A Little News

Most of the action in baseball obviously happens on the infield. Naturally, I like to shoot the outfield. I think my favorite baseball pictures have been of outfielders. First of all, those photos are more rare. Secondly, you can get some nice images that simply don’t happen on the infield. And, last but not least, since they are harder to get, the satisfaction level of nailing a nice outfield shot is much higher than having a nice photo of a play at second base.

Having said all that, don’t go to a game depending on an outfield shot. Do everything you can to make sure you get a publishable shot quickly. After you have something in the bag that you can depend on, then you can start thinking outfield. That reminds me, always get an insurance photo right away when you get to a ball game. A shot of the pitcher for both teams will usually do the trick. I say this because I can’t remember all the times the editor has called me while I am at a baseball game and directed me to go somewhere else right away. Editors don’t seem to understand that shooting baseball is far more time intensive than any other sport because the action is harder to come by. Basketball, football, soccer, tennis and even golf are far easier to shoot in terms of the time it takes to get a good shot. Baseball is a slower moving game and action happens sporadically and sometimes not at all.

Now, back to the outfield. Like I said before, the 400mm is my favorite lens for baseball. On the DX format it gives you enough reach to cover all the outfield positions from either the first baseline or the third baseline. The real trick when shooting the outfielders is actually getting the ball in the photo. Even with an 8 fps camera the ball moves incredibly fast. If you shoot vertical you will have a far greater chance at having the ball outside the glove on fly balls. There is a trade off because if the outfielder is diving, the horizontal format is better. You might be able to switch but don’t count on it.

I have to shoot manual focus because my lens is manual but, in many ways, manual focus is better. If the outfielder is pretty far away from you, the AF sensor may not have enough of the player to focus on and cause the camera to back focus and you will miss the photo. Life is full of tough choices! If I could AF then I probably would AF most of the time. Since I can’t, I have become very accustomed to shooting manual so it is not a huge deal.

In order to have the highest chance to get a photo of the ball in the air, you have to start shooting a fraction of a second earlier than you might ordinarily begin. The ball travels incredibly fast and you will have an outfielder with his glove open with no ball in one frame and then the ball will be in the glove on the next frame and that is shooting at 8 fps. Start shooting just a bit earlier and you will maximize your chances. Or, if you have lightning reflexes, just go ahead and set you camera to single frame advance and show us all how it is done!

If you are manual focusing it will be best to get an idea of where the ball is most likely to go and prefocus on that fielder. If the pitcher is throwing really fast, most of the balls hit to the outfield will go to center field or to the opposite field from the batter. In other words, a right handed batter against a fast pitcher is more likely to hit to center or right. Just the opposite for a lefty. He will more likely hit a fast pitcher to left field or center field. If the pitcher is throwing slower or tosses a bunch of salad, you can figure on the hitters pulling the ball. For those of you who don’t know the baseball lingo, that means that the right handed hitter will hit to the left side of the field and the left handed hitter will hit to the right side of the field. Just taking advantage of this bit of information will maximize your number of good photos. By the way, if you don’t know what it means for a pitcher to throw salad, well, I can’t do much for you!

Photos copyright The Decatur Daily. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.