How to get good pictures at a Pro Baseball game at night?

Question by jessie: How to get good pictures at a Pro Baseball game at night?
Tomorrow night I am going to my first pro baseball game and I'm sitting right behind the visitor's dugout. Today I got a Sony H55 Point & Shoot camera. Can someone give me some tips to get some good pictures?


Best answer:

Answer by Steve P
First and foremost, turn the flash OFF. REPEAT... TURN THE FLASH OFF. There is nothing more ridiculous than seeing a flash go off on people's cameras in a stadium. All it is going to light is the back of people's heads. With the flash off, the camera will set exposure for ambient light. The baseball field should be bright enough to get some decent shots, but that is a typical point and shoot camera, meaning you have no real control over shutter speed or aperture. You can set the ISO to 400, but any higher usually always gives horrible photos with the tiny sensor in that type of camera. Even ISO 400 will look bad if printed at anything much larger than 4 x 6. You might try experimenting with the Twilight and Fireworks scene modes with the camera. Try to keep the camera as steady as you can. Not having a viewfinder is a big disadvantage. Holding a camera out at arms length and trying to use a monitor is a recipe for blurred photos, but you have no option. Try not to use the zoom on the lens. The more you zoom out, (bring things closer), the more your aperture closes up and the more likely you will have underexposed and blurred photos.

Take plenty of practice shots before the game actually starts to get a feel for how you need to hold the camera and what kind of results to expect.

steve

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