Summer Baseball Winding Down

Too busy attending games to post the photos. I finally got down to the field level and have gotten some much more interesting shots. Have to compete with other photographers, players and coaches who occaisonally block the shots. Love getting up close and catching the expressions.

 

 

Super Heroes, Monsters and Gangsters

Another fun day out at the Danville Bed & Breakfast in Geneva shooting all types of costumed characters. Thanks to Barry Kirsch for setting up another fun event shooting everyone from Batman and Superman to Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein. It started out as a hot summer afternoon but became ideal as the sun dipped down. The occaisonal cloud cover helped with the contrast. Many of the shots will be ideal for some composites when time permits. I used flash with a Gary Fong diffuser to fill in some light. I'm still a novice at using the flash but learning more each time I have the opportunity to use it.

 

Summertime at the Ball Park

The Florida Collegiate Summer Baseball League is in full swing. Last year I only heard about it at the end of the season. It has been challenging to get the games in with the abundance of rain we are having.  Two of the games I attended were completely rained out. One had a long rain delay before it resumed. Weather aside, this is my chance to work on shooting sports. Even more challenging this year is also getting familiar with a new camera. I learned a new technique from Scott Kelby's "Sports Shooting for Beginners" class on his Kelby Training site. The technique is to use the back button to focus on the action. I have to tell you, the first time using it was great. I could pre focus on first base and just wait for some action and shoot whenever I needed to. What makes this work even better for baseball is that there is a netting in front of the seats. The lens sometimes picks up the net in the foreground instead of focusing past it to the field. The Orlando Monarchs play at the vintage Tinker Field stadium. It is much larger and there are seats on both sides without the netting. The only problem here is that there games start at 4 PM. Except on the weekends, I am still at work! I have another month and a half to work on shooting baseball, and I hope to improve each time out.

Finding things to photograph close to home

I was just visiting my Dad in Massachusetts. I had my cameras with me and am always looking for some photographic subjects without having to travel too far. There are loads of photo ops in New England but I was not going to go too far from home. Since it is springtime in New England, there are flowering trees and flowers everywhere. I found the beautiful bleeding hearts in my Dad's next door neighbors yard. Many people have flowers that are planted on the edges of their yards that are accessible without tresspassing. I found a travel guide in the house and found a write up on a park 15 miles away. It sounded promising so my Dad and I  set out to find Stanley Park in Westfield. Turns out it have some beautiful gardens, covered bridge, waterfalls, and an old mill. Another spot closer to home is Forest Park. It's only a few miles but we decided to drive over. Good idea since it started to rain. With rain jackets it was not too bad but my camera was getting wet so we drove around through the park and when we returned to where we started the rain had stopped. There are several ponds with ducks and Canada geese. The geese had babies so I tried to get some shots. The family I was photographing seemed to have a white goose who was playing interference from anyone who got too close. It came at me one time as I had my face to the viewfinder. I didn't get any shots that were too great, but I returned a day later and had more success. The day I was leaving was the first day of an annual festival called Long Meddow Days. There were some Civil War re-enactors, food and arts vendors. I always like to shoot some re-enactors. The challenge was the background of cars and funnel cake vendors. I tried to get low to cut out some of the distractions. All in all, it was a good visit and fun finding photographic subjects close to home.

Canada Goose with Goslings

Gazebo in Forest Park, Springfield

Covered Bridge in Stanley Park, Westfield

Bleeding Hearts

Egrets

Preening

Nest Building

Road Trip, Rocks and Ruins!

Since the tree limbs put holes in my roof and kitchen, I haven't had much time for photography. I decided that it was time to get the cameras (yes plural!) out for a spin. I have been trying to make it to the beach at Marineland for the sunrise but never quite make it in time. Even though I arrived too late again, I worked on some long exposures anyway. I just couldn't get a long enough exposure so I abandoned that idea and just walked down the beach to check out the cool formations of coquina rock. Rock is a misnomer since they can erode under your feet if you are not careful. Found out the hard way. I used my point and shoot camera for some quick shots for reference and also took some panos, a neat feature the Sony has. My main place to shoot was on the way back in Ormond Beach at the ruins at Calle Grande. I used my infrared converted camera (Canon G10) to get some shots. Lucky for me, no one was there until I was finished when three cars full of tourist types with lots of kids unloaded and swarmed the area. Time to find a Starbucks and head home. One more quick stop that didn't pan out but I ended with a camera count of four different cameras, and three different manufacturers!

Polo at The Villages

First time attending and photographing a Polo Match. The Villages has a beautiful stadium for polo. Matches are every Friday and Sunday. Most of the patrons arrive by golf cart of every style and variety. The field is large so a long telephoto is a must. With my 200 mm lens I just waited for the action that was closer to where I was sitting.