This week’s column showcases baseball photos from Margo and me! On Tuesday, Margo covered the team’s 5-2 win over Missouri State, and I was there for the 1-0 loss to South Carolina on Friday. Here are the photos of the week!
I’m not normally a huge fan of wide shots in baseball unless it’s an overview of the stadium, sometimes even including the fans in the stands. That being said, something about this photo is appealing to me. Maybe it’s that the batter is mid-swing and the pitcher’s leg is still
in the air or that the lighting is somewhat interesting, or maybe it’s a combination of those factors. This is also a bit of a tough lighting situation where the people we’re focusing on are in the shadows and the sun is shining brightly on the other end of the field, so I applaud Margo for her effort to keep the exposure as normal as possible!
I’m a bit of a sucker for a shot that’s wide enough to provide context but focused in the area we really want to be looking at. In a way, you could consider this shot one that uses the compositional technique of foreground interest with the Missouri State players gathering for a mound visit. Instead of focusing on them though, our focus is directed towards Keegan Knutson as he stands on second base waiting for play to resume.
I always forget that the players will do this celebration, so I don’t generally get a good shot of this moment (also: the last game I shot was a shutout for the other team so I don’t think I even had a chance to get it). As much as I talk about anticipation and being aware of your surroundings in shooting sports, I really should be paying more attention to the non-action repetitive moments more than I do. This was really great awareness by Margo to get the reaction after this home run by Donovan Jordan, and even more to not accidentally cut off their feet!
It can get kind of boring to shoot photos of the pitcher so I try to switch up things every once in a while to make it more interesting. You’ve seen me do things like shoot from a side angle or use a slow shutter speed before, but this time I decided to shoot a tighter vertical of Lawrence from a place slightly to the right of home plate. I love that the ball is behind his head showing him winding up for the pitch and the face he’s making as he does so.
Since these two shots are similar, I’m going to talk about them together. On the left, we have Kaden Peer sliding into third and on the right is Kam Durnin diving back into first while the pitcher attempts to pick him off. While these are clearly different situations, when considered together they show the different ways you can shoot slides.
At first base, there’s a small spot you can shoot from between the visitors’ dugout and the bleachers along the right field side that is ground-level and allows a great lower angle for shots like the one of Durnin. There’s no area that gets that low near third, so I instead went higher to clean up my background for the shot of Peer sliding into third. With both photos, I love that I’m able to see both of them clearly mid-slide with their legs still in the air and the first and third base coaches are also in the shot.
I’ve probably said it several times now but shooting the outfielders is not an easy thing, especially for the centerfielder since they’re the furthest away. I have a 100-400 mm lens that helps a lot for shooting baseball but especially when I’m asked to shoot outfielders, but it can also be difficult in low-light situations and gets worse as the sun goes down. I’m also always worried about missing other plays in the infield while focusing on outfielders, so while I position myself to shoot them, I’m watching as the plays happen so I can adjust as needed. I was asked to get photos of Peer and I knew he was right-handed so I moved over to the left field side so his arm wouldn’t be in the way and just waited for him to make a play.
Obviously, photos of not so great moments for the Tigers aren’t very fun to see, but this is kind of a funny moment. Woita tried to make a play at first but the runner was called safe and he just sat here for a beat. It reminded me a lot of the photo I got of Marquis Johnson from the game against Louisiana in September!
Thanks for reading! Be sure to come back next week for more Photos of the Week!
