Mud Hens Opening Day

I shot my first Minor League baseball game of the year while the action wasn’t there but the light sure was nice.  The game started at 5:30 so I arrived at the stadium around 4:30 enjoyed an awesome media lunch and some ice cream before it was time to head down to the field to start shooting features.

I headed down to the field to work the nice blue sky and the green grass into some of my shots.

I got really low in the ground pushed my camera in the grass to see if I could get them playing catch or turning towards me not no dice.  It was an alright photo nothing special but it works.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f6.3, 1/1000th

Then Toledo know Mike Hessman was heading to the dugout so I fired off a few shots of him just in case he makes it to the majors some day. Funny story about Hessman is he is good enough to play in the majors but when he gets up to bat he will either strike out or hit a home run! It’s a good time when me and the other photographres and news guys bet to see what he is going to do.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f6.3, 1/1600th

Then I saw outfielder Brent Clevlend signing autographs for fans so I get as low as I could and use the nice blue sky to my advantage.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f6.3, 1/1600th

Then it was time for player introductions, I was using an off camera flash trying to keep the sky nice and blue and still fill in some light on the player but my batteries decided to die on me.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f6.3, 1/1600th

Next up was Clete Thomas who spent a lot of time last year with the Detroit Tigers last year towards the end of the season.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f6.3, 1/1000th

Then all of the players lined up on the 3rd baseline and I used the same technique as I did above pushed the camera into the ground.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f7.1, 1/1250th

Then there was a band playing the national anthem and I used the awesome light that was above them to work the shadows.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, 400iso, f4.5, 1/1600th

After the singing of the national anthem I went up to the upper deck area so I could use the nice light to my advantage. At the time it was to early to get light pockets. I did get a solid double play with the players shadows to the right of them.

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 400iso, f4, 1/1600th

Then the Hens were up and I headed over to the third base upper deck area and got some player (not sure his name because he isn’t good enough) sliding into third base.

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 400iso, f4, 1/2500th

Then I headed back down the the third base photo well to see if I can get some decent shots with the light.

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 400iso, f4, 1/800th

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 640iso, f4, 1/3200th

I got nothing exciting so it was back up to the upper deck to get once again another (half ass attempt) at a double player ball. The shortstop dropped the ball when trying to throw to first, that is why he is still in the minor leagues.

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 500iso, f4, 1/2500th

Finally the light pockets were perfect! The Columbus shortstop was glowing like an angel with the lighting falling on him perfectly.

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 800iso, f4, 1/3200th

Then to the second baseman

Nikon D3, 200-400mm, 640iso, f4, 1/5000th

Then the light was gone so I heading back to the press box to eat the awesome 7th inning cookies they put out. I didn’t miss anything exciting while enjoying my cookie just guys striking out and errors by the infielders.

I would like to thank Borrow Lenses for sponsoring this post. They have sponsored me with a Nikon 200-400 F4. If your looking to rent a lens before your next purchase or even need something for vacation be sure to contact Max Shevyakov the owner of Borrow Lensesto arrange a rental. Also be sure to follow him on twitter @borrowlenses.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Baseball, Me, Mud Hens and tagged with Andrew, Baseball, Mike Hessman, Mud Hens, Ohio, Toledo, Weber. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.