Shooting my school

[AlexColeman]

's softball team. I am shooting one of their games tomorrow, and was wondering if you guys have any tips. Thanks.

Alex

 

[Jaszek]

Haha that's funny b/c I'm going to be shooting my school's softball team play also lol. I'll be using my 70-200 since it's going to be outside and I will be able to move away further and get better shots. If I happen to do some group shots I'll use my flash for fill light against a nice background

 

[Phranquey]

Buy kneepads.....or wear a pair of pants you don't care much about. The best perspective for most sports, be it baseball, football, soccer, etc is at waist level to the players (watch any game on TV to see where most of the photographers are at...on their knees or sitting indian).

 

[table1349]

Pay attention:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8195/97411158jn1.jpg

One of these gets to be real nice for baseball, softball, track & field.

Walkstool - The stool that walks

 

[Phranquey]

Pay attention:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8195/97411158jn1.jpg

OUCH!!!!!!! That almost brought tears to my eyes, and from the looks of it, his too.

One of these gets to be real nice for baseball, softball, track & field.

Walkstool - The stool that walks

Yeah....."Be careful when sitting on the Walkstool on uneven ground. Avoid to put all pressure on one or two lower legs. Improper use of the Walkstool can result in bodily injury or harm. Always check the Walkstool before using it to make sure that the red button is in the proper locked position. User assumes all responsibility for use and operation of the Walkstool. "


I'll pass.....my kneepads aren't going to stick a metal rod up my arse.

 

[AlexColeman]

Kneepads are a good point. Will 70-200 be enough reach for a small field at my junior high.

 

[Phranquey]

Kneepads are a good point. Will 70-200 be enough reach for a small field at my junior high.

Absolutely. You will be able to get some very good shots with that set-up. Just be prepared to move around quite a bit..... Don't expect close-ups of left field if you are sitting behind first base...

 

[AlexColeman]

Ok.

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

Monopod. Don't forget the monopod. Also, bring your best and brightest hotshoe flash, and "accidentally" test it after you yell," Hey Catch!!!!" to the opposing team's catcher. Should be good for a base or two!

 

[chadsdphoto]

Pay attention:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8195/97411158jn1.jpg

And that, boys and girls, is why we put protective filters on the front of our expensive lenses!

 

[tsaraleksi]

Kneepads are a good idea but chances are very good that a softball field will be surrounded by a chainlink fence up to about waist height.

The key is to know what's going on and pay attention to the gameplay. Softball and baseball will present you with lots of routine shots and a few chances to get something really cool. Get as close as you can to the gameplay-- you'll really need to watch this with the full frame camera.

Figure out who the major players are and pay attention to them-- good athletes are much more apt to give you some interesting shots.

 

[Jaszek]

And that, boys and girls, is why we put protective filters on the front of our expensive lenses!

And guess what, you are wrong. The front element is too big for a filter so the big lenses have drop in filters.

 

[tsaraleksi]

Luckily the front of those big lenses is just a clear piece of glass that can be replaced fairly easily (as opposed to the absurd cost of replacing a main lens element).

 

[AlexColeman]

Would I be better off to shoot with one of my D300s?

 

[tsaraleksi]

Given the increased pixel density for the same number of megapixels, I would say that it's probably a yes unless the light is really bad. I shoot softball at 300mm on a 1.3x crop camera if that helps. I don't do a lot of cropping usually though of course it is sometimes unavoidable.

To give you an idea, this is a full frame shot minus the top and bottom shot from the far side of the right hand dugout.