Sports Photo of the Day
Yesterday I decided to try a couple of new things. The first was that I changed a couple of settings on my camera. I have read a lot about switching the focus buttons on the camera. When you buy your camera the shutter button is set to meter, focus, and fire the shot. I changed it so that the AF button on the back is now the focus button, and the shutter release button will just meter and release the shutter. I wanted to practice using this a bit before the baseball game last night so I went to the softball game on campus. I have never been to a softball game before let alone take pictures at one. I had a good time trying to find the angles as well as learn the game. It really is much different than baseball. Once I started to see where the pictures were I had some fun with my camera. I was experimenting a bit with negative space in the frame. The picture above is one of those that I tried this effect with. I had a good time making pictures at the softball game, and I look forward to trying it again.
Technical Data
For this picture I added a couple of effects. I created my own preset yesterday that I think will save some time. I was really liking what the Matt Kloskowski light sports preset would do for me, but I always changed several sliders after I applied it. I created a preset that was pretty close to what I did every time. I can’t get to far away from a Matt Kloskowski preset though. I decided that this would look great in black and white. I used his HDR light black and white preset to get the look above. A small crop to move the player more to the left, and this photo was ready to export.
A Couple of Links
I thought that I would post a couple of links here so that you could see some of the other pictures that I took yesterday. Below is a link for my softball album on Facebook.
Purdue Softball vs. Michigan State
Here is a link to the Purdue Baseball page where my images have been featured. The last few games I have been trying a few new things out.
Dave Wegiel Photography 
Perfectly executed.
Nicely done. I switched to back button focus some time ago. It definitely takes some getting used to, but I think it’s the way to go. I have a 60D now as well, and I think it’s easier on that than it was on the T1i just because of the button placement on the body.
It was a little rough at the start but once I got in the groove it was not too bad. The button on the 60d is pretty easy to use but the button on my battery grip is raised a little more and easier. All in all it was a good experiment and something I will keep doing.
Off topic….a while back you posted pictures from the Chicago Portage…I just wanted to thank you. I drive by it every day, and hadn’t really explored there. Since then, I’ve been back three times. Each time was a wonder. Today, I got pictures of some amazing turtles, and a decent shot of a Northern Shoveler. Who would have thought?
Very cool. That is great to hear.