missed it by this much

[fortunato_uno]

been trying to catch the bat meeting the ball (it's easy er with soft ball). i spent the day shooting at a practice for a team that four family members play for. they let me practice while they practice. and i'm starting to get the timming.

canon Xsi (450D)
settings manual
focus ai servo af
shutter 1/800
aperture f/5.6
ISO 400
focal length 220mm

all and any coments welcome. i'll learn more from the negative then the possitive, but i hope you like it just the same

[Hartzler]

You did a great job of catching the point of impact. I can't believe how fast the swing takes place where an 800 shutter speed doesn't completely freeze the ball (that's not a negative in your shot by the way, I like the bit of bat and ball blur).

In terms of critique, this may be my monitor, but I'd probably hit levels to bump the contrast up just a tad. I'd also consider cropping about fifty pixels from the top and fifty pixels from the bottom, bring the batter that much closer to the forefront and removing the green awning at the top, which in another shot might be a great bit of atmosphere, but in this shot, given the wide-open aperture and the point of focus, I see as more distraction.

Finally, I think you could really sharpen this shot up; it's a little soft and that can be taken care of in post-shot processing.

Great shot!

[fortunato_uno]

i had looked at the shot with a zoom at 200%. so not to refute you but (i hate saying that), the logo on his shirt is really sharp. wish i could put the original file up here i tryed to get the shutter speed at a level that would give the batter movement with out making him look to blurry.
i did think about cropping the pic more (great minds, yada yada). i was afraid that it would take away from the shot. the whole rule of thirds thing. i tryed to balance him so his spine would be in one quadrant and his face in another. not sure how the balance would change if i trimmed it even more.
your advice will be bouncing around my head next time i shoot. so thanks for the kind words and the good points of view. they are recieved with great appreciation. .

[JohnnyA]

Ball meeting bat on impact as to be "exact timing" because the duration of impact is 100th's if not 1000th's of a second. You may need to take 100's of shots to get the right one...If not more.
Nice capture.