest thing I've learned is that the lens on the camera is far more important than the actual camera. The better the lens, the better the photographs.

One resource that I like for advice in www.kenrockwell.com. Ken does a lot of reviews of cameras and bodies, but he also does a lot of stuff in general with photography. His guides should help any beginner.

A few random photos I have easy access to:

 

Digging this up..

Going to buy a new camera for myself and having a tough time deciding between the 60d and 7d. It will be for personal use - maybe for the resort if this job happens (marketing/events) and probably 50-50 between photo and video.

So, anyone have either or have used both and can help me figure out if I should really drop an extra $400 on the 7 vs the 60. Main thing for me is fps (5.7 vs 8'ish) and HD video.

Thanks.