Last night I was out at Westlake High School shooting a softball playoff game between Vista Ridge and New Braunfels Canyon high schools.
More and more over the past few years I’ve thought of myself as a sports and features photographer. I love shooting football and track and field and any other sport that requires action and skill. But baseball and softball have never been my favorite.
They’re not like other sports. Other sports have at least one (or two) places where you can anticipate peak action. Baseball and softball action seems so random to me and it’s always far from where I think the play might take place.
So what do I have to do? (Besides practice and get more in touch with my baseball side?) Rely on my features experience. Sometimes a celebration or reactionary shot with some emotion can tell the story of the game even better than peak action.
Here are some reaction shots I got last night:
From those shots you can probably tell who won (New Braunfels Canyon) and that Vista Ridge didn’t play very well. Final score was Canyon 11, Vista Ridge 1. The shot at the top of Vista Ridge cheering in the dugout was part of the story too. They held on to the end and didn’t give up.
I got some action shots too, but they probably won’t end up in my portfolio. Oh well, time for more practice.