Joy. Just the kind of event every artsy-fartsy person likes to haunt. Athletics.

So I did a workaround and played ball with my pooch.

BALL!

His eyes say it all. I’m just disappointed I wasn’t able to catch it fully focused.

Here, I caught the ball in the air as he waited for it. It was so cold I don’t know if he was shaking from that or excitement.

As for an athletic event, I followed some boys carrying bats and gloves to the ball field as they played a practice pickup game with each other.

I found this task incredibly frustrating. I really like watching baseball and I really wanted to get at least ONE great shot. But I have a single lens for my camera, 18-55m, which greatly limited my potential. There is something to be said about being a great photographer and not needing a ton of fancy gear to get great shots. But there is also something to be said about having the bare minimum in equipment in order to take some basic action shots.

I took so many shots and these four were about the only ones clear enough to see what’s happening. Either that or the shots froze the guys in positions that no one wants to see. Unless you need comic relief….

I tried these last two in black & white simply because it made the baseball easier to see.

In the end, this was my least favorite assignment to shoot due to it’s disappointing end.

I did take one of my daughter swinging, however due to using the auto-focus with such fast shutter speeds, I had little control of the focal point. And she was too cold to continue.

I did price out a zoom lens for my camera and I’m afraid it’s not an investment I can make anytime soon, with justification. I would probably not use it for many sports unless my daughter picks up something additional to rock climbing and gymnastics. However I can see myself using a zoom for nature photos, which would enable me to get right up on animals without spooking them.