Another month has flown by and I have taken a lot of photos.
Part of that is because I finally decided that, besides a paying gig, I play with my settings enough to stop shooting in RAW. That means I can shoot continuous a lot more and faster, and I can also take more photos as the RAW files aren’t there to take up so much room.
And with baseball, I love the continuous shots in the hopes of grabbing that “one” shot.
I don’t think it’s a secret that I have a bit of an obsession with baseball. It had been a few years since I had done this theme and I was ready for it again. The beauty of the sport is there are SO many ways of interpreting it. I tried to mix things a little bit for this challenge and I think I was successful in that regard. My issues is that I had way too many photos I wanted to use.
One sad thing though – this month’s challenge doesn’t have a current one of Cameron as I didn’t get the chance to get the photo I wanted to get of him. I will attempt to do that, though, down the line. That being said, you knew I wasn’t going to go without adding him to the post. So, at the end, there is a bonus sixth image of one of my favorite baseball-related photos I’ve taken of Cameron.
I am also looking forward to seeing what everybody else has done with this theme. I know some had expressed the difficulty of it, so hopefully everybody overcame it and we have some fun posts. Remember, the beauty of these challenges is just that – to challenge each of us to think outside the box and interpret a theme as we see fit!
Anyway, without any more delays, here are my five for the month. Please make sure you stop back here in a day or so and check out all the other links to go visit others and hopefully comment!
1. Fireworks display
Fireworks are a staple at many baseball games. This one was quick reacting on my part, though, as this coach had been walking to the locker room when he stopped and knelt down to watch some of the fireworks. I had the wide-angle lens I rented and just started snapping, hoping to get one that worked.
Watching fireworks.
2. Sun goes down
As the sun disappeared during a Lehigh Valley Ironpigs game, I wandered around the park — again with the wide-angle lens — to get some different vantage points. This one was from the outfield.
Night sets in at Allentown.
3. Contact!
I love action photography and there was going to be at least one in this challenge. But this one was definitely one of my favorites as I got this player with some contact on the ball.
4. Keeping score
I keep a scorebook/scorecard at every game (pro) that I attend. Recently on a trip through Reading, we stood at the top during a windy game. This is a wide-angle shot of the book and the field. It was a beautiful day, though!
Keeping score!
5. America’s pastime
Though it’s a game played throughout the world. it’s been called America’s Pastime. I loved how this shot came out, with the player in the background.
BONUS!!!
This is my favorite baseball-related photo of Cameron, taken a couple of years ago.
There are my five and I look forward to seeing what others had this month!
If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below. And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!). Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too!
Also, don’t forget to get back here tomorrow, June 1, for the June theme!
NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!
LOVE the sunset and the fireworks! Of course capturing the moment the ball hit the bat (or is it the other way round?) is pretty awesome, too!
I’m new here, but I already know that your monthly challenge isn’t complete without your cute son – so yay for the sixth picture!
I was one of them whining about baseball being almost non-existing here in Switzerland. I’m happy to report that it does exist, in fact, a little, at least, and that I totally overcame it and published a fun post today!
Thanks for letting me play, I have quickly come to love this challenge!
Tamara recently posted..Baseball
Thanks, Tamara. Baseball is a bit of a passion to me, so I do like to capture different aspects. Glad you found a way to interpret things this month
One small correction, though. Cameron isn’t my son, rather my nephew/godson! 🙂
P.J. recently posted..Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2016): Baseball
Awesome photos! I love the one of the flag and player. Also the composition of the one of the fireworks and coach.
My second month taking part and I loved the challenge. Really loved your post which conveys perfectly your passion for the game and my favourite picture is definitely the flag – stunning.
Pamela recently posted..Baseball – monthly photo blogging challenge
I’m glad you’ve joined us in the challenge and hopefully you will keep joining. We have a lot of fun. Thanks for the comments!
Great shots! I know that taking action shots in sport can be difficult, especially when the players are so far away on a huge field or pitch. You’ve done extremely well to get those shots and the arena looks massive too! A lot bigger than the venue in my photographs.
The contact action shot looks really good, as the closeup image works well against the enormity of all your other baseball photos in the set. I love the flag shot too.
Action shots can be tough at times, but it’s not too bad once you get a good grasp of a game and can get an idea of what is coming. The biggest thing is digital photography. When I started, I did sports shots with film. So much harder back then, and with limited resources! Thanks for your thoughts and comments!
I opted to take a short break from working on my July post to catch up on the blog hopping & commenting aspect of the monthly PBC.
PJ, your photos for June are absolutely phenomenal. Your love of the game and skill as a photographer are evident in every photograph. I like how you mixed up your depths of field, the different lenses, day and night, action and not-so-much-action, etc. It’s a great set of images – and that photo of Cameron is the cherry on top. Way to go!
I have found I tend to do two at a month now, too! Anyway, thanks for the thoughts. I love baseball, obviously. And this summer I really tried to capture more than just the action! It gets boring to just get the same action shots, so I needed to think differently at times to have some fun with it.