# Softball photos



## SquarePeg (Apr 15, 2019)

Back at it with the softball season.  Let's face it though, there's only so many side view pitching motions and batting shots that you can take before you fall asleep from boredom when reviewing them.  I decided to go for a different point of view than my usual first base spot.  As suggested to me previously (@ronlane maybe?), I tried shooting through the fence.  It was hit or miss with blurring out the backstop with my auto focus and hand holding skills.  I think the fence outline worked a bit on a few of these?  Lots of room for improvement.  These were all shot with the XT2 and 50-230 lens.  F/5.6 - 7.1, 1/500, Auto ISO (1200-2000 range).  Edited for cropping only for the most part.  One issue I had was that at full zoom right against the backstop it would disappear but that was too close to get good photos so had to zoom out to 70-100mm or back up - both of which made the backstop visible again.  I may try the 18-55 and cropping next game.  Tips for improvement always welcome!

1.



Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

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## Fujidave (Apr 15, 2019)

Very nice action set, my pic is 3 and 4 great shots.


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## ronlane (Apr 15, 2019)

Nice job #1 and 6 for me. Yeah, I typically only shoot through the fence at 200mm (or higher if I have it) because the zoom is tight enough that you can loose the fence out of the frame.


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## Derrel (Apr 15, 2019)

I like #4 and #6 the most.


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## SquarePeg (Apr 15, 2019)

Fujidave said:


> Very nice action set, my pic is 3 and 4 great shots.



Thanks, Dave!



ronlane said:


> Nice job #1 and 6 for me. Yeah, I typically only shoot through the fence at 200mm (or higher if I have it) because the zoom is tight enough that you can loose the fence out of the frame.



Thanks Ron!  #6 was a foul tip that bounced off of the catchers helmet and then hit the ump's face guard.  When you are at 200mm, are you right at the fence?  What are you shooting?  The pitcher and infielders?  I'd like to be able to blur out the fence and get some of the plays at the plate but if I zoom out the fence appears and if I zoom in, the plays is too close up to see what is going on...



Derrel said:


> I like #4 and #6 the most.



Thanks Derrel!  #4 is my baby.  That's her in #5 as well.  I have a couple of other shots of her that I think are good (playing 2b) but she doesn't like the face she makes when making a play so I agreed not to share them anywhere, including here.   I used to think sharing just on TPF was more private but then at my softball shoot this year at UNE, one of the girls googled "softball poses" and her own picture popped up!  It was from a thread I had posted here the year before.  Of course they all then read the whole thread.  Fortunately it was mostly positive comments and reviews.  I would have been horrified if I had said something critical about the experience in my post or if anyone had made any unflattering comments about the girls in the photos!  Lesson learned.


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## ronlane (Apr 15, 2019)

When I am shooting behind the back stop I am shooting just the pitcher and the infielders (less the catcher. to get the catcher, I go to the end of the dugout where I can zoom with the 200mm and not have a fence. (I maybe a little luckier that I can shoot from the edge of the dugout in most cases.


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## CherylL (Apr 15, 2019)

I like #3 how the fence frames the shot.  #6 is cool


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## ac12 (Apr 15, 2019)

#3, nice framing and with a runner on 3rd.

I try to get next to a support pole, and hold the hood about an inch from the fence.
If a foul ball hits the fence, the fence will get whacked back towards you.  
If you have the hood on the fence, either the camera gets knocked into your face and/or the zoom mechanism gets damaged.​Being right next to the pole reduces the amount that the fence will flex, because the pole prevents the fence from flexing back.

Try going right behind home plate, and line up the pitcher and catcher, so you get the ball heading right towards you.
Depending on the backstop and what they have behind the backstop, may limit/restrict you from shooting there.
My field has a wood backstop up to my eye level, so I have to use a stool to shoot over the wood backstop and through the fence.​I also go to right field, and shoot down the right foul line, lining up 1st base and the right handed batter.


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## vintagesnaps (Apr 19, 2019)

The players look nice and sharp, and timing seems to catch a good moment of play. 

Keep an eye on the backgrounds; with people/cars so close to the fence/playing field they end up being part of the composition. A step or so might make it so you could frame to keep a tail light to the left out of the frame (#2) or so it could be cropped (the car being dark isn't so noticeable). A slight difference in vantage point could keep a fence post from being in front of someone. If they'e farther back it won't be so noticeable, but I learned to keep that in mind framing shots when I used to do photos for marketing for a local team and needed good crowd shots (butts in seats for the sponsors! lol).

In the vertical shots I'd try to frame lower. The catcher is barely in the frame and there's more than enough sky/tree tops that aren't part of the action/game; #3 could be cropped down to maybe slightly above the roof of the house. I think it might be better to get a larger depth of field if you want the runner to be part of the scene/the action getting ready to head in to home plate. Usually in sports what I learned was to shoot tight and go for a 'clean' composition. 

There's interesting use of the fence. Maybe also figure out what lens would work best to get up close to the fence to focus past it to get some shots without the fence showing. 

I found when starting with hockey I looked up well known hockey photographers to study where they were shooting from, how they framed shots, etc. I don't follow Sports Photography and Photojournalism for Professional Photographers| SportsShooter.com too much anymore but there are pros whose work you might take a look and maybe get some ideas. Bert Hanashiro is one of the pros who started the site and shoots a variety of sports for USA Today. Some baseball photographers are Rod Mar and Brad Mangin; others that I think shoot baseball as well as sports are Walter Iooss, Neil Leifer, Bob Deutsch, Donald Miralle, Jack Gruber, and Wally Skalij.


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## BillM (May 11, 2019)

As already mentioned, get up nice and tight to the fence but with just a little space in case there is a foul ball. And use a single point focus to lessen the chance of the focus point landing on the fence itself. I really like #3, I don't think the fence distracts from it at all. I love the thought behind it, the running staring down the line waiting to get home.  Sometimes I'll get into a little rut after going to too many games and I'll stay in my favorite spot for too long. I see it when I get home and start editing so the next game I will shoot from everywhere except that spot to get a new perspective. And just one more thing, it's not all about the game, it's about the kids being outside and having fun, so a picture with nothing but a smile can really help convey the emotion of the game. Feel free to go through my shots if you like, I get some of my best ideas by looking through the eyes of others 

2019 AHS Softball - C6Bill


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## Jeff15 (May 11, 2019)

Nice set of action shots...........


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## tirediron (May 11, 2019)

Well done.


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## Flying Panda (May 11, 2019)

The color renditions are really good! Very vibrant but not over saturated. The action shots are good and sharp for an overcast lighting. Good job.


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## SquarePeg (May 11, 2019)

BillM said:


> As already mentioned, get up nice and tight to the fence but with just a little space in case there is a foul ball. And use a single point focus to lessen the chance of the focus point landing on the fence itself. I really like #3, I don't think the fence distracts from it at all. I love the thought behind it, the running staring down the line waiting to get home.  Sometimes I'll get into a little rut after going to too many games and I'll stay in my favorite spot for too long. I see it when I get home and start editing so the next game I will shoot from everywhere except that spot to get a new perspective. And just one more thing, it's not all about the game, it's about the kids being outside and having fun, so a picture with nothing but a smile can really help convey the emotion of the game. Feel free to go through my shots if you like, I get some of my best ideas by looking through the eyes of others
> 
> 2019 AHS Softball - C6Bill



Great photos Bill!  Thanks for the tips.  Coincidentally I took some photos today for our rec league Facebook and Insta pages.  I think I did a bit better shooting through the fence this time.   




Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr





Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr




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Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr


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## SquarePeg (May 11, 2019)

Flying Panda said:


> The color renditions are really good! Very vibrant but not over saturated. The action shots are good and sharp for an overcast lighting. Good job.



Thanks I appreciate your comments


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## jcdeboever (May 12, 2019)

These are great. You have to get the zoom fully extended or close and use spot meter. I have no idea why but spot seems to help. The 18-55 may work better due to the front element size. Never tried though. Im never concerned about backgrounds, they are what they are. Really nothing you can do about it. I think the backgrounds add to the story.  You must have figured it out on the second set, the compression of the zoom is the key. That lens is a corker, sharp as a Steve Harvey suit.


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## SquarePeg (May 12, 2019)

jcdeboever said:


> These are great. You have to get the zoom fully extended or close and use spot meter. I have no idea why but spot seems to help. The 18-55 may work better due to the front element size. Never tried though. Im never concerned about backgrounds, they are what they are. Really nothing you can do about it. I think the backgrounds add to the story.  You must have figured it out on the second set, the compression of the zoom is the key. That lens is a corker, sharp as a Steve Harvey suit.



Yes the “cheap” 50-230 is perfect for me for softball. Smallish, lightweight and super sharp!


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## ac12 (May 12, 2019)

I like series #1 to #3 in your 2nd set  
I can't get it at my high school due to a wooden backstop behind home plate.  I think the chain link fence was getting to beat-up and bent.


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## SquarePeg (May 12, 2019)

ac12 said:


> I like series #1 to #3 in your 2nd set
> I can't get it at my high school due to a wooden backstop behind home plate.  I think the chain link fence was getting to beat-up and bent.



That stinks.  We’ve got double fencing behind the plate from about 3ft to 8ft height but the rest of the barrier is just single chain link.


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## ac12 (May 12, 2019)

SquarePeg said:


> ac12 said:
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> > I like series #1 to #3 in your 2nd set
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Luckily I know the softball coaches, and they have a portable backstop that the coach will sometimes put behind the catcher, to evaluate the pitcher.  So I can stage that shot, but only during practice, not a real game.

Unfortunately the baseball team does not have a similar portable backstop.


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## SquarePeg (May 13, 2019)

ac12 said:


> SquarePeg said:
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There’s always the away games!  I’m going to one today at a field I’ve never been to.  Always fun to see what you’ll get for backgrounds and angles at a new place.  We have one team that our city plays against in summer and fall rec league that has a field right on the ocean in Gloucester.  The field is raised though and has a hedge border so you get a lot of masts going by but can’t see the ships themselves unfortunately.


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## ac12 (May 13, 2019)

SquarePeg said:


> ac12 said:
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Yup
Never been to the fields at the other schools, so I don't know what the photo ops are.


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## CherylL (May 13, 2019)

These are super sharp and nice separation from the background.  The 50-230 may be "cheap", but you have full control and make it look easy.  My daughter's played tennis and was nothing but fence


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

CherylL said:


> These are super sharp and nice separation from the background.  The 50-230 may be "cheap", but you have full control and make it look easy.  My daughter's played tennis and was nothing but fence



The few high school tennis courts that I've seen are absolutely spectator unfriendly.
It is no wonder that parents don't come to watch their kids.


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## BillM (May 14, 2019)

Agreed on the tennis, I get the whole privacy thing but why make it so hard for parents to watch ??


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## SquarePeg (May 14, 2019)

BillM said:


> Agreed on the tennis, I get the whole privacy thing but why make it so hard for parents to watch ??



From the tennis courts in our town, I would think it is lack of space for any type of viewing area and aesthetics.  Either they stick them in a very small area with no room for any type of viewing stands or they try to hide them with landscaping which obscures any sight lines.  Most schools/school sports do not make it easy for the parents to come watch - with the exception of football which is all about the spectator turn out at the weekly social event.  

Yesterday I drove to the field listed on my daughter's schedule (30 mins in traffic) only to find the Varsity team playing there and no one with any idea of where the field for the JV game was.  I had to use the find my iPhone app to track my daughter's phone and figure out where they were and then drive another 15 minutes to get there.  When I got to the field it was in a very wooded area (tick city I'm sure) and there was viewing from the outfield only due to the placement of the dugouts.  You would basically have to walk through the dug out to get behind the backstop or go around it by going through the woods.  Since I was late due to the mistake on the field location, I wasn't going to go through the dug out while they were playing and no way was I going through the woods without my bug spray...   The other team was  really really good with a pitcher throwing smoke and then it started to spit rain and was cold so end result no pics from yesterday and a miserable game for everyone.


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## BillM (May 14, 2019)

At ours they had tarps when it was opened 2 years ago, but half of them are down now so some people can see now.


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

SquarePeg said:


> BillM said:
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> > Agreed on the tennis, I get the whole privacy thing but why make it so hard for parents to watch ??
> ...



Now that you mention it, both of the city courts that I have seen are courts surrounded by chain link fence.  There are no bleachers anywhere.  It is just as if the courts were made only for the players.  And for a recreational court, that generally makes sense . . . except for child players, where do the parents sit?

At high school level, I think the lack of student and parent spectating is sad.  Though, except for football, I can't say it was any better in my day.
Football is the only sport with a decent crowd, and even that is sometimes very low.   
Basketball is another sometimes low one.  In the winter, I would rather be indoors in the warm gym, than outside in the cold and wind, watching soccer.
I shot at a Saturday Lacrosse game, where work would normally not be an issue, yet the parent attendance was sadly low.
If it is a road/away game, attendance is even worse.

Now that I think of it, badmiton is another sport, where there is NO space for parents to spectate.  They use the entire gym floor, with the bleachers pushed back to the closed position.  Though I think badmiton was a later sport that was shoehorned into the gym.

Though IF the school wants to boost parent participation, and funding of the booster club, they should design the facilities in a way for the parents to be able to watch their kids.  Some bleachers, even small, is better than none.  But of course the school designers know more than I do.  And we are stuck with whatever the designers did many years/decades ago.  To be fair, some newer sports probalby had to be "shoehorned" into the campus.

BTW, I've used Google Earth and the school map, to do advance recon of schools, before I go there.  That helps me to find the various sport facilities in a big campus, and figure out where to park.  The gym however is harder/impossible to find via a satellite picture, so I have to use the school map.  Even so, I have had to do advance recon on foot, to check out a venue.


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## CherylL (May 14, 2019)

ac12 said:


> CherylL said:
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> > These are super sharp and nice separation from the background.  The 50-230 may be "cheap", but you have full control and make it look easy.  My daughter's played tennis and was nothing but fence
> ...



At the home court the parents were allowed to sit on the teams 2 tier benches in the center.  Or we could bring folding chairs inside the court.  Away games were hit and miss if we were allowed on the court.  Most courts had the tarps covering the fences.  The 2 tennis coaches were very accommodating to the players and their parents.  Since they were males they welcomed any Moms that came to the games.


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## Derrel (May 14, 2019)

Sad that schools do not provide decent seating for students OR parents to watch some sports . Football draws 400-1,500 people at many schools, basketball perhaps one-fifth to half of the football attendance; so-called "minor sports" often have really little turn-out. It is a disgraceful oversight. Seriously. Disgraceful.


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

Tennis, I can usually count the parents on ONE hand.  Maybe part of that is the lack of ability to view the kids playing.
There were home games in the gym, where the parents and students from the visiting team outnumbered our parents and students.  

For football field and gym sports, I understand the first game (JV) at 3:30-4, where parents are still at work, or driving home in commute traffic (aka highway parking lot).  But the 2nd game (Varsity) is usually about 6:30-7pm, and the parents should be home by then.  Well, except for the heavy Silicon Valley types who are at work till 9 or 10pm.

Baseball, softball and tennis venues are not lit, so they have to start at 330-4, in order to finish when there is still adequate sunlight.


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## SquarePeg (May 14, 2019)

It really varies by town and sport I guess.  Typically for softball games here there are anywhere from 5 - 20 parents in attendance (the team has 15 players).  Some parents are at almost every game - those of us with flexible schedules who are not afraid of a little cold weather!  The only time there are any fans other than parents is when the JV team plays at their home field which is our local rec field and is part of a neighborhood park.  If the weather is nice there will be lots of younger kids watching before their rec games and many  families at the park who will walk over and watch for a while.  The JV and Varsity games are always simultaneous at 4pm but the Varsity team plays at the "better" field which has a nicer field but is at a park that is on a busy street and doesn't have anything else there to draw people.  Also, although there is plenty of room, there are no stands to sit in and no trees to provide any shade when it's hot.  The schools are also terrible at keeping the online schedule updated and providing any type of directions to the away games - unlike for football where there is a bus fans can take to the away games for $5 that sells out every time.  

Have to add that hockey is the worst.  Not only do the parents have to pay for their kids to play but they have to pay to get in and watch the games!


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## JonFZ300 (May 14, 2019)

That second set is dynamite. Great job!


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## CherylL (May 14, 2019)

The tennis matches were right after school so many parents didn't show up or came late.  I was helping our 2 moms during that period and tried to schedule their needs or doctor appointments around the tennis schedule.  For tournaments no spectators were allowed on the courts.   My oldest played basketball too for a few years, but she was what was nicknamed the practice team.  I had to pay to attend those games to watch her ride the pine.


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## BillM (May 14, 2019)

Softball rained out again today


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

Basketball game charges seem odd.  The standard 2 game JV+Var is no charge (I think), but the quad (4 games) boys + girls, JV+Var is charged.  And post season games are charged, as set by the league, not the school.

I think football is charged.
Some schools charge for wrestling.
I do not think that any of the other sports charges a fee.

I think the admission fee is to help cover the cost of the athletic program or the student body, depending on who is collecting the admission fee.
Example.  The ASB advisor told me that he pays for the referees out of his budget.  So any game with a referee and without an admission fee (soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, volleyball, some basketball), is money out.  I don't know the numbers, so this is just a "for example" with _*arbitrary*_ numbers.

IF the refs were paid $100 each per game.  x 2 refs per game = $200 per game.  x 2 (for JV + Var games) = $400.  x 10 home games = $4,000.

And some games (soccer, some basketball) have 3 refs, so that would be $300 per game.  I don't know what the rules/logic are for 2 vs. 3.
So if you do the math for all the sports, the referee bill adds up.
With as many courts at they have active (6 for tennis and 7 for badminton), it starts to makes sense why some sports (tennis and badminton) are self refereeing.

The other problem is a shortage of local referees in some/many of the sports.  One baseball ref told me he dove 2-1/2 hours on a Sat from home to the game.  That's 5 hours total driving to ref a JV+Var game.    Weekday, would be WORSE.  In fact one ref told me that he would NOT accept a job to ref a game in San Francisco, as the drive into SF would be a KILLER.


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

BillM said:


> Softball rained out again today



Been there many times.
Last year was bad, this year was worse.

I keep telling the kids, shoot the first game that you can, you don't know if the later games will get rained out.
But being kids, they don't listen, miss the sunny game, then cancellation after cancellation, and deadline is approaching.

I am amazed at how well the baseball and softball fields are constructed, to drain in a day or two after a big rain.  The outfield might be a bit soggy, but there is no standing water in the field.  Outside the foul line, different story, standing water and MUD.


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## SquarePeg (May 14, 2019)

ac12 said:


> The other problem is a shortage of local referees in some/many of the sports. One baseball ref told me he dove 2-1/2 hours on a Sat from home to the game. That's 5 hours total driving to ref a JV+Var game. Weekday, would be WORSE. In fact one ref told me that he would NOT accept a job to ref a game in San Francisco, as the drive into SF would be a KILLER.



We have an ump shortage here.  In fact my daughter and several of her friends signed up to ump rec league games for the younger divisions.  $48 per game for roughly 2 hours work.  Easy money.  I might have to ump a few games myself...


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## ac12 (May 14, 2019)

SquarePeg said:


> ac12 said:
> 
> 
> > The other problem is a shortage of local referees in some/many of the sports. One baseball ref told me he dove 2-1/2 hours on a Sat from home to the game. That's 5 hours total driving to ref a JV+Var game. Weekday, would be WORSE. In fact one ref told me that he would NOT accept a job to ref a game in San Francisco, as the drive into SF would be a KILLER.
> ...



Watch out for the uniforms, hidden cost.

One soccer ref told me that they had to change uniforms this year, by someone's decision in the league.  They needed to get a new set of  4 different color shirts, $$$.  WHY?  He did not understand why they could not just leave their uniforms alone, instead of making them spend $$$ on new uniforms that the league was not going to pay for.

Baseball/softball refs wear different color shirts for JV and Varsity games.  I don't know why nor how many different colors they use.

At least the black and white shirts seem to have stayed the same.
The half crouching position of the home plate umpire can be hard on the legs.


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## SquarePeg (May 15, 2019)

ac12 said:


> SquarePeg said:
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The only standard for the “jr” umpires is a $30 dry fit shirt and a face mask and chest protector.  They don’t have to buy the full uni.


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## vintagesnaps (May 15, 2019)

Looks like the ball fields where you go are close to the street; in my area the ones I've been to are off the street and a ways from the parking lot (which maybe was a help for me back in the day with finding good vantage points and having decent backgrounds). 

Try taking a step or two to adjust the vantage point when you can to frame differently and keep visual distractions out of the frame as much as possible. In tight places you can only do so much and I've sometimes leaned, scrunched down, etc. and you do the best you can with what you have to work with.

There was one of the batter and catcher that was really a nice photo of the players; I'd suggest being aware of framing to prevent having something like the knee of another spectator (I think) in the lower left corner. Watch the catcher being barely in the frame. I'd watch the backgrounds too especially with vertical shots that there isn't so much sky and trees in the photo since that's not part of the game/action. The cars being so close aren't that noticable if they're neutral but the tail lights are noticeable and I'd try to frame to keep those out of the picture. Spectators right up against the fence end up basically being part of the picture since they're close to the subjects, so keep them in mind when framing so heads are in the frame and people don't have a post directly in front of them, etc.

You seem to have good timing in getting the action and are getting nice sharp images of the players. I found it took a lot of practice to get good at shooting sports. I'd often go early to my nephews' games years ago and watch the end of games with other teams playing. I didn't necessarily take pictures but would just practice watching thru the viewfinder to think about framing,etc. If I'd go early I could look for good (or halfway decent) vantage points and try to figure out where to shoot that I'd get decent backgrounds. I learned about shooting hockey going to practices, training camps, etc. When I took a sports photography workshop at the NCAA headquarters in Indy I learned how important preparation can be, and how much it can help to go early, watch and notice.


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## SquarePeg (May 15, 2019)

vintagesnaps said:


> Looks like the ball fields where you go are close to the street; in my area the ones I've been to are off the street and a ways from the parking lot (which maybe was a help for me back in the day with finding good vantage points and having decent backgrounds).
> 
> Try taking a step or two to adjust the vantage point when you can to frame differently and keep visual distractions out of the frame as much as possible. In tight places you can only do so much and I've sometimes leaned, scrunched down, etc. and you do the best you can with what you have to work with.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the detailed tips.  Nothing I can do about the field with the cars.   It’s right in a neighborhood and parking is on the street only and cars are visible from most angles.  One of the  vertical photos where I left in the sky was on purpose to leave the top of the fence diamond in the frame.


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