Photo Jabber: Softball Season

Around here we go from one sport right into the next. My three young girls are into nearly every activity there is, so I have plenty of opportunities for shooting sports. Softball is one of my favorite photographic sporting events, and the season is fast approaching.

Softball offers a variety of shooting situations..

Some action.............. Some not.............

I like shooting softball for many reasons.. First, it's outdoors and usually in the evening, which means great light! And second, I usually don't have to run around too much... most of the action can be captured from one spot. But the action shots are just a part of the photographic opportunities at the game. I really like to try to capture a lot of the off field moments too... in the dugout, warm-ups, cheering, chanting, etc..

If you have a softball player in your family, here are a few shooting tips- Try to take advantage of the Magic Hour, avoid shooting the mid-afternoon games if possible. As with any sport, use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. Select Aperture Priority mode and the smallest aperture number available. This wide aperture will keep your shutter speed fast, and your depth of field shallow. (sport shots are always better with blurred backgrounds) Shoot from a low perspective, this is important. Set your camera's shooting mode to Burst for the action shots, and fire off several. Remember to zoom in tight as possible, this will isolate your subject and further help to blur out the background. Set White Balance to Cloudy to give your images a slightly warm tone.

Most importantly, don't forget to capture some of those non-action shots. Take close ups of bats, bases, catcher's mask, etc.... Also get lots of shots of the players having fun in the dugout, cheering and yelling their crazy chants!

Use Burst mode for action shots to capture a sequence.