New 45-200mm at the game: A home run !

Took my just purchased 45-200mm zoom to the Phillies/Marlins game. First time I had used it on my G3 (recently upgraded from FZ20).

Was sitting in the nosebleeds (4 rows from the back to the stadium) - so had to shoot at full zoom, or close to it. Used OIS as tripods were not allowed in the stadium. It was also at night and the stadium lighting was glary.

These shots are JPEGs right out of camera - no PP or cropping - yet.

Looking for any suggestions/recommendations concerning:

• Techniques to improve the shots
• Suggested PP - I have Photoshop Elements

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Here's the home run - hit by Shane Victorino in the 4th. The white oblong blob in the upper right corner is the ball headed for the left field stands. The first run of the game.





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Here's John Mayberry swinging too early - the ball still in front of him.





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Here's Emilio Bonifacio sliding head first back to base to prevent being picked-off by Blanton.





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Finally, the view from our seats.





Again, looking for suggestions on technique, settings, and PP ideas.

Thank you for your time.

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I am also not a pro, but have been to baseball games with my GH2 and the same 45-200 lens and I don't think I have gotten such nice photos. I think you have good eye for using this lens well... Al
--
Amateur Photographer of family mainly

Since they are all taken with 1600 ISO, a bit of noise reduction and sharpness and a bit of contrast will improve the images, you can also try to adjust the WB

--
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

God is the tangential point between zero and infinity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

God always take the simplest way.

• http://aleo-photo.org

• http://blog.aleo-photo.org

See that blur in the bottom left? Someone stood up in front of me and so I had to do a post processing to make it look good.
Noise bleed seats, G3 and 14-140mm lens. Brandon Phillips home run.

Digicam Newbie said:

Took my just purchased 45-200mm zoom to the Phillies/Marlins game. First time I had used it on my G3 (recently upgraded from FZ20).

Was sitting in the nosebleeds (4 rows from the back to the stadium) - so had to shoot at full zoom, or close to it. Used OIS as tripods were not allowed in the stadium. It was also at night and the stadium lighting was glary.

These shots are JPEGs right out of camera - no PP or cropping - yet.

Looking for any suggestions/recommendations concerning:

• Techniques to improve the shots
• Suggested PP - I have Photoshop Elements

.

Here's the home run - hit by Shane Victorino in the 4th. The white oblong blob in the upper right corner is the ball headed for the left field stands. The first run of the game.

Click to expand...

Lol, all baseball games look the same, just open Sports Illustrated.

Your picture has a good contrast and better exposed, but it's over sharpened with unpleasant artifacts.

forpetessake said:

Lol, all baseball games look the same, just open Sports Illustrated.

Your picture has a good contrast and better exposed, but it's over sharpened with unpleasant artifacts.

Click to expand...

As I said someone stood up in front of me right as I took the pic. It is almost a 100% crop and I had to fix the left bottom corner which was dark and blurred (partially blocked by a big fat head).

Aleo Veuliah said:

Since they are all taken with 1600 ISO, a bit of noise reduction and sharpness and a bit of contrast will improve the images, you can also try to adjust the WB

Click to expand...

I used 1600 ISO to keep the shutter fast enough to hand hold at that distance.

Thank you for the feedback. I will try that.

aljudy said:

I am also not a pro, but have been to baseball games with my GH2 and the same 45-200 lens and I don't think I have gotten such nice photos. I think you have good eye for using this lens well... Al

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply.

I just set the lens full open ("A" mode) and set the ISO such that the shutter would be 1/200 or faster to minimize shake at that focal length. (Someone had posted a rule that shutter speed should be at least as fast as 1 over the focal length.)

Everdog said:

Copycat!!!!!!

Noise bleed seats, G3 and 14-140mm lens. Brandon Phillips home run.

Click to expand...

Good point... Guess there are only so many good baseball photos from the nose-bleeds.

I really like your timing with the ball --- better than mine. I tried to press the shutter just as the swing started to account for the shutter lag.

How did you do it?

Upper deck. Row 5. Helps with the 40-150. Not cheap seats either. Glad they were a gift.

EXIF doesn't indicate the temperature (44F) or the wind chill (36F), typical at Wrigley in April. I was going to take more photos, but my frozen friend insisted on leaving after 7 innings. My first time back at the ball park in 26 years.

The 1/focal length rule of thumb was current among 35mm shooters. With 4/3 format the 200mm is effectively 400mm in terms of 35mm. So 1/400 handheld would probably be the "rule of thumb." Of course, OIS should gain a stop or more for subjects that are not moving. And it's just a useful rule of thumb. Some folks are steadier, some not.

save up for better seats! has anyone said that yet? lol
i think the shots look pretty good for nose bleeds!