Baseball Pentaptych Sequence
Yesterday afternoon I decided to photograph a baseball game on campus. The above image is an amalgamation of the five linear individual images from the sequence below. This was my first ever live experience of a baseball game. I can definitely say that I really enjoyed shooting it even though it was cold, windy and rainy at the time. Earlier on this week I made the decision to use 'back button focusing' on my camera, which essentially allows me to separate the process of obtaining focus and pressing the shutter button. In short my camera now focuses with one button and takes photographs with another, instead of having to do both with one button. This may seem trivial, but it was really helpful whenever I attempted to focus and then recompose, or when I needed to track the pitcher as he moved through the frame. My camera settings were 1/4000 of a second, at f/2.8 and my ISO was 3200. After the shoot I took the 5 images below into Photoshop and created the sequence on a wider canvas using layer masks to blend them together.
I like the final image because it shows the various stages that the pitcher went through, from preparation to release. In addition I like the focus, determination and conviction on his face. There is a strong sense of motion from the top left to the bottom right of frame. I can definitely say that I’m looking forward to photographing another baseball game some time soon!
