Now that Easter vacation is over, spring sports got back into action this week. I have been real busy running from game to game shooting baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer and track. whew!
I am not a real big baseball fan, but it sure is fun trying to get a great action shot. With softball and baseball you have to really anticipate where the play is going to go and be ready. It’s not like basketball where they will take many shots during the game. The game is limited in hits and runs. If the pitcher is real good, then a hit will be very hard to come by and all you will get is a bunch of swings. I try to at least get a good shot of the bat just coming into contact with the ball. To stop that action at just the right time is a real challenge sometimes. What makes it harder is the way the field is set up. Maybe the sun is not at your back and you have to shoot towards the sun. yuck.
Luckily so far the games have had plenty of action and I have gotten some good shots. Not tons, but enough. You always hope for that PERFECT shot, with the right expression on the players face and no harsh shadows and GREAT action. Well, you can always hope. but the more you do it the more chance you have. Most high school fences are too high to shoot over so you must be inside the fence which fans are not allowed to do. It does get kinda scary sometime when a foul ball heads in you direction. When you are looking through the lens, you really have no time to see that it’s coming right at you! Ouch.
A photo journalist I trained with and highly respect (AP photographer Greg Pearson) in Louisiana showed me his bruise one day when we went to shoot a game together. It was not pretty. But, it comes with the job, I have been run over on the sidelines of a football game a few times and it is no fun. But getting a good shot does make it worth it. It makes me feel great when a parent or even the athlete in a photo tells me I took a great picture.
I have my fingers crossed lots of action comes my way. See you at the game!