This afternoon, I watched up and coming Woodcreek High School freshman pitcher, Kyle Barron, pitch an incredible three innings. His form is consistent and impressive. I don’t think the comparably aged baseball team at Santa Rosa Junior High School in 1961, the only freshman age baseball I’ve ever seen, exhibited the form that these kids at the nearby high school showed today. I was excited to use my new camera and to put my newly learned shutter priority mode settings from class into practice. Of course, once again, the heat of the moment took precedence but I think I’m getting the hang of focusing the D800. Out of the 144 shots I took today, only a few were not in focus. I even tried successfully to use exposure compensation and upped the ISO settings to get better exposure. Maybe there is hope for me yet.
I like the first shot because the ball can be seen hurtling toward the edge of the photo, at the center left. Kyle’s concentration is evident with his tongue clenched between his lips. And that’s Kyle’s dad seated in the background at the center of the photo. I didn’t realize he was in the shot until I downloaded them. The second photo tells a story (amazingly, “tells a story” is the theme of today’s Flickr challenge) and once again the ball is frozen in the air. Will it be a strike?
Focal Length 300mm
Shutter Priority Mode
ISO 200
f/5.6
1/320
SOOC
Focal Length 116mm
Shutter Priority
ISO 250
f/10
1/400
SOOC
Both shots are GREAT, and that second shot does tell a story! Great composition on both- but what is really impressing me is the CLARITY! OMG – the combination of your camera skills, lens, and fab new camera- WOW! I would like to see a sports photographer try to do any better than that first shot! I am very impressed,