Archive for July, 2011
The Frozen Ball Trick
When you’re shooting baseball, don’t forget to try capturing some shots that are a little out of the box. When I’m covering a game, I mainly shoot stock photos for baseball card companies, but around the mid point in the season I mix it up to keep things fun. One of the shots I like to try is the frozen ball shot just to get a little different perspective on the game. This shot is easier to capture than a lot of people think and can also be taken from the stands if you can get seats behind the plate. You can try a few variations to the shot by including the batter, umpire, and catcher in the shot or just focus on the pitcher like I did.
What I like to do is take a few shots of the pitcher to get an idea of his release point and his throwing motion. I also try to watch for the ball’s flight through the frame to get the angle that I want. Then to get the actual shot, I pick a point between the mound and home plate and focus on that spot. Now switch to manual focus and time the pitches as they come into the frame for the shot. Remember to try and time the shot instead of relying on the frame rate of your camera to get the shot. My settings for this shot were f/2.8 @ 1/3200, shot with a canon 300 2.8L at ISO 320. I would try to stay at 1/3200 and above to ensure that the ball is sharp, but I think you could actually freeze the ball with a slightly slower shutter speed. In the photo below I enlarged the ball a little so you can see the detail of it more clearly.
If anyone has any questions on how I shot this please leave me a comment below and I will try to answer any questions that you may have.
Gear Used
Canon Mark 3
Canon 300 2.8L
Lowepro S&F Series
Scott
Surf Break
I decided to take a break from editing photos this afternoon and go take more photos to edit. I decided to drive to Ponce Inlet to take some surf shots and to spend a little time at the beach. I knew that the surf would be decent, so that motivated me a little more to take the time to go. I also knew that my friend Brad would be at the inlet and I wanted to grab a few shots of him as well.
It turned to be a good break for the afternoon and the surf was decent enough to get some nice shots. I have uploaded the rest of the photos from the afternoon on my facebook page.
Gear Used
Canon Mark 3
Canon 300 2.8L
Canon 1.4 Teleconverter
Lowepro Compu Trekker AW
Scott
That Had to Hurt
That had to hurt!! That was my first thought when I looked at this photo on the back of my camera. I captured this shot a few night ago while I was shooting the Daytona Cubs and Charlotte Stone Crabs game. I just wanted to share one of those happy accidents that happens from time to time while shooting.
Gear Used
Canon Mark 3
Canon 300 2.8 L
Lowepro S&F Series
Scott
Knowing Your Subject
Michael Burgess of the Daytona Cubs (Scott Jontes)
I was recently asked as to how I was able to get this shot Michael Burgess of the Daytona Cubs hitting a home run during a recent game. To tell the truth I usually do not try to get shots like this because normally when you shoot these kind of shots you can not see the players face. To get a shot like this all you need to know is your subject and the sport that you are shooting. I try to pay attention to a players tendencies and I also pay attention to the situation in the game. The players all come of out of the batters box a certain way or like in the picture below the way they throw their bat. This can all lead to some pretty inserting shots.
Jae-Hoon Ha of the Daytona Cubs (Scott Jontes)
As I had also said, knowing the situation in the game helps a great deal when shooting. In the photo below I knew that their was going to be a play at the plate. One thing I paid attention to, as I assumed this was going to happen, was the third base coach waving the player home. I also paid attention that their was a runner in scoring position and that he would probably try to score if their was a base hit before the play had even started.
Mario Mercedes of the Daytona Cubs (Scott Jontes)
By having familiarity with the game, the sport and the people in it, I am able to capture action photos much easier when I am shooting. These are just a few things that I try to look for when I am shooting baseball and any other sport
Scott
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