A Tradition Continues:

My dad introduced me to baseball about 40 years ago. I can remember going to my first professional ball games at about 9 years old in Minneapolis. The Twins of the day had Harmon Killebrew and John Roseboro. Why did those players stand out? Well Killebrew became a legend and Roseboro lived in our apartment complex in Mound, Minnesota (on Lake Minnetonka). Anyway we have been going to spring training games for the Atlanta Braves for the last 8 years or so. It's been a fun rite of spring. Great weather, a 1st class ball park (Disney Wide World of Sports) and the beloved Braves, along with Hot Dogs and Beer make for a wonderful relaxing way to spend time with my father. He too, was a shutter bug in his younger days, and now has embraced digital point and shoot with ease.

I would like to become better at photographing action sports, along with birds in flight. One of the nice things with my dslr is the 3fps (3 frames per second) though sometimes I think I would like 5 (or more) like the "big boys" have, but until I max out the camera capabilities I will continue with my "lowly" 3 fps. What does FPS have to do with shooting sports? It allows you to capture the subject in sequence and come up with some shots like you see the from pros.

Take the snap to the left: I think the objective to a good action sports snap is to show the athleticism and grace at the same time. I definitely need practice getting subjects in focus and in positions that show their athleticism and grace. The light was not my friend this day, nor were our seats, but once a leftie came up I had to make the best of the situation. (Remember you can click on the picture and it will bring up a larger more detailed version)

We were also treated to a special event. After the game they let the kids run the bases. Well we know kids make for some of THE best photographs, and having none of my own, I try to take advantage of the opportunities to shoot kids being kids. These days you really can't point your camera at a kid because everyone is afraid the picture will wind up on the internet in some sordid way. What a sad state of affairs, but I very much understand this and I don't typically point my camera at kids unless everyone is pointing their cameras at the kids... I have a series of 4 that I want to share if I can:

I made it!!!

Uh Oh, who's this behind me?

Well, I'm not moving!

Mom? R U gonna take the picture?

Sorry about the alignment of the pictures - I'm not an html whiz and blogger doesn't easily help you do these types of postings. Remember, for any picture you see on my blog - just click on it to see a larger, more detailed version.