Strike!!!! How I did it - DPChallenge Forums

Konica Minolta MF 85mm f/1.7

05/04/2011 12:13:33 AM · #1

I have had some PM's, e-mails and comments about how I did my Bokeh entry. So I thought I'd post a little about it so others can see how it was done.

this is my entry and in the sporting world that is known as a "Detrick" which is the first photographer that did this shot. Much better I might add than mine. Better light, better positioning and such.

First off this is not a set up shot, this was done while I was on assignment for the paper. I got behind the backstop fence and positioned myself to frame the catcher and pitcher about where I wanted them in the frame. Note: I had to move left and right between pitches depending on where the catcher set up each time. First thing I did was set focus on the pitcher and noted the position of the focus distance, then I focused on the catcher and noted it. I then went into manual focus and went about halfway between the two. I metered for the ball as closely as I could on the fly, I shot wide open at F2.8 with my 300MM lens. Realizing after a couple of thrown pitches that I needed a bit more DOF so I stopped the lens down to F3.2 and shot a couple more pitches. 30 photos total and I had my shot and went back to covering the game. This works best to blur everything with a long lens 300MM at least and at least F4.0 but it's much better at less than this. Editing was very simple, crop, auto tone, bump contrast, sharpen, resize and border.

I hope this helps, I also hope those that voted this image poorly might let me know why they did. I truly expected this image to score much better than it did for several reasons, I'm going to assume many thought it was all photoshop or a set up and knocked off points for that.

I knew it would be questioned so I uploaded the original same day I submitted, sure enough less than 24 hours in they were checking for validation.

Matt

Message edited by author 2011-05-04 00:31:27.

briantammy

Olympus PEN E-P3

05/04/2011 12:25:10 AM · #2

nice job. quite a feat to be sure. on the one hand you need a shallow dof to get the nice bokeh and on the other you needed a deep dof to catch that ball in focus. nice snag.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

05/04/2011 12:28:43 AM · #3

Nice piece of work! I'm gonna have to try this with my 100-400 at a Cape League game this summer :-)

littlemav

Nikon D90

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR

05/04/2011 12:46:09 AM · #4

Thank you so much for posting this, I was just amazed by your photo! And I don't understand why this didn't place REALLY high! I may have to go to a ball game just to try this!

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

05/04/2011 12:59:09 AM · #5

Originally posted by MattO:

I also hope those that voted this image poorly might let me know why they did. I truly expected this image to score much better than it did for several reasons, I'm going to assume many thought it was all photoshop or a set up and knocked off points for that.

Probably true, especially for those who consider level of difficulty in their voting critera. I didn't vote but probably would have given it a good score. The thing I don't like about it though is it's a bit too busy especially given it's abstract qualities. I think if the crop wasn't as tight and there was some separation between the catcher and pitcher it might have done better.

Message edited by author 2011-05-04 00:59:47.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM

05/04/2011 08:22:13 AM · #6

Originally posted by yanko:

Originally posted by MattO:
I also hope those that voted this image poorly might let me know why they did. I truly expected this image to score much better than it did for several reasons, I'm going to assume many thought it was all photoshop or a set up and knocked off points for that.

Probably true, especially for those who consider level of difficulty in their voting critera. I didn't vote but probably would have given it a good score. The thing I don't like about it though is it's a bit too busy especially given it's abstract qualities. I think if the crop wasn't as tight and there was some separation between the catcher and pitcher it might have done better.

Thank you Yanko for the feedback. Based on the description to have the bokeh to help tell the story, I think the pitcher and catcher and the placement of the ball do just that. But I'm glad you offered feedback and another view of it.

dianapf1

Canon EOS-7D

05/04/2011 08:29:18 AM · #7

When I first voted on this image, I voted low because I didn't notice that the baseball was sharp. I thought the whole picture was oof. I had more time later and went back over the images and realized I was wrong, and so bumped it up. Just thinking maybe some was fast voting.

Bill666

Sony Alpha a77

Sony 16-50mm f2.8

05/04/2011 08:47:37 AM · #8

Thanks for the posting the description of how you did it, very interesting. I wish more people would do it, maybe those who receive a ribbon could do it as a way of saying thank you for all the votes :-). I actually thought it was a lucky fluke. I gave it a 6, mainly because I didn't like the artefacts around the guy in the foreground (the dark lines), it's not nice and soft like the guy in the background. Do you know what might have caused this? Also, it just didn't really do anything for me, i'm not from the USA so have no knowledge or emotional attachment with baseball. I also think a better composition would be just the guy in the background in shot, with the ball being much larger. But that's just my personal slant on it. Hope that helps.

Bill.

jagar

Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+

Sony Sonnar FE 2.8 35mm ZA

05/04/2011 09:04:50 AM · #9

Thanks for sharing this, very informative and easy to understand.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

05/04/2011 10:23:17 AM · #10

Originally posted by Bill666:

The black lines are form shooting through the chain link fence. The sun was in the wrong area for this. if you stand back a ways you can see the diamond shape pattern of the fence in it.

colorcarnival

Olympus 45mm f1.8 M.Zuiko Digital Micro Four Thirds

05/04/2011 10:27:53 AM · #11

I don't think people got how difficult a shot like this is to take. I'm glad you submitted it. It's a different take on a sports shot - almost, I dare say, out of the box. I look forward to seeing how many shots it takes me to get something like this haha.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

05/04/2011 12:11:02 PM · #12

Originally posted by colorcarnival:

You're right. I think two things played into how the voting came out:
1.) A lot of voters probably *assumed* it was a set-up shot.
2.) Those that didn't may not have considered the difficulty.

FWIW, my experience has always been that technical difficulty counts for little here unless it's flat-out obvious that the shot was a high-difficulty shot and could not be set up to avoid the difficulty, and that the artistic merit is also present. Technical merit alone is almost never enough.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/04/2011 02:32:22 PM · #13

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by colorcarnival:
I don't think people got how difficult a shot like this is to take. I'm glad you submitted it. It's a different take on a sports shot - almost, I dare say, out of the box. I look forward to seeing how many shots it takes me to get something like this haha.

You're right. I think two things played into how the voting came out:
1.) A lot of voters probably *assumed* it was a set-up shot.
2.) Those that didn't may not have considered the difficulty.

FWIW, my experience has always been that technical difficulty counts for little here unless it's flat-out obvious that the shot was a high-difficulty shot and could not be set up to avoid the difficulty, and that the artistic merit is also present. Technical merit alone is almost never enough.

I suspect you might be right. Either way I'm very happy with the image. I'm going to print it as a poster size for some advertising. I truly did expect this to score in the top three and get me my second ribbon. Alas, it is what it is. Thanks for the insight folks, if anyone else wishes to leave more I would appreciate it.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

05/04/2011 02:34:45 PM · #14

No insights, but I'll join the list of those who plan to try something like this in the future. :-)

apercep

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

05/04/2011 03:11:41 PM · #15

I also did not vote on this. However, had I done so, I would have voted this well, but not great. On the tech side, it is a fantastic shot. On the challenge criteria, I personally feel that, while the photo shows a great bit of out-of-focus area, it does not show any bokeh.

Sirashley

Nikon D7200

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR

05/04/2011 03:12:57 PM · #16

I'm going to try it with my Softball team... LMAO...

Anyway, killer shot, too bad I didn't vote in that challenge because I would have given it a 10...

Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM

05/04/2011 03:19:04 PM · #17

Originally posted by apercep:

Are you one that thinks that bokeh has to have circles to be bokeh? Edit to clarify, if you do, then I can understand your statement however bokeh is not that simplistic.

Matt

Message edited by author 2011-05-04 15:30:30.

hajeka

Canon EOS R5

05/04/2011 03:47:05 PM · #18

Matt, I do like your sport photos and this is another great one. It's wonderful how you got that ball in focus.

But the subject was Bokeh and the background (and foreground) are far to interesting for me to make it a great Bokeh one.

I voted in this challenge and some of my top picks scored a lot lower than you did