Photographing Baseball

Attached is a shot from my first attempt to photograph baseball,

taken at a spring training game a couple of weeks ago. Equipment

was a Nikon D70 and older Nikkor 75-300 f/4.5-5.6 lens I picked up

used for $160. I'm going to be doing photography for my son's

little league, and this was practice. So I have two questions: (1)

I'm surprised that the backround blur is decent even with a

relatively slow lens (this was taken wide open). I'd been thinking

about investing in a faster lens, but now think maybe not. Any

thoughts? (2) While I found it easy after a while to get good shots

of pitchers and batters, I had no luck catching action in the

field. Any good strategies for this?<div></div>

<p>Looks pretty good. I think you will do fine with the lens you have for day

games like Little League. I would keep shooting wide open so you background

stays soft. You might want to try a higher ASA to cut down on the motion blur a

little.</p>

<p>As for action shots, pick a spot and wait. Plays at second will be pretty

easy. The short stop is another sure bet. Someone will bounce one out to him

sooner or later. Depending on the age group, it may be a long wait though. </p>

<p>I'm in Williamsport, PA and shoot the LL World Series every year. Hope you

guys get to make the trip.</p><div></div>

ditto for alot higher asa/iso speed to be able to go to a higher shutter speed.

Thanks for the advice. By the way, the details on exposure are f/5.6 at 1/1000 sec. (ASA 200). I'd assumed that would be fast enough. What shutter speed would be recommended to reduce motion blur?

Howdy Mr. Chris,

If you had a fast lens like a f2.8 lens , that would take care of this problem by dialing the shutter speed up to 1/4000th at f2.8 for asa 200 (same as the current exposure you describe).

 

But, to work with the lens that you have, asa 400 at 1/2000th f5.6 or better still, asa 800 at 1/4000th f5.6. These are constants using your lighting data.

<p>To go along with Miles' answer, I often shot ASA 640 or 800 so my shutter

speeds are higher than 1/2000. A 300 mm  f2.8 is a pricey lens but a 300mm

f4 can be found used for about $500 and is an excellent piece Nikon of glass.

You might miss the zoom because it's a little long for a lot of Little League

action.</p>

<p>An 80-200 f2.8 will get about anything in the infield. With a D70 you have

enough pixels to crop out nearly half your picture and still get a nice enough

shot. </p>

If you have the same lighting conditions at your son's little league games, the settings used on this shot will work just fine. Major leaguers throw, move, etc. SOOOO much faster than even their High School and College counterparts. All of the above advice is very good, especially pumping up the ISO a stop or two. I actually like the example of blur in the picture that you posted. It emphasizes the subjects motion, without looking out of focus. As far as getting shots in the field. Again the little league field will be smaller, and easier to access better angles for different shots. I'd take a monopod, and move around a bit.

Mr. Peterson,

Don't underestimate the little leagueers fast ball when on steroids... smokin.........better turn up the shutter speed Daddy.

Miles,

 

You have a good point.