Nerd Birds U12 Girls Softball

I've been asked by my sister to come out and shoot her softball team, which she is coaching and her daughter (my niece) is on, and put together a slide show for them. I've done this in the past and have sold the dvd slide shows to the parents. Not something that will make me rich but fun none the less and something I enjoy doing.

These first three shots are of their two pitchers. My technique to capture great shots of pitchers is to take the shots while their warming up at the beginning of an inning. As they warm up I will kneel behind the catcher and slightly off to one side to get a unobstructed direct view of the pitcher. Now there is a slight risk when doing this because a missed ball by the catcher can hit you hard, so if you do try this technique, please be careful and be very aware of what's going on. Just go into this knowing that you will get hit and it will only hurt for a little bit. Well at least that's what I tell the kids.

For these shots I used my 70-200 f/2.8L.

Now for some shots of the batters. The best shots of a batter will always, or at least almost always, have the ball in the shot. A better shot is when you have a bob (ball on bat) shot, which I came pretty close to on this first shot.

For these and the remaining shots I used my 300 f/2.8L.

These last three shots are of my niece, who I very much wish would keep her eyes open, although she is getting so much better with catching and hitting. Oh and in this first shot you see a bob (ball on bat), woot woot.

Long Beach Boys Middle School Practice Track Meet

Boys track has started for middle schools in Long Beach and I went out to shoot some action of their practice meet. I was only able to stay long enough to capture some shots of the long jump and high jump as I promised my wife that I would help her loading up girls scout cookies at the warehouse. Next week will be their League meet and then followed by the All-City track meet the following week. So here are a few shots to share.

This first group of shots of the high jump were taken with my 300 f/2.8. I was standing across the track to give me some distance, but I love the depth of this lens and use it as often as I can.

I have been using my 300 for the long jump but always had problems with runners running in front of me while they warmed up, so I decided to use the 70-200 f/2.8 so that I could stay on the grass, just inside the track, and avoid this problem. I love capturing the landing with the sand spraying outward, but these guys just weren't jumping the right way to cause the spray of sand, so I just focused on the jump for now.

Bolsa Chica Wet Lands III

Well I made another venture to the Bolsa Chica Wet Lands. I was off today on a regular day off. I spent the whole morning with the dentist and then some running around from my son, after which I went home and relaxed a bit, but while I sat there I decided I really needed to get out and just spend some quite time walking and doing what I do "Taking pictures". So here are some of my most recent shots from Bolsa Chica.

Lakewood Girls Soccer

I've really enjoyed capturing the soccer girls of Lakewood in action and I hope that this slideshow I put together for them shows that. I take great pride in not just capturing the action, but also capturing their intensity and emotion while playing. Here is the link for the slideshow if you'd like to take a peak. Enjoy and thanks for looking.

Bolsa Chica Wet Lands - second attempt

The last time I was here I met a photographer who mentioned that there is usually a lot of activity where the salt water and fresh water meet, so I started by taking the 3/4 mile walk to the area. This first group of shots were taken as I walked along the trail, which ran along Pacific Coast Highway.

When I got to where the salt water and fresh water meet I was hoping for more activity, but there was just nothing going on. I waited for a bit and caught a shot of this pelican and seagull flying just overhead.

This was taken as I walked back towards the parking lot and where the foot bridge is located. I he came across the water very fast, so I just quickly raised my camera and began shooting. This one is my favorite as his wings are just barely above the water.

I was very pleased with this shot. I did get a nice sequence of him coming in for a landing and this is my favorite out of the series. I shooting from the foot bridge when I took this.

The following four shots were taken from the foot bridge that crossed the water way.

This Egret was close to the shore and fishing. I got as close as I could and just waited and watched. I was hoping to capture him bringing up a fish, but I wasn't lucky on this venture. I just took some shots as he moved very slowing from one spot to the next. I was able though to get some shots of him taking off. I posted my favorite here below.

As the sun went down and got closer to the horizon this group of birds would fly from one spot to the next. I just waited for them to move to take these.

Lakewood Boys Varsity Basketball vs Cabrillo

This is more than likely my last basketball game for the season. I have to say that even with the terrible lighting that Lakewood has in their gym, I was very pleased with what I ended up with and learned a bit on shooting with my flash. So enjoy these few pictures and hopefully I'll be back out there next season.