First Baseball Shots

[Jeff Canes]

Front side shots with the face and action, like #S 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and maybe 9

With pitcher shots watch out for the fielders as in #9

#4 I’ve shot this angle before but usual with the pitcher as the subject

 

[Dave127]

1,2,3,5,& 7 should be sellers. I really like 6 but thats a great fun shot. I would definatly put 6 in your portflio.

Real nice job

 

[NeedForSpeed]

As a high-school ball player that has been through many many tournaments and has seen many pictures taken by pros trying to sell their photos at tournaments:
I personally like 5, 7, 9 the most. Its all about actually doing the action of playing. 4 is also good but you can see that the pitch isn't a good one so I personally wouldn't pick it out over the others. I would like pictures of me batting but my full stance, or me in the action of a solid swing would be nice.
The more exciting the play, the more excited I would be in buying the picture. 1, 2, and 8 are nice but nothing exciting is happening. If you catch my drift?

 

[keith204]

ok, here are some swinging the bat shots. Please critique! This was very hard, and I had no clue when to hit the button. I know I can use 6.5FPS, but I really hate just trying to get lucky. Anyway, there are also some simple standing with bat shots here.

Let me know what you think! Give compliments & critiques!

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

My thoughts -
10 - he's holding the bat funny - not sure about the crop and frame-filling. I usually like getting all tight in on the subject, so it's hard for me to see the value in this...but, who knows. ???
11 - With this shot, I realized that for the 'swing' shots, I should be standing on the opposite side than you'd think...since the batters spin around a bit.
12 - foul ball
13 - my favorite. You can tell this guy is going to hit the ball, no question. Problems? The bat isn't real noticeable, it kind of blends in - but I couldn't control that really. Maybe using a strobe would make the batter, ball, and bat pop a little?
14 - tilted grrr I hate tilted photos. I should fix this for the parents - but, the swing and stance look fun - with the dirt kicking up a bit. Again, can't see his face.. bummer. Next time I'll totally stand on the other side.
15 - This looks like a classic stance. I like the colors & composition.

What do you think? Please keep giving suggestions! They're great!

 

[Jeff Canes]

Sorry No strobe for baseball

 

[NeedForSpeed]

10 - Batter is at the end of his swing and is rolling his hands over. May or may not have hit the ball, The batter doesn't really stand out enough for me.
11 - This kid just hit the ball and has a nice swing. Looks great to me but besides his number it is hard to tell who this is. The cage on the mask doesn't help but including the face would be nice. It is hard though because every batter is different and tilts their head differently as their swing allows.
12 - Looks good but the foul ball isn't flattering
13 - The fact that the ball is going to be hit makes this one of my favorite too. I like it when the catchers glove is in the picture also. The background kind of blurs everything together for me though. I'm not big on photography terms yet but thats what I would call it.
14 - If he hit the ball, it wasn't a very graceful swing. Wouldn't want people to see me swinging like that
15 - This picture is actually my favorite. It suprises me that it is but the picture quality and the focus you have on the batter is great. You can tell that the batter is what the picture is all about. no questions asked. For some reason though I would love to have the catchers arm/glove in this picture also. Not sure why, but I like that. (like in photo 12) It can always be cropped out too if it doesn't look good. And if the distance between the batter in the glove is too great than forget it. I guess that depends on your angle.
If I had this picture (background, clarity, focus) and myself making contact with the ball, I would be ecstatic. Background is great too. That is hard to capture though. Nice picture!

Overall - These picture are great. My favorites would be 11 and 15. There is too much activity in number 13 and the rest of them don't show the best in a player. My favorite picture of myself I have from tournaments all show me doing something exceptionally well. I have one of me pitching - (Leg down, arm out in 3/4 angle, chest out looking professional..my favorite) - a diving play - fielding a ball cleanly with great fundamentals - making solid contact with the ball. The best picture I think are the ones of the player in action and the focus is purely on the player.

In my opinion, if you want to sell pictures, use the high fps your camera boasts to get the best and most flattering pictures possible and always be ready for a field in the play and plays out of the ordinary.
If you are shooting for fun than learning to hit the button and the right time will be tough but good luck! That is a skill that would be well worth having!

Sorry for the lengthy explanation and such but I guess I just wanted to add to this conversation everything that came to my mind. :blushing:

Keep up the great work.