Baseball sports photos worries

[jesse94]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and I need help.

I'm making a trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls in July and I want to take photos from the Toronto Blue0 Jays game (baseball). The worry is I'll be roughly 100 meters (328 ft) from the action. I'd like to take shots of the players action-style and not as a landscape. I don't have a tripod, but I have a Nikon D500 with a 55-200mm telephoto zoom. I'm in a wheelchair so my point of view is kinda limited.

Will I be able to take great shots?
Does anybody has similar shots to show me?

thanks

p.s. Any tips for shooting the Falls would be welcome

[Jim Bryant]

Will I be able to take great shots? Nope, not great, but something to remember the game.
Does anybody has similar shots to show me? Check some out that I have in my portfolio, they can be found at: Jim Bryant Photography.
Or you can go directly to: Major League Baseball 2002-2009 - Images | Jim Bryant Photography.

Granted, I acquire season passes to shoot professional sports in Seattle and own the fast lenses (f2.8 telephoto lenses, ranging from 70-200mm to 400mm) which, brings the action closer to the photo well, to get those great action shots. With your lens range of 55-200mm and f-stops at f/4-5.6, you'll be limited even more so if you're attending a night game.
You will have to raise your ISO settings to 1000 or above to compensate for the slowness of the lens in order to get a higher shutter speed fast enough to stop the action (you'll need a shutter speed of above 500th of a second to capture a peak moment).

Good luck........and have fun.

[jesse94]

Thanks Jim for the tips. I would kill to do a job like yours, must be fun.

So what can I expect to see in my frame at 200mm from more than 300 ft?

Would something like this (Opteka 10X Macro fr Nikon NIKKOR 400mm 500mm 600mm Lens on eBay.ca (item 370498043441 end time 01-May-11 12:26:46 EDT)) help me at all?

Can I do anything to get better shots, other than get better seats?

[Jim Bryant]

Unfortunately, according to the MLB rules, lenses longer than 200mm are prohibited unless you are a working professional. What you would need are lower seats. I'm not sure what the stadium there has in the way of handicapped seating, but at Safeco field in Seattle, the seats are on the second level. Their reasoning is: That the area is safe and if lower seating was available, it would be hard to get out of the way from a foul ball.....safety reasons.....they don't want to be sued.

[jesse94]

Well it would be my first time in Toronto, but it looks like we're on the first base line, near the dugout, on the second level. I'm a little concerned about security as you mention, but I guess it is safe.

I just hope my 55-200mm will be able to get some interesting shots.

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Unfortunately, according to the MLB rules, lenses longer than 200mm are prohibited unless you are a working professional. What you would need are lower seats. I'm not sure what the stadium there has in the way of handicapped seating, but at Safeco field in Seattle, the seats are on the second level. Their reasoning is: That the area is safe and if lower seating was available, it would be hard to get out of the way from a foul ball.....safety reasons.....they don't want to be sued.

Interesting, I thought it was 12" or something like that rather than a focal length.

I've got an old mirror 500mm that is only about 6 inches long.

[Jim Bryant]

Yea......security folks will ask to see your camera and lens. At least they do in Seattle.