Nikon D500 & Sports Photos (Softball/Baseball)

I just purchased a Nikon D500 a few months ago and with the weather in my area, I haven't really had a chance to use the camera to get used to it or to play with settings when shooting sports outdoors. My niece and nephew are playing Softball/Baseball and I'd like to take some pictures of their team throughout the season. Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated in helping me understand how to "freeze the action" or ideas in general lol Thanks in advance. These are some photos I took during the first softball game of the season the other day. The lens I use is a Sigma 70-200 2.8 (I welcome your suggestions but please remember that I am not a professional photographer so I understand that my pictures are not that of a professional however I would like to get better).

Also, these pictures came straight from my camera. They have not been edited at all.

You've got the right tools for the job; I would not crop/frame so tight, these are almost environmental portraits and not sports action shots, you want to show the context and situation. Lean harder into the ISO to up the shutter speed to at least 1/1000", more sharpness at the expense of noise is fine and can be rectified in post.

Something I read that really helped me: Photographing ball game action, you gotta capture the ball in the picture.

With a little practice, and using the continuous shutter release, you'll get that easily.

The hardest part for me photographing sports, you have to learn the sport in order to anticipate where the action will be. Took me a few games to get the hang of it.

This one is my favorite, a field portrait, because you've created a sufficient amount of focus blur to separate the subject from the distracting background. The exif info has been wiped but I assume it was shot at the far end of the lens, 200mm. I would do that more.



Congrats on the camera and good luck at the games!

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Thank you so much!

If people see you with a 'real' camera, don't be surprised if you get asked to take the team photos.

Actually, I would love to do them! I've done some in the past. I usually just take individual pictures for my Niece. She plays volleyball, basketball and softball so we do not pay the outrageous amounts for packages (cheapest price during basketball and volleyball was like $40). I don't see paying that kind of money for an individual picture of her when I can take a picture myself and get enough from walgreens or Mpix that are just as good for $10 I know I'll probably get cursed at by some professional photographers for that but some people charge ridiculous amounts.

SheaShea1 said:

Actually, I would love to do them! I've done some in the past. I usually just take individual pictures for my Niece. She plays volleyball, basketball and softball so we do not pay the outrageous amounts for packages (cheapest price during basketball and volleyball was like $40). I don't see paying that kind of money for an individual picture of her when I can take a picture myself and get enough from walgreens or Mpix that are just as good for $10 I know I'll probably get cursed at by some professional photographers for that but some people charge ridiculous amounts.

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Same here, especially living in a low-income area where the families have already forked out plenty just to play and buy shoes. If the kids and families prefer my photos, they're welcome. If not, they can get the professional's prints also or instead. No skin off my nose.

I just do the best I can and charge appropriately ($0). Sometimes mine are better, sometimes the pro's are better. And sometimes it doesn't matter because the professionals often have appointed session times that don't correspond to regular practice or games so many kids and coaches don't/can't attend. Our coaches are cops, teachers, engineers, truck drivers... with day jobs.

At the end of the season I like to have a disc for each kid containing their portrait, team photo, a picture of them batting, and a picture of them playing their position. The pros never bother to attend a single game...