advice needed.....going to see the SOX play the JAYS on the 11th

[lynx0069]

hey all, need some advice from sports photographers. i'm going to see boston play in toronto next sunday, and am taking my XSi and 100-400L lens, and am loaning my brother my 70-200f/4L &1.4TC for him to use on his XS. i'm wondering if you could tell me what shutter speeds and apatures work best for action shots? i am going to be sitting by first base, about 39 rows up, and dont know if the dome will be open or closed (depends on the weather), and its an afternoon game, so high sun. i have never shot sports before and would appreciate any and all advice that will help me out here.


thanks in advance


jim

[Sheiky]

Hey there Jim,


I only shot a few games of softball and baseball and only kids and women [A] and for my shots I try to get a shutterspeed of at least 1/500th. Preferable 1/800th and higher. Since I shot only amateur games, I probably needed less speed than you will. If you have have enough light so you can shoot at 1/1000+ without pushing your ISO too high, do that! Although I should mention that I was standing very close to the subjects, a reason that I needed a faster shutterspeed. If subjects aren't running directly at you you might get some results with a lot slower shutterspeeds as well. 1/250 "panning" shots could be a good challenge if you view them from a side..[A]


When I shot some games I had the opportunity of walking all around field so I could choose my lightsource etc, but I guess you don't have that flexibility. Try to find a sweetspot somewhere on the field where lighting is good. Remember that players for some reason always wear a cap or helmet (shadow on the facial expressions...[8o|] horror for a sports-photographer)and try to find moments where these influences are the smallest(catching the ball and throwing etc))


I wish you the best of luck with photographing and I hope you'll also enjoy the game []


Jan

[TucsonTRD]

Jim,


I have shot several Spring Training games with the 70-200 f/4. They are Spring Training, so they were all outdoor and daytime, perfect for the f/4. I typically shot in Av adjusting for the desired DoF. I took a lot of high speed shots of the pitcher through his motion and the batter through his motion. 1/1600s froze everything except the ball and the bat, and they were fairly close to being frozen. But I would venture to say it would take ~1/2500 to have a chance at freezing them.


You should love that 100-400 for the game. It is tough, but you want to be framed tight for good detail. You will probably want to pick a shot you want and frame it and hope it happens. Ex: Ellsbury is on first and you want a photo of him stealing second and sliding headfirst. Set your desired focal length (on second base) and pre-focus the camera and be ready in high-speed continuous. I would guess at least 1/500s to freeze the flying dirt, probably 1/1000s to be safe.


Good luck and enjoy the game

[Brendan7]

Jim, I'd use maximum aperture on both lenses and boost ISO if necessary. You'll need at least 1/1250 to freeze the pitcher or the batter, 1/2000+ would be better.

[lynx0069]

thanks for the advice jan, brendan, and tucson [] seems pretty unanimious so far that the higher the shutter speed and max apature with as low an iso as i can get away with is what i'll strive for. i'll plan to get there early for batting practice to experiment a bit and see what settings i like.


jim

[Keith B]

If the dome is closed you are not going to be happy. Last year when I went to a couple Ray's games (FT dome) I used my 5DII and 70-200 2.8 IS. I ended up shooting ISO 1600 and f/2.8 just be able to stop action. I don't even attempt to shoot there with my 100-400 due to the lighting conditions.


Also be careful with the 100-400 it can be deemed an obstruction to others and be told to put it away.

[neuroanatomist]

If the dome is closed you are not going to be happy.

Fenway Park is good that way...


But then again, your Florida weather seems to be up here today - record-breaking heat for the Red Sox/Rays game, near 100 °F today, and it's already in the mid-90s (I work a few blocks from the ballpark) and high humidity, so a dome would be nice...


[H]

[Bill W]

Jim....your weather is looking good for the dome to be open; clear w/a high of 82*. So the lighting shouldn't be too much of an issue.


My suggestions are to get there early to shoot warm-ups and experiment...obviously this will give you a feel for the settings you'll need for the game.


I shot a Lowell Spinners (Red Sox single A ball) game last summer and varied my shutter speeds and f stops. I like to show motion andyou never know what you're going to get in the background at sporting events, so I tend to slow my shutter down as much as possible and set my f stops to capture more background. Here's an example; 1/250, ISO 800, f9, high speed continous, shot at 130mm w/a 100-400 and at the time a 40D, pre-composed (as suggested by another contributor).





Unfortunately the 3rd base coach moved backwards and I cut off a portion of his head.


For the pitcher and running plays I would suggest no slower than 1/800 (maybe 1/640 for the pitcher) for shutter speed.


Remember; arrive early and experiment. Looking forward to seeing some of your pix Jim.


Good luck and have fun


Bill

[lynx0069]

thanks again guys.......i'll take all that into mind and try to show up early, to experiment. i'm planning on taking 2 8gig memory cards anyway, cause i always shoot in RAW now, and dont want to run out of memory, which is quite possible for me......i spent only a couple hrs up at the airport a month ago taking warbird pics and took 400 shots, and that wasnt even a full airshow, just a small fly in with only about a dozen planes......and i'm glad the forcast looks good so far for the dome being open.......the last 2 days it has been mid 30's with 3000% humidity, so it felt like mid forties, so sunday looks good for mid 20's and sunny.


jim