With softball and baseball starting next week I will be doing action shots for both this year....(small town....so I put the offer on the table) Anyway, both my kids have practice today (in about an hour) so I wanted to play......any suggestions on settings and best way to capture? I was using the sport mode before..... I know this was answered before for me but I cant find the post ( my true blondness coming through)

Using a Nikon D50, 70-300mm lens....4/f .....

What iso should I use and what where should I set my white balance?

Thanks!

Karol

Karol,

I know you want a simpler, and faster, answer than this, but it really is the correct answer...

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Some of the questions you are asking are "it depends" questions.  ISO depends.  I assume you are outdoors for baseball so I'd try to shoot at ISO 100 unless for some reason you can't get the shutter speed fast enough.

There are very good and very inexpensive books that will teach you a TON of basics very fast, particularly if you are looking for a specific scenario, so I don't mean to be glib here but sincere.  Grab a couple of the basic books and you'll learn so much about how to make your camera do what you want it to do when you are taking pictures!
 

Thanks! Will do!

Karol

well since it is a practice for the kids use it for a practice for yourself.

try different ISO's and shoot at different speeds to see which work better for you. the older the kids the faster speed you will need. a 15 y/o will run faster than an 8 y/o so 1/250 might be ok but 1/500 might be better. if you need to bump to 200 ISO or even 400 you should be find. Know what speed you need to shoot at and will you have a deep enough depth of field.

Hi Karol,

Here are some tips that will point you in the right direction and help you out.  I would think most of your games are going to be during the day, so here's what you should do.  Set your camera to aperture priority at it's widest opening.  You indicate a f/4, not sure if that's fixed throughout the zoom range or not.  Now just adjust your ISO to get the speed you want.  Not familier with the Nikon D50 but my old camera (Minolta 7D) has a fastest shutter of 1/4000 and on sunny days I would have raise my f-stop to work with the speed.

I personally like to shoot with the fastest speed possible to freeze the ball in flight.  Since the season is just starting start going out there and shoot your kids and other players so the team get familier with you.  That way when game time starts you might be able to get inside the fence area during games, if your not able to do this already.

Now let talk about where to stand to get the shots.  don't know what positions your kids play so I'll just give you a place to start.  First when their batting you want to stand near the dugout by first or third base.  This depends on whether their right or left handed.  You want to be able to see their faces while batting.  Now to get the ball in the shot, here's a trick I use to do this.  First I always use a monopod when shooting most of my sports.  Stand near the dugout and brace yourself and camera along the fence and focus on the batter.  Now set you autofocus to manual and adjust the composition if nessasary.  Once your set, raise your eyes just above the camera and watch the pictcher pitch.  As the ball approached the batter take the shot.

Give more information on their postiions and I'll give you further info to help you out.

Hope this helps you out and gets you started for your next practice.

Jim

Jim, you're awesome. One of my employees wants me to come to his daughters games (indoors) because of her pitching skills. He wants some of the middle of the pitch shots like her pitching coach has taken. I've been a little hesitant, A.) because it's indoors and B.) because I really don't like large groups of people. He states that the indoors place has overhead lighting with black nets to detract from being blinded by looking at the lights. I think I should just wait until the outdoor season starts. However, if I don't.. any suggestions for indoors? My fastest telephoto is f/4 through the range (Canon 70-200 f/4) using a 20D.

See, nature shots, I don't have to ask questions... so much easier with nature.  

Hi Chippa,

Your f/4 will make it a bit rough since it's indoors but depending on the lighting it may not be too bad.  The easy way is to set your camera to aperture priority at f/4 and then adjust your ISO to get the speed you want, hopefully you can get a shutter speed of at least 1/500.  I think girls fastpitch pitchers make the best action shots and if you can time it right you'll end up with a great shot.  The trick is to get them while their lunging forward during the windup.  Not sure how fast your focus is, especially when the object is moving towards you, so if your finding it hard to get a sharp picture try pre-focusing on a spot just in front of the picture so when she lunges forward you'll get the shot.  Depending on the speed you'll more than likely get some motion spur with the arms.

You might be able to get some nice shots from the side while panning.  Since it's during a game, see if you can get on the field while she is warming up so your not shooting through the fence.  Just stand behind and slightly to the side of the catcher to get some nice shots.

If your able, I'd like to see what you get if you take the pictures.

Jim

Chippa:

Jim, you're awesome. One of my employees wants me to come to his daughters games (indoors) because of her pitching skills. He wants some of the middle of the pitch shots like her pitching coach has taken. I've been a little hesitant, A.) because it's indoors and B.) because I really don't like large groups of people. He states that the indoors place has overhead lighting with black nets to detract from being blinded by looking at the lights. I think I should just wait until the outdoor season starts. However, if I don't.. any suggestions for indoors? My fastest telephoto is f/4 through the range (Canon 70-200 f/4) using a 20D.

See, nature shots, I don't have to ask questions... so much easier with nature.

What an interesting post and an interesting testament to how much there is to know about the various different aspects of photography.  I consider you to be one of the top photographers that regularly hangs out in this forum and to see that while you clearly know your stuff, there are areas where you have to step back and ask questions is a reminder of how much there is to know when taking pictures.

I am very much in that situation (except without the being an expert in one area part ) and sometimes I will find myself shooting something, or thinking about shooting something, and realize, "I don't know the ins and outs of that kind of shooting."

Jim is probably better qualified to answer, so I'll defer to him for the most part, except to say that what I have seen of indoor sports shooting makes me think that the f/4 is going to be difficult to shoot indoors unless you can shoot a flash.  And that creates its own problems.

Depending on the setup of the place, you might consider buying a "thrifty fifty" and shooting with it if you can get fairly close.  Since it is your friend's daughter and not your own, you may not want to spend any real cash on this though.  My guess is that unless you want an excuse to buy some new glass, then you may want to tell your friend that your gear is all set up for outdoors and won't get good pictures indoors and can you wait until there are outdoor games. 

Wish I could, I really could use a another vacation.

Jim

Hey Jim,

Just realized you are only a few hours from me...(Ventura area)....hmmm....maybe I'll have to tag along on your coat tail sometime?!?

Thanks again for all the input!

Karol

Hey Karol,

That would be great, you or anyone else will always be welcome to come along.  Since your just a couple of hours out, I have track meets during the next three Saturdays.  The first Saturday will be a practice meet, the next will be the league meet, and the last will be the city finals (these are for middle schools).  It would be great to have part of the Mpix family down to vist and shoot with.

Jim