How to Photograph Baseball

Today Pro Photographer Jim Bryant shares a comprehensive set of tips in a tutorial on how to photograph Baseball.

Baseball is a visual feast or famine game. If the pitcher is really great, there’s nothing to shoot. If both teams are better at offense than defense you’ll wind through a lot of frames rapidly.

By photographers’ standards, these are slow games. The majority of most games are as visually exciting as watching grass grow. However, there are brief moments of amazing athletic ability and severe collisions. Because this window is so tight (and the extremely-hard, fast-moving balls [and bats] that seem to have photographers magnets in them), it’s important to pay close attention during the entire game. Otherwise you miss the shot and/or wake up in the hospital covered in blood.

Why concentrate on baseball?

A significant reason to get good at shooting baseball is the frequency of the game. During a normal baseball season, many games are played and a quality baseball shooter has gigs from running from March through October.

Additionally, because baseball isn’t as hard on the players’ bodies as heavy contact sports, back-to-back games (called double headers) are common. Likewise, some pro teams may have three or four home games in a given week.

First and foremost, make sure to have all access and parking passes before the event for major league baseball games. If the passes aren’t already in hand, call around before game day to find the person who has them. If the promoter promises to have them at the game, insist on a contact name and cell phone number as well as a back-up person and cell number.

The people at the ticket booth and security don’t know what they haven’t been told, so their first impulse is to deny access. Having a name and cell number guarantees access – even if the contact wrecks on the way to the game.

To save a lot of walking with heavy equipment, know where media parking and the media gate is located.

For games in small stadiums, park far away from the field. Those foul balls go somewhere. Make sure it doesn’t go through your windshield.

Safety precautions

Photographers must keep their eyes open at all times when covering these games. Although ball control and accuracy tends to increase as speeds increase, someone can always miss. It’s called an error during the game. It’s called a concussion or broken ankle during the warm-up period before the game.

In the pros, imagine any part of your body being hit by a 100mph rock. If a bat breaks, it’s a 100mph wooden stake.

If you’re concerned, about getting beaned with a foul ball, there is no shame to wear a batting helmet while covering a game. If not, at least wear a hat. Likewise, it’s logical to use a monopod while shooting with long glass, but make sure it stays between your knees. It’s not much of a hiding place, but it may deflect the ball enough to break a leg instead of taking it in the upper half of your body.

For daytime games, take at least one bottle of water. In addition to aforementioned safety hazards, noontime sun, humidity and a windless field are a dangerous combination. Don’t dehydrate, cause a ruckus and make it even more difficult for other photographers in the future. Bring your sunscreen as well.

Get Rosters

Don’t shoot a single frame of a low level game until you have a roster with first name, last name and number. If a team is losing horribly after a few innings, they may refuse names.

If the roster is hand written, have a coach or player check it for spelling accuracy. Even if it’s from the team’s official Web site, it’s good to ask the coach to verify the names are spelled correctly and numbers are accurate.

Typically, full rosters are available in the media rooms at pro games. They are located in the press box at minor league and college games. They are at the gate for high school playoff games. They are in the press box for most high school games with announcers. The coach has them for other games. They’re in the heads of the coaches for little league games.

Work the Fans

Arrive early and work the parking lot for anything interesting. Look for tailgate parties, face painting, herds of pee-wee league teams or vendors. Shoot folks with the giveaway items at pro games (Bobbleheads, mini bats, etc.).

Also work the crowd in the stands for painted faces, costumes or anything else interesting. Don’t forget to take a look at the vendors for additional images (freelancers need to give them biz cards to make after-market sales).

At high school and lower games, get some CYA shots of the players warming up. In particular, get some decent shots of the outfielders with the longest glass you’ve got.

At minor league games, the players normally sign autographs and have mild interactions with fans. The easy way to work it is either with a long lens from the side where the fans blend together and the player is isolated. Otherwise, shoot with a wide angle lens from behind the player to show the faces of the fans. The point is to easily identify the player while avoiding the need to identify every fan getting autographs. However, if some cool interaction happens, work it and get names.

Many pro teams typically have mascots as well. Get some shots of the mascots in the beginning of the season. Get the mascot’s official name and the name of the person inside the costume.

At college level and below, get there early enough, introduce yourself to the umpire(s) and get their names and hometowns. Of particular importance is the home plate ump. Sometimes the umpires refuse their names (due to overzealous parents). It’s not a big deal. Just list the person as “umpire” in the cutlines where the unnamed umpire appears.

When the players are introduced, they normally line up along the first and third baselines. Get shots of each team (shoot four or five players wide). This helps match shoes, hair and body type with jersey numbers for cutline identification later. Note where the front numbers are located for follow shots during the game. Some college teams and many lower level teams have no front numbers. It’s important to note this before the game.

Now let’s consider the best places for photographers to locate. Obviously, sun direction and the umpires play a huge role in where you finally end up, but these suggestions are almost guaranteed for a little league game.

Each level of play has different access rules. Typically, at pro games, photographers get to cover from one to four pits located on both sides of the dugout near the infield. Different shooters prefer different locations. However, make sure to be in one of them before the game starts. Otherwise, no movement is allowed until the half-inning exchange.

For lower level games, the best location for the top of the 1st inning is in the stands behind the backstop to get the pitcher. Next, move to the 1st base side, directly to the side of the pitcher and in front of the dugout or behind the on-deck circle. From here shoot the pitcher, shortstop, all three bases and home plate.

If someone makes it to 1st, line up on the base for dives back. The alternative is to align the base with the pitcher for a side view of the dive, which also includes the pitcher. However, note that if the 1st baseman misses the ball while the mirror is up on the DSLR camera…. well, just expect some lens repair costs, a nasty bruise and possible concussion.

Once you have enough safe shots, do the same from the 3rd base side. This allows for 400mm views of the 1st base dive, better shots of 2nd base, 200mm slides into third and catcher-oriented collisions at home plate.

At coach- or machine- pitched little league games, photographers are able to move around the field as well. Most parents are happy to see the newspaper and are willing to suspend this rule to get their kids in the newspaper. Don’t forget to look for very young kids drawing in the dirt, facing the wrong direction or doing the things which make kids cute.

Precision timing

Although speed and timing are factors in almost all sports, it’s paramount in baseball and softball. Balls often travel at nearly 100mph. Bats swing at similar speeds. To stop both objects traveling in opposite directions requires you to know exactly which 2000th of a second to shoot.

It’s normal to shoot with long glass at very high speeds when covering baseball. This stops the ball, the bat and keeps players sharp although they may be moving in more than one direction simultaneously.

Even though it’s nice to say this should be shot at 1/2000, we must understand exactly which 1/2000th of a second to choose. We can’t simply wind through a play and expect to nail it. Instead, we must nail it with the first shot at precisely the right moment and wind through the remainder of the play.

To get the right fraction of a second, we must factor in shutter lag. It’s not bad on pro digital cameras, but it’s still enough to cause problems. Typically anticipating the play and keeping both eyes open is enough.

I’m beating this dead horse because we must understand the best digital pro cameras only yields about eight or more frames per second. At 1/2000th, it means you absolutely miss fractions of the same second. The difference between frames is enough for the ball to vanish from the frame. So, pick only the perfect 1/2000th of a second as the first shot in a series – then wind through some extra frames.

Additionally, since the ball is small and typically completely engulfed in a ball glove, it’s critical to shoot before the glove closes around the ball. This way, the ball can be seen inside the glove or slightly separated from the glove. Likewise, you are much more likely to get a sharp ball at the end of the pitch rather than shortly after it’s hit by a bat (momentum and inertia).

What’s the difference between shooting softball and baseball?

Softball is slightly different than baseball. Primarily, baseballs hurt a lot more. :-)

Moreover, softball fields are smaller. Both the distances between bases and the distance to the wall are less. A softball game can be shot with a 200 or 300mm lens.

The ball is pitched underhanded. The ball is obviously larger and often bright yellow. So, you can focus on it better right before it hits them in the forehead.

Softball doesn’t allow leading off the base like baseball. However, once the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, they can capitalize on errors to steal a base.

First base is wider to allow the runner to pass without a collision.

Some games may have a “five-run rule.” This means a team’s at bat ends once they score five runs during the inning. This rule keeps miss-matched games from lasting forever and ending with a 250-1 score.

Another mismatch control seen in softball tournaments is timed games. The game is played as normal (no five-run rule), but the ump notifies the teams at the end of a specified time (it varies) and the game finishes after this particular full inning.

Shoot the game

Even through you want shots with a home-team focus better images show both teams. Besides, you can also sell photos to the other teams parents, just pass out business cards before the game.

Like other contact sports, photographers want to capture conflict between the players of opposing teams. Shots with only the home team could be made during practice. The importance of shooting the game is to show the battle between two teams.

Watch the players not the ball. If tracking the ball, all the players can blur (not in a good way). However, understand the ball must be in almost every shot, and it should also be very close to the players to be successful. Timing is critical in this sport (measured in 1000ths of a second) and you must be comfortable with the shutter lag of their particular cameras to nail the plays.

It’s really important to shoot baseball and softball with both eyes open. Watch the game and what’s in the viewfinder at the same time. Again, timing is critical because the ball moves so fast and changes hands often, so you need to watch the ball outside of the frame to shoot when it precisely nears a player.

Most photographers don’t do a lot of this long-lens, double-eye stuff need to practice on a flock of birds or some other randomly occurring event to get accustomed to seeing long through one eye and normal through another.

Like football and soccer, it’s best to shoot from one knee (lower level in pit for pro games) because the players are close to the ground during most major plays. This is how photographers get tight shots of the players’ faces as they dive back to first base or makes a tag.

Safe shots

Since most folks covering Major League Baseball are familiar with the game, I’m going to drop this down to college and lower level games. These fields typically don’t have pits and places to shoot from that are slightly closer to the field of play than MLB and minor league games.

Get the starting pitcher

Always get shots of the starting pitchers throwing a ball. Most baseball stories are about how well or poorly the pitcher did.

Often, photographers should start shooting in the stands directly behind the batter. This is a direct shot at the pitcher. The movement of the pitcher is less severe from this angle. During daylight games, the grip on the ball can be captured at f/2.8.

The reason I suggest often in the previous paragraph is due to a recent trend. For the last few years, umps have gotten wired about where a photographer can stand. Some umps are really cool and if the photographer gets killed, it’s his/her own fault. Others want to protect us from ourselves.

Unfortunately, the ump gets to decide this. So, play along with it. If it gets too restrictive, bring it up with the coaches later and they’ll normally work with that particular ump.

Sometimes photographers are stuck on the sides, the most important shot is still of the starting pitcher, but it becomes more important to see if the starting pitcher is right or left handed so be sure to be on the opposite side to see the pitchers face as the ball is released off their fingers.

In other words, for a right-handed pitcher, you should be on the 1st base side and on 3rd for a lefty.

A 400mm on a digital camera is normally fine for the pitcher. If you have a prime location during a day game, use a 1.4 or 2x extender on a 300 or 400mm for a nice, tight shot of the pitcher.

Infield players

With a 400mm, shoot the shortstop from the 1st base line. A great shortstop makes the pitcher seem perfect. The shortstop is located between 2nd and 3rd base. S/he gets most fast right-handed ground balls and line drives, then throws to 1st base. In other words, if the shortstop is good enough, nobody makes it to 1st base.

The 2nd baseman holds the same importance when a left-handed batter is at the plate. The 2nd baseman plays between 2nd and 1st base if nobody is on those bases.

The 1st baseman is actually one of the key players in the game because the whole point of the game is to keep players from making it to first base. Consequently, the first base player must catch many balls throughout the game. The better ones are capable of full splits to make a play.

Unless the ball goes deep into the outfield, the 1st baseman will be the end point for the ball after a hit. As a result, the 1st baseman tends to leave a foot on the bag at all times during play. To make sure focus is sharp, either set the camera focus to manual or single servo and lock onto the first base.

It’s important to shoot the ball as close to the 1st baseman’s open glove as possible – preferably with the opposing team’s player in the frame as well.

The 3rd baseman picks up several groundballs if the pitcher throws off-speed pitches. Otherwise they are the last chance to stop a speedy runner before the runner could possibly score.

Catcher

Although the catcher is the 2nd most important player on the team, don’t spend too much time on the catcher until a play at home is expected. The most important issue near the beginning of the game is to make sure to get a clear shot of the catcher’s number (front number is covered by a chest plate) for later identification.

Outfield

Like the shortstop, great outfielders can keep the pitcher’s honor. As long as they pull balls out of the air, nobody gets to 1st base. Make sure and have a decent shot of the key infielders before concentrating on the outfield. If someone is on base, don’t miss a play at the plate to get the outfielders.

Expect poor light

Although many games are played during the day and major league games are played in well-lit ballparks, some high school games are played on fields with so little light it’s hard to see and harder to photograph. You might have to bump up your ISO setting instead of using flash as the ump or coaches might come unglued if a player misses the ball because of you using a flash. Unlike other sports where flash isn’t a huge issue, it’s a potential hazard in baseball.

Get the coach

Coaches are positioned in the coaches box at 1st and 3rd base while their team is at bat. When their team is on the field, they’re in the dugout.

The coaches use non-verbal signals to tell batters and runners what to do. These can often make entertaining visuals at lower level games when players aren’t entirely familiar with the codes and the coaches show frustration.

When a player is on base, the coach directs them to move forward, dive back, steal or hold. After several pick off attempts, it’s safe to focus on the coach to see her/his instructions to players (particularly after a batter hits a double).

Get the batter

These are the ultimate safe shot. Admittedly, the really good shots come from the pro level games because they still use wooden bats (which sometimes break). However, even in lower level games a batter gets hit by the ball and displays interesting facial expressions.

Otherwise, it’s a nice exercise in timing to try to get the ball as it makes connection with the bat or an interesting strike (miss). This can be done with a 400mm from the far end of the dugout or a 200mm from behind the on-deck circle. It can be shot horizontally if loose or vertically if tight (batters tend to swing slightly down to lift the ball off the bat).

To get these, set focus on the batter’s face. Then watch the ball as it’s delivered. It takes some practice, but eventually you learn the perfect location to counter the shutter lag (typically as the ball leaves the grass).

Get the players

Always focus on the player’s eyes instead of the ball. Each team has 9 players on the field plus a designated hitter/runner in some leagues. Try to get one clear shot of each player controlling the ball or making some play at a base. These can be used throughout the season. Tight face shots will work if nothing much is happening.
You want the player facing the camera and in good light if possible. By working both the 1st and 3rd baselines, you should have a shot of every batter after three innings (right-handers from 1st and left-handers from 3rd.

Get meetings

After some bad pitches or an error, the coach, pitcher or catcher might stop the game to talk with another player. Get these meetings. Although it’s nothing most of the time, it’s better than a photo of the player’s back as they get pulled from the game. On a rare instance, there might be some serious emotion happening and those make great shots.

Taking this one step further, get any confrontations of the umps and the coaches or players. When a coach or manager gets in the face of an ump, emotions can get really hot. The exchange can become so hot that an ump might eject a coach. This will be a water cooler story for the next few days, so this shot is important for follow-up stories – even if it’s not the deadline shot.

Good shots

Now it becomes important to understand the game. Roughly, teams try to run players from base to base until they get to home plate to score. Some teams steal bases because they have fast players and count on the opponent to make errors (or don’t trust their batters much). Other teams play fairly close to the bases and prefer batters to make consistent singles to load up the bases.
In the first case, the plays are at the bases. In the second case, the plays are in the outfield.

Base plays

In baseball, once a player is on base, they can steal an additional base. This leads to a tension between the base runner and the pitcher. If the runner torments the pitcher enough, the pitcher makes mistakes and might walk a batter or balk. Either way, it’s to the running team’s advantage to irritate the pitcher.

Meanwhile, it’s to the pitcher’s advantage to pick off a runner by throwing them out at 1st base or another base if they steal.
To get this shot, focus on the base where the runner would return. Until the ball is thrown or the runner commits to run, this is where the action will take place. If the player tries to steal, immediately swing to the advancing base, focus and be ready to shoot.

Outfield plays

Teams which load the bases with singles typically hit the ball to drop between the infield and outfield players. To catch these balls, the outfielders will typically sprint toward the ball and may leap to make the catch.

With a 400mm or longer lens, focus on the running outfielder in continuous focus mode (or manually) and track them as they move, hoping for a diving catch. Ideally, this will happen mid-air. Wind through some extra frames in case the outfielder misses the ball or drops the ball on impact.

Home Run Congratulations

After a home run is hit, the team is allowed to go onto the field to welcome home the running players. Typically a few hugs, jumps or helmet patting takes place. It makes for nice “our team won” shots.

Dugout emotions

On important or evenly-matched games, watch the home dugout for tension and reactions. These can either be shot wide from inside the dugout area or long from the opposite side of the field.

In baseball, there tends to be a lifting of a key player followed by a pileup on the key player at the end of significant games.

Experiment

Although we’re all trained to get the fast, sharp shots, remember to get a few f/22 panning shots with motion and blur might make interesting results. These are “artsy” shots to show the game’s speed and motion. A pan with the player ensures the main torso and head are sharp while the rest is blurred. This shot works particularly well during home run trots.

Don’t forget to spend a little time shooting down from the stands or on top of the dugout as well. This gives clean backgrounds behind the players. However, this angle limits photographers to primarily pop flies where the players look up instead of down. The roof of the dugout is a particularly good position for interesting alternative shots.

An interesting shot (although becoming somewhat cliché now) is to zone focus where the ball is the only point of focus as a pitcher delivers the ball. This is shot from behind the batter. A point of focus is determined close to the batter to make the pitcher extremely out of focus when the aperture is set at f/2.8.

Shoot as the ball enters this narrow zone of focus. Although it looks interesting, it’s simply a matter of timing the ball to the point of focus. This shot salvages a deadly-boring, low-scoring game.

Home plate collisions

This is “The shot” everybody wants. The runner has a chance to win the game if s/he can make it to the plate. The armor-clad catcher can save the game by preventing the runner from making it to the plate. Typically, these plays are also close to the umpire to complete the package in one frame.
Although this shot is important from either direction, it tends work best from the 3rd base angle. The catcher is braced for impact and typically has a look of fierce determination on his/her face.

Focus on the catcher’s face and wind through the entire collision and aftermath including the ump’s call. Expect this to take 10 or more frames.

Squeeze plays

A squeeze play occurs when a runner tries to steal a base or tries to get one more base than s/he should have. If properly executed, the play actually involves five players (one runner and four defenders).
This play often happens between 1st and 2nd base. However, it’s particularly dramatic when it happens between 3rd and home plate because it takes a lot of guts to steal home.
Try to get a shot where the ball is clearly visible slightly before the actual tag or while the player is in the air after the tag (they normally “tag” the runner hard with the ball).

Shoot longer

Break out the longest glass and double or quadruple it. This makes outfield shots easier if PJs can spot the outfielder fast enough. For infield players, it allows the intensity of the play to be captured (although possibly not the play, pitch or hit itself). Because the glass is so long and light is lost with the extensions, it’s possible to be too tight and/or have depth-of-field issues. Consequently, monitor focus closely when the lens is this tight. Keep the lead eye in focus at all times.

Unusual angles

IF you have enough glass (600mm or better with a double or quad extension), shoot from the outfield wall toward the infield or plate. Unless the field has perfect light, this can only be done during daylight games.
Some stadiums allow for nearly overhead views (with long glass), these make interesting shots when light is raking across the field and making long shadows.

Other alternative ideas

Try layering some images. It’s hard to accomplish at f/2.8, but it’s entirely possible for daylight games. Shoot from the stands to have the batter in the lower foreground with the pitcher in the upper midground. Work signs, mascots or flags in the background or as foreground frames.

Also try some of the “cool” things. Look around for anything reflective or surreal shots. Look for broken patterns (within repetitious patterns) in the stands or on the field. Try a slow-shutter, double-action zoom as the players watches a homerun ball fly.

Daylight games allow silhouettes and other options. It’s up to your imagination and technical prowess. If time isn’t an issue, don’t leave the game until absolutely every trick has been attempted.

Thanks again to Jim Bryant for putting together this baseball tutorial!