Baseball’s opening day is coming up, and I’ll be at Busch Stadium to watch my beloved Cardinals. As a bonus, President Bush will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. I would like to capture the game as best I can on film.
Being an absolute novice in photography, I would really appreciate any advice, hints, or tips from those of you experienced in this.
I recently received a Nikon N75 SLR camera, with the stock 28-80mm AF lens.
I was considering purchasing Nikon’s 70-300mm telephoto lens for this event. (My seats will be approx. 50 meters from the playing field, along the home team dugout.)
My goal is to capture close, detailed photos of fast-moving players (fast, except for our catcher Matheny, who lugs mail with him around the bases, but I digress…)
I have a very basic understanding of aperture, depth-of-field, and the like, so I would love to hear some pointers from someone who enjoys this art.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Get some film with a high ISO number: 400 will work, but for good, crisp action shots I’d recommend 800 instead.
I’m not familiar with the cameras you mention, but if the aperture is manually adjustable, you’ll want to set it as large as possible and go for a shorter exposure time. If it’s automatic, as most are these days, set it to “action” setting or whatever it’s called. I’m sure others will come in with more knowledgeable advice, but that’ll get you started.
Good luck! I’m excited for baseball this year too; went to a college game last weekend, and now I am READY.
>>I was considering purchasing Nikon’s 70-300mm
>>My seats will be approx. 50 meters from the playing field,
>>My goal is to capture close, detailed photos of fast-moving players
Well…
You’re going to have to make some compremises. Either get closer, or accept that you won’t be getting Sports Illustrated type photos of the games.
The max aperture of the zoom lens (f/4.5 or maybe 5.6) won’t give you a fast enough shutter speed, and the 300mm focal length will just barely get you near the cropping you want.
Get closer. Use fast film. Get closer. (Don’t even think about flash. Not for this)
Can you possibly get on to the field (but outside of playing area)? I used to at football games, but I don’t know what baseball allows. At basketball games, I could get as close as the cheerleaders sat.
Fast film is your friend. Negatives. Print film. Why not slides? Because you’re going to have mixed light sources which will throw off the color balance. That can be adjusted some in printing. Find a good lab and stick with them. You might even try B&W.
I’m not trying to discourage you here. Phototgraphy is a great hobby. But, BUT, it is very hard to get those magazine quality photos in sports. Having realistic expectations will help you avoid being disappointed and quitting.
Did I say “Get closer!” yet?
BTW, welcome to the eciting, demanding, and very rewarding hobby of photography. Enjoy!
I was a sports journalist for quite a while and even took some action photos along the way (and some of them were in focus, too, which is a bonus).
I had a digital camera with 10x zoom capability (each “x” is about 50 mm), and I found that even when I was right up on the edge of the field, I barely had enough zoom to get decent shots of the pitcher, much less fielders. And this was at a high-school game, where you can get far closer than you can at a college or professional game.
Are you a football fan, by any chance? I found football to be a hell of a lot easier to shoot.
The 28-80 will be next to useless at baseball distances. The 300 would be good, if you could get on the field. It’s hard to get “close and detailed” from the stands, and you’re not going to get on the field without press credentials, especially if the president’s there. Maybe you can walk up to the front of the seats and get a okay shot of the mound; from your seat, with the 300, you’ll probably be able to get a reasonably tight shot of the closest base, but that’s it.
Fast shutter speed, wide aperture. If it’s a day game, you should be okay with 400-speed film; a night game, even 800 may not be enough.
I’m a newspaper photographer. I do this kind of stuff all the time, but we have digital cameras that go up to ISO3200, and a 300mm f2.8 lens, and can get on the field. Of course, all that glass is heavy, and you can’t really watch for foul balls when looking through that long a lens… :eek: