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MLB_Authentic
12-01-2009, 03:35 PM
Hi, I have a Canon S5 IS and am wondering what the best settings would be to take pictures of bats. I really like how the Ellsbury in the December pickups thread looks. How would one do that?

kylehess10
12-01-2009, 04:47 PM
It really depends on how much light is on the bat. Just mess around with your ISO, shutter, and aperture settings until it looks right.

shoremen44
12-01-2009, 05:04 PM
a nice picture software on your computer can fix alot of lighting issues after the fact as well

sox83cubs84
12-01-2009, 06:45 PM
And just don't take pics of them while they're sitting on top of the toilet (like the one eBay guy did with his mitt)!:D

Dave M.
Chicago area

CampWest
12-01-2009, 06:49 PM
As Bert and Kyle mentioned, its all about light. Try to take your pics while in a bright place and rely on the fill flash as little as possible.

My biggest piece of advice. CROP your image. I am tired of seeing feet in pictures of bats. Why is it always bare feet? Does nobody wear socks anymore?

And try to find a neutral and non-distracting backdrop. We've all seen pictures of bats sitting on toilet seats or some other ridiculous location. Use a solid backdrop like a table cloth, a large CLEAN towel, or even the back side of a sheet of wrapping paper can make an inexpensive backing. Propping against a chair or holding the bat in your hand creates distractions that take away from viewing the bat. And dont use something that camoflages the bat. IE if you have a black bat, dont use a black cloth backdrop, use a light colored backdrop to help show off the bat. Also a light colored backdrop will help reflect light onto the sides of the bat better than a dark backdrop.

And I think you already have the best piece of advice, look at a lot of pictures and find out what style you like, try to figure out how to replicate it and ask questions on techniques.

CampWest
12-01-2009, 06:49 PM
And just don't take pics of them while they're sitting on top of the toilet (like the one eBay guy did with his mitt)!:D

Dave M.
Chicago area

oh you beat me to it...

metsbats
12-01-2009, 07:59 PM
I like to take photos of the bats outdoors in natural light. It gives me the best results without glare.

gameused
12-02-2009, 02:05 AM
Hi, I have a Canon S5 IS and am wondering what the best settings would be to take pictures of bats. I really like how the Ellsbury in the December pickups thread looks. How would one do that?

Hey MLB,

I took the photos of the Jacoby bat in the December pick-ups, using a basic Panasonic digital camera, 8.1 mega pixels.

I agree with David (metsbats) that natural sunlight is the best when taking photos. I took the pics next to my glass sliding door which lets in lots of natural sunlight. Living in Hawaii also helps with the sunlight!:D

The top photo showing the entire length of the Jacoby bat, I used flash for that pic and the other close-ups were photographed with no flash.

I noticed that with black colored bats when trying to get a good close up it's best not to use flash as you usually get glare in the photo from the flash.

I also used Adobe photoshop elements to crop the pictures and highlight and sharpen each photo. Photoshop is a great photo editing software program and can be purchased for around $80 http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, please drop me a line at: hawaii_five0@yahoo.com

Thanks, Bobby