Show Sports thoughts thought By Aldon Rachele Wh What t dangers may be encountered encountered en en- countered while taking pictures of baseball or Softball contests This is what I 1 wondered before 1 I started taking pictures of these games I 1 quickly received my answer TilE THE FIRST mST danger is losing a foul fly ball in the sun An example of this was the A 3 AllStar All All- Star baseball game which was held this past June I 1 was kneeling close to the first base baseline baseline baseline line halfway between and home plate A foul pop up was hit towards me but I 1 lost ItIn it itin itin in the sun All of a sudden the catcher and the first baseman is run run run- ning ring towards me The catcher c Ison is ison ison on my left and the first baseman is on my right I 1 didn't know which way the ball was headed so I didn't know which way to go I DECIDED I would get in the first baseman's way and get out of the catchers catcher's way I 1 did that and although the ball turned out to be closer to the catcher he could not catch it because it barely went over the fence Another danger is trying to take up close-up pictures of the action at I would place myself just past the batting balling circle which was close to THE TIIE BATTER BATTEn would be ready to swing or to just watch the ball go by The catcher and umpire would be ready for the pitch The batter swung and popped a foul ball that didn't seem to be close to me However I decided to more anyway I dashed to the bench and barely made it The catcher missed the Softball anyway and she was trying to catch it where I 1 had previously been kneeling A line drive foul ball is another danger in this game called baseball or Softball I Iwas Iwas Iwas was standing by the fence and I thought I was clearly out of the way Quietly I took my lens cover o off f and proceeded proceed d to brush the d dust st off my my Jens l lens ns I SUDDENLY I heard some strange noise coming from the crowd and I looked up to see a speeding Softball coming for my head Quickly I ducked and the ball missed me It traveled on and almost clobbered clobbered clobbered a fan Both of us through a case of quick ducking avoided a terrible headache Another danger is the bat thrower I usually have to be benea benear benear near nea the plate area f for r this to be real danger A batter would walk up to te and pick up the previous batters batter's bat He would toss it back to the bench The bat would sometimes come close to hitting my camera so I would have to tobe tobe tobe be quick on my feet and move one way or the other TAKING A picture just as the pitcher is throwing to the first baseman is another way of getting a view of the baseball If the first baseman misses the ball the baseball could give the cameraman a good shot right between between bet bet- the eyes One other danger is the pebble thrower Usually this happens by third base or first base The ballplayer sees a pebble which a ball could hit and take a bad hop So he picks it up and throws it pass the foul line The cameraman must quickly move out of the way because a pebble could easily damage a valuable camera lens THESE DANGERS dont don't stop the cameraman lie He wants the best possible shots He lie must get close to the action to get these shots The cameraman must remember the following four things first be alert second be quick on your feet third protect your camera at all times and fourth if the ball is coming caning towards your head head duck duck |