Earlier this month I covered the UIL state championship softball and baseball tournaments in Austin for 1st Photo Texas for UIL. I also shots a few games for the Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle.
I’m combining them in this post because I have something special planned for Friday’s post. More on that later.
Each of these tournaments is four days. I didn’t cover every game – that might kill a person – but I did cover quite a few.
Softball and baseball are tougher to shoot than you might think. You have to know the game well enough to know where to be in which inning, and you have to be patient because there could be a lot of time between major plays.
You also need a long lens. I used my 200-400 f4, which is great for both softball and baseball. (I also used my 80-200 f 2.8 and my 24-70 f2.8 for wider shots.)
It takes endurance and knowing when to pace yourself during a tournament where you could shoot 4 games back-to-back. There’s a tough balance between going that extra mile to get the best shot and keeping yourself cool and hydrated.
During the softball tournament the heat was so bad that a pitcher and an umpire were both in need of medical attention after inning 3 of one game. Several other players and fans sought ems attention as well.
For that reason, I formed a plan. I spent the first couple of innings shooting from somewhere in the stands to get a few good shots of the pitchers, and to have a decent view of first base. Then I moved to the dugout for an inning, where there was shade and water. Then I went to a location of my choice for innings 4 and 5, but I was back in the dugout for the last two innings. That plan allowed me to be where I needed to be, but still take breaks from the sun.
Anyway, enough about that. Let’s get to the pictures. Ladies first!
Here are a few of my favorites from the 2013 UIL State Softball Tournament at Red & Charline McCombs Field.
Baseball was a little less of a marathon for me, since I only shot the first two days of the four-day tournament. (Texas Water Safari overlapped.)
I had a similar shooting plan for Dell Diamond, where the baseball tournament took place, but that’s a much larger stadium. There are few more vantage points to choose from.
Here are a few of my favorite 2013 baseball tournament images.
All of these photos were taken with my two D700s with the lenses listed above.
I also took a lot of photos during these tournaments with my iPhone, which is what Friday’s blog post will feature. I shot a series called “Scenes from the Dugout,” that was posted on Instagram and Facebook. Those images turned out much different than these. Tune in Friday to see what I mean!
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