Softball photos

[jcdeboever]

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.

 

[SquarePeg]

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!

 

[ac12]

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.

 

[SquarePeg]

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.

 

[ac12]

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.

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.

 

[SquarePeg]

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.

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.

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.

 

[ac12]

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.

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.

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.

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

 

[CherylL]

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

 

[ac12]

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.

 

[BillM]

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

 

[SquarePeg]

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.

 

[BillM]

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.

 

[ac12]

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.

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.

 

[CherylL]

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.

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.

 

[Derrel]

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.