It's Baseball

I have been so remiss.  Travel, crazy sports schedules and just being tired.  

Here's my favorite from the past couple of week of almost a thousand posted baseball pictures.  If you're really bored, you could check out the All Stars and All Stars Part II at www.norcrossamericanallstars.shutterfly.com.  Part III was more of a bust - I was tired of carrying around the 70-200 so I stuck with the 24-70.  Those distance shots just aren't as good.

CBT Pre-race

So....I've gotten a little behind on my once per week commitment.  I'll try to make up for it some with a bunch of pictures today.  Going to number then - curious in any comments.  These were pre-race yesterday between 10:30 and 11 am.  Used the 24-70mm L.  All the adjustment are in Lightroom.  I finally bought a book so I can figure out Photoshop.

#1  I applied Matt's Auto Adjustment (from Killer Lightroom tips) for portraits.   This is such a typical face for CBT.

#2  Used same preset.  It put a little more richness in the green of the grass and softened his face just a bit.

#3  Used Matt's Soft Focus Level I along with a slight exposure adjustment and some vignetting.

#4  Same soft focus preset as before.  He had definitely gone into "posing" mode.

#5  Christopher liked this one a lot.  "I've seen pictures like this before where the person isn't in the middle."  I think that was his way of saying it is slightly more artistic than mom usually is.  Used the Matt's Auto Adjustment again.

Maybe I can get back on track now - there are so many beautiful things around!

CBT#4 Revised

I liked Traci's idea so....

This is the original picture a.k.a. CBT #4.

Traci thought it would look good b&w.  She was right.  I just used the standard low contrast b&w preset in Lr.

While I was at it, I always tried the antique light.  I just love that you can totally change these pictures with just a click.  Thanks for the idea, my friend.

CBT#5

Last one.   Which one was your favorite?  Curious what you liked and didn't like.

CBT#4

Okay.  Only two more, then I want to hear which one you like the most. 

CBT#3

Next in the series.  Love this one because he said this one was to remind me of how as an infant and toddler he would hold his ears when he was falling asleep.  

Light source was the window.  Not sure I like the light from the side.  I know I see it done, but I'm not so sure.

CBT#2

Here's my next choice.

Looked pretty good on the small screen, but on the computer screen you can tell his eyes are perfectly in focus.  Still have lots of work to do.

As an aside,  loaded Photoshop tonight.  Boy, is that overwhelming.  I also just noticed the colors aren't quite the same here as they were in Ps.  Never noticed that before with Lightroom....hmm.  Maybe Gretchen will weigh in and let us know if she's ever heard of that before.

CBT#1

This next series won't be nearly as interesting to you all as it is practice for me.  I am trying to winnow down to a few shots out of a whole bunch I took of CBT.  He has a lot of different facial expressions and I was trying to capture a handful of his more common ones.  I used natural light and y 24-70mm lens.

I really like his eyes in this one.  I think I should set a limit - let's say 6 out of the roughly 100 I shot.  This will be a really good test.

Happy Batman

Maybe the 50mm is better inside - maybe it doesn't like being cold, like me.

More Gym Practice

It's been a week so it is time for that intentional picture. That which does not kill you makes you stronger and I was already going to the gym today to watch CBT play basketball.  I hate taking pictures in the gym.  Maybe it would be better with a more specific goal.  Today it would be to catch the emotion of the game since getting those very crisp shots is still impossible for me in that low light, especially since I haven't settled on a monopod.  (That's on the list for this week.)

Here's what I came up with.

Even Kelby allowed for blur in exchange for action in his Digital Photography book.  (Highly recommended.  I just finished it and I understand what all the raving is about.)  This game got really rough.

The coach in the orange t-shirt is awesome.  He knows how to keep it fun and to really know these kids, ie, what makes them tick.  I was hoping to capture that relationship (and the slight smile CBT has).

I love his focus on the basket and his teammate's watching his every move.  On this particular team his teammates expect a lot of him.

He just has such great facial expressions.  

Maybe one day practice will make perfect, but those lenses sure do help.  That 2.8 aperture sure blurs that background every time.

Nutcrackers

Ok.  Not my proudest moment, but I committed to about once a week or so you're getting the good, the bad and the ugly.  I don't think I've hit ugly, yet, but...

My baby loves nutcrackers and wanted a picture with all his nutcrackers.  He painstakingly set them all up.  I thought I would get the benefit of some afternoon sun on the stairs, but I still needed the flash.  I tried it in every imaginable direction except directly at him.  This shot is at 1/200, ISO 800, f/4.5 - I had all kind of variations for shutter speed and aperture.  I just happen to like his focus (and his bedhead).

He loves to pose - this totally captures his "I'm a serious model look."  I'm am still playing with all the Lightroom presets in addition to the basic adjustments I make.  Top is using Aged Photo and the bottom is right out of the camera.  I really like the focus on his face without losing all the color.  

I'm learning here - would love any comments from any of you experienced shutterbugs out there.

Playing with Lightroom

I just got my copy of Lightroom (Lr) this week and I have been spending entirely too much time playing with it.  Until 3:20 am the first morning to be exact.

The photo below is a combination of playing with the my new 24-70 lens and with Lr.  It's one of the few pix I took with it - most of the action shots I have taken have been with the 70-200mm.  I have struggled with the action shots in the gym, but the new lenses have definitely made a difference.  While this still isn't super crisp, I do get CBT stealing the ball.  I also like the effect of making it more monochrome.  Seems to focus you more on the point I'm making - he's stealing the ball.  It's a standard Sepia preset in Lr with a small Vignette on the corners.

Here's the same picture using the Lr preset Direct Positive.  For some reason, I love it for the shots in the gym.  Curious what you think.

 

Settings were 1/200 sec at f/2.8, focal length 70mm, ISO 1600 with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Fast Action in a Gym?

I spent a bit of time conferring with Brian at our class about pictures of children playing basketball in a gym, which, by the way, is not well-lit.  The answer was to get something other than the "crappiest lens" in the world.  I am very excited to say I just got the 70-200mm f/2.8L lens from Canon, which explains why I am late on my weakly post.  I've been playing and trying to learn how to use it.

I tried it tonight at CBT's basketball practice.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  Much better than the crappy lens.  Still need more practice, though. 

 

Views of a Steeple

Week 3 more or less brings me to perspective. I've been thinking about what we learned about moving your body instead of your lens or your subject, especially important when your lens won't move. Molly, for you I am going beyond my one or two sentences and including all the settings.

Here's a lovely steeple against a very blue sky with scatter clouds. I'm a little far away. I was taking care to the sun behind me - hadn't I always heard to keep the sun behind me? I had just changed to matrix/evaluative metering to get the sky. F2, 1/3200, ISO 100. Focal point for all pictures is the cross at the top of the steeple.

The next one I got closer, but with the exact same settings.

For the next one, I got really radical. I shot into the sun. I just wanted to see what would happen. The settings were all the same. The blue sky was totally washed out - has a totally different effect.

It was a fun exercise but as we were leaving (and I'm in the back of the van looking at them all in the shade), I decide I have to get out and try one more with a higher aperture. This one is at F6.3, 1/2000, still ISO 100. Very different look and probably my favorite. One rule tossed aside.

This last one is just for fun. Wished I had gotten a little less hat, and a little more second eye but I'm learning, right?

Close Ups and Blurring

Today my new lens came.  My self-assigned assignment was to fill the frame....

and to blur the background.

It's a good thing I have a model who likes to pose.  Shooting totally on manual isn't as easy as it looks.  Composition comes later.