Wow, that evil chain link fence *seriously* affected my take from the first game. I was in a great location for covering 2nd and 3rd. I managed to grab a lot of nice action. But the image quality is not acceptable to me. Sure we all know the trick of getting close to the fence, using a wide aperture, and centering the lens in a gap, but that isn’t enough. I’m forcing myself to face the issue and solve it before next season. I’ve got a secret weapon to experiment with for the next game. No, not a bolt cutter.

Note to self: After investing in the best quality lens possible it is silly to shoot through a sunlit chain-link fence. The fence lowers the contrast, degrades the image sharpness, and adds an evil bluish galvanized color cast which is not easy to compensate for. Add another color cast from the infield clay and things get tedious.

Of course I could just get inside the fence and lay on the ground while kids hit balls towards my head. Uh, no.

The games begin on Monday. My plans are to shoot mostly 2nd and 3rd bases mainly due to the light.

I won’t be shooting any batting. The light will be much too hard, and I just don’t enjoy my available choices of backgrounds.

Oh, I’ll also be making a team photo.

It was my last chance for good evening light at a practice. I tried to get every kid rounding 1st base but didn’t quite get them all.

I got the really good light just as the kids were packing to leave after practice today. Ah, summer time!

It seems like I am going after more group shots this season. In the back of my mind I am trying to think about stories and to apply layering. I wonder where that will lead.

I’ve got another week of shooting practices, followed by a week of All Star games. The light is super hard and harsh in most places. My challenge is to do something different from the regular season for each kid, do it with the worst light imaginable, and do it within a 2 week period. That sounds simple enough.

The boys were playing at a different level this season. With the possibility of stealing bases, the opportunities for action shots increased. Next season I want to do a better job of covering the bases, especially 2nd. It’s time for me to get into using multiple cameras and/or remotes.