what's the best set up?

[tasmo2]

hey guys! I am trying to get some good shots of my son's t-ball team and had a few questions..

what is the best set up for this? The past game I stood behind home plate and shot against the fence (darn chain link fences!) But im worried about scratching my lens!
Also, right now I just have the 18-55mm lens, will I be able to get any good action shots with it?
Would you guys recommend Apt priority mode for this? A friend of mine said he shoots a lot of the time in Program mode.... what would be the differences in the two?

Thanks!
Allison

[zona5101]

Program vs Aperture in the first the camera picks both the shutter and aperture values in the later you pick the aperture and the camera picks the shutter speed. If you're paying attention to what the camera is wanting to do, either one is perfectly fine.
Ya chain link and short focal length lenses are a tough combination... can you get around and shoot through the dugout opening to the field?...or maybe from the side where the fench gets low evough for you to shoot over? Even with lil tikes, your shutter speed will need to be fast enough to stop the action...maybe a 1/200th of a sec or faster. 55mm doesn't give you a lot of "reach" but if you get a series of decent, well exposed shots you can crop and zoom and still get respectable results.

[tasmo2]

Ok, well now I just bought a 55-200mm lens with AF and VR... will this make it easier?

Don't laugh.... I am too short to see over the OF fence as well.. LOL Im only 5'1.

Thanks for your reply!!

Im very frustrated because they won their first game Sat and my son ran in the winning run, and the shot I got was very blury!! So I really don't want that to happen again!

[tasmo2]

I forgot to say ... Yes I can shoot through the dugout while we are on the field, but in T-ball the dugout is a mad house while they are batting. LOL!

[zona5101]

Your new lens will make your job easier! When shooting through a fence, the longer focal length coupled with a large open aperture should make the fence undetectable in the resulting image. The wide open aperture will also maximize your shutter speed. Even then you may need to bump your iso up a bit to get the kind of shutter speeds needed to stop the action. Good luck and have fun.

[tasmo2]

Thanks so much for your help/info!! Now I just hope I get the new lens before his next game on Sat! i can't wait to play around with it!!! Its my first new lens, and i feel like a kid at christmas!