Contact......

[JSPhoto]

Finally got to shoot some softball as it stopped raining for a while. Even so this doubleheader was to start at 10am but was delayed until 1pm due to a soaked field. As the games went on the right fielders kept getting shorter....they were sinking It was so wet when a fly ball hit the ground it didn't even bounce, it sank. And now the next 5 days they are calling for MORE RAIN! I am so sick of rain. 4 days now with no rain and the ground is still soaked, the puddles are still in the yard and not going down, and the dogs have gotten used to playing in their new pool.... anyway, a few sofyball pics. And yeah, the middle one counts as contact....hit by pitch.
Oh, they won both games, 11-0 and 14-1
JS

[brmill26]

JS, that is some awesome timing my friend. Some of us could probably spend a day out there and never get one dead on. I want to see you try golf swings next...

[JSPhoto]

JS, that is some awesome timing my friend. Some of us could probably spend a day out there and never get one dead on. I want to see you try golf swings next...

Thanks

It's not all that hard.....honest! Actually it's pretty difficult when you can't see the pitcher, and since for these I am on the pitchers left I can't see her, so I time it off the catcher and the batter after watching the pitcher take warmups where I time them in my head, then it's the combination of catcher and batter to know when the pitch is coming. From the other side I have one eye looking through the viewfinder and the other watching the pitcher.

No offense but.....
You won't get me anywhere near a golf course. well, unless the club house was on fire.......

JS

[brmill26]

It's not all that hard.....honest!

Hmm, well I'll have to take your word on that, but seeing as I rarely see any "contact" photos, I think there might be a bit of skill in it. The look is awesome though. :thumbsup:

No offense but.....
You won't get me anywhere near a golf course. well, unless the club house was on fire.......

lol, none taken! Coincidentally, the local club house here actually did burn down just a few months ago. I think there were some teenagers playing with fire on the roof that caught the tar on fire or something strange like that.

[JSPhoto]

Hmm, well I'll have to take your word on that, but seeing as I rarely see any "contact" photos, I think there might be a bit of skill in it. The look is awesome though. :thumbsup:



lol, none taken! Coincidentally, the local club house here actually did burn down just a few months ago. I think there were some teenagers playing with fire on the roof that caught the tar on fire or something strange like that.

Brad,
Well I guess you can call the timing skill, but seriously it's all in the timing, knowing the pitchers normal routine from windup to release and the speed they normally pitch, how long it takes the ball to get to the plate and the area the batter should make contact. High school kids are pretty predictable, and that helps a lot, they don't get out of their comfort zone, which plays into my hand. Even batters have timing, and it doesn't change much at all.

Ooopppssss.... I wasn't around there, haven't been South of Nashville in many years

JS

[JSPhoto]

Brad,
Thought I'd throw these in too, both done by timing things to show it isn't just hitting that takes timing to get contact, but the pitcher just releasing the ball and a foul tip almost caught by the catcher. I was actually late on that one but got lucky in that the ball is in the glove at that moment I did shoot. The first pitcher shot was through the fence behind home plate, the other from the press box. These were last week.

JS

[BFiredup]

JS...what were your settings on these.....

Great shots...

[Homer]

Wow, great timing on these JS.

Jim

[Old Timer]

Mid season form John. Nice shooting. We have been just as wet as you guys this Spring and I haven't been able to shoot a single softball or baseball game yet. I'm hoping that next week will improve and I'll get to try out the newly acquired 300mm f4 Nikkor.

[JSPhoto]

JS...what were your settings on these.....

Great shots...

ISO 400 Shutter 1/6400 f2.8 for the original posted shots of the softball game. Not sure on the others off hand, it was darker those days.

JS

[JSPhoto]

Wow, great timing on these JS.

Jim

Thanks Jim.... and btw, great job on that high jump shot!

John

[JSPhoto]

Mid season form John. Nice shooting. We have been just as wet as you guys this Spring and I haven't been able to shoot a single softball or baseball game yet. I'm hoping that next week will improve and I'll get to try out the newly acquired 300mm f4 Nikkor.

Thanks Larry, that was the third game I shot so for some some sports that would be mid-season I hope the weather holds off, I have 8 games on the schedule for this week, including one today with rain on the way.
I hope you get a chance to give that new lens a workout!

John

[brmill26]

Ah, I follow what you're saying now JS. Awesome images. 1/6400 shutter... wow.

[JSPhoto]

I wanted the DOF so I had to keep f2,8, only thing left was run the shutter speed up and ISO down but I didn't want too low of an ISO and it was a bit sunny.

Well in five games now these girls have scored 80 runs, they won yesterday 18-1!

John

[VinnyC01]

Nice shots, I like the HBP photo the best.

This was a HS game ... correct? I ask because college players all look at the contact point. All but one of theses, the ladies are looking in front of the plate.

These photos are great teaching tools.

Stay dry!

[JSPhoto]

Nice shots, I like the HBP photo the best.

This was a HS game ... correct? I ask because college players all look at the contact point. All but one of theses, the ladies are looking in front of the plate.

These photos are great teaching tools.

Stay dry!

Yup, they are HS, and you are right about the girls all looking ahead instead of the contact point...except one of them. It hasn't hurt them though, in 5 games they have scored 80 runs which is crazy good!
The HBP photo was shown to the girl right after it happened, even she didn't realize it hit her hand first. The paper was going to use it but they didn't have enough space She did have a nasty bruise, but it would have been worse if it hadn't grazed her hand first.

Glad you liked them!

JS

[VinnyC01]

Yup, they are HS, and you are right about the girls all looking ahead instead of the contact point...except one of them. It hasn't hurt them though, in 5 games they have scored 80 runs which is crazy good!

JS

WOW ... I can tell you this... their form near contact point is almost perfect. It's amazing, but you can tell they are pounding the ball just from these shots. Well done!

[JSPhoto]

From what I heard the coaches had to come up with some things to do while stuck inside due to the lousy weather, and a few of those practices were nothing but getting the swing down pat and it seems to have made a huge difference. Another undefeated team in the county is winning by two or three runs a game and can't believe how well the cross county rivals are hitting...... I think they may get the same "practice" soon as well, especially after what I saw today! One will be doing nothing but taking throws to third, she has a habit of watching the runner and not the throw I got a nice series of one of those deals tonight and showed it to her....she's a bit embarrassed now....


JS

[JETA]

Now that's what I call timing!

[JSPhoto]

Now that's what I call timing!

LOL, I lost it last night...only 2 shots at a baseball game with the ball on the bat, but I did get a ball just going into the glove a couple times so that should make up for it. Now IF the rains hold off I'll be shooting tennis today.

JS

[retroactiv]

John you have some great shots here, timing is a skill that is hard to learn and easy to forget. Keep up the great work, and really these are some great SB shots my local Newspaper photogs could take some lessons from you.

[JSPhoto]

John you have some great shots here, timing is a skill that is hard to learn and easy to forget. Keep up the great work, and really these are some great SB shots my local Newspaper photogs could take some lessons from you.

Thanks Chris. Hey send em over, I'll be easy on them but not their wallets
Gotta make a buck somehow :thumbsup:
John

[VinnyC01]

From what I heard the coaches had to come up with some things to do while stuck inside due to the lousy weather, and a few of those practices were nothing but getting the swing down pat and it seems to have made a huge difference.

JS

That's great. We were lucky with weather this year and have been outside too much (imagine someone saying that). But we did not get the swings in and situational practice that we needed. Bad weather HS softball a lot more than people realize.

When that coach passes out that practice schedule, please have him add me to that list!!

One will be doing nothing but taking throws to third, she has a habit of watching the runner and not the throw I got a nice series of one of those deals tonight and showed it to her....she's a bit embarrassed now...

JS

In all honesty, I video tape our hitters and I had my assistant photograph two scrimmages so that the kids could see the good things, the bad things and the small chance needed in everything from stance to swing to eyes to throwing, etc. Most importantly facial reactions ... they actually see why umps or coaches get an "unspoken" message from them.

The player needs to see it and not be embarrassed, just learn from it. Now she knows. It is VERY hard to visualize one thing when you have no idea, or believe you are doing something else.

Either way, I am sure she is better now because of it.

Thanks again!

[JSPhoto]

Well the last game she wound up in right field....till she learns to watch the throw and not the base runner.