I love the business of photography. But sometimes it’s so nice to just play and practice my craft for fun. Paint the Moon started a “Let’s Do 52″ weekly challenge. Each week, Annie presents a new theme to interpret through photography. Anyone can join and you can jump in any time. I started with week [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #9: Get the right equipment. Digital SLR cameras are fabulous. I love my Canon. But what sets the camera apart is the ability to swap out the lenses. For outdoor sports, you want as much telephoto power as you can afford without losing f-stop capabilities. Zooming in close helps capture those amazing [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #8: Be creative, always be ready with the camera and try to capture the whole experience. Photos of kids on the bench cheering or just peering at the game, high fives, pitcher and catcher conferences on the mound, seed spitting or grass picking (if it’s T-ball) are all part of the game. [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #7: Watch the sun. Sometimes it’s just not even worth shooting at noon on a sunny day. The ball caps create shadows across the eyes that no adjustments can fix, and the color can be hard to correct. Grasses look gold and whites are blinding. In desperate times, you can go artsy [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #6: Move around and anticipate the big plays. Think about the game as a whole. It’s not all about batting and pitching. Be sure to take some shots from deep down the first and third baselines to get fielding and sliding pictures. When there’s a runner on second base, be ready to [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #5: Check your angles. If you want the ball in the throw, then getting just shy of straight-on is best. I’ve gotten nice shots from between the right side of home plate and the very beginning of the first base line. However, I do mix it up and get further out on [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #4: Stick with autofocus. Manual focus is great if you are shooting the batter only, but you’ll have better luck quickly focusing on the action point with autofocus. Just be sure to press half way to set the focus where you want it and then start shooting. Not doing this can cause [...]
Baseball Photo Tip #3: Play with the white balance. Automatic is often fine, though switching to “cloudy” or “sun” settings can make a big difference and help achieve a truer color.
Baseball Photo Tip #2: Adjust your ISO setting. Some SLRs allow for an ISO of up to 3600, but that is completely unnecessary and detrimental for sharp, outdoor photos. The lower number that you select the less sensitive the sensor is to light. And, you’ll achieve much clearer, less grainy photos. So start low, like [...]
Homeruns, dust-flying slides, tags, fast-ball pitches and seed spitting are just a few of the fun photo opportunities that youth baseball delivers. An added bonus is the fantastic lighting from Spring’s cloudy skies or Summer’s evening sun. That said, capturing that great shot or those amazing moves can be a challenge. And, sometimes the light [...]