Honoring the Washington Nationals major league baseball team

[Mike Buckley]

The Wasington Nationals major league baseball team located in America's capital clinched their division just minutes before I posted this message. In honor of that, I made the photo shown below two weeks ago when I was anticipating that they would win it.

There are 30 major league baseball teams spread among six divisions. The Nationals have won their division three times in the last five years. At the end of the season there will probably be only four or fewer teams that will be able to boast that success. The Nationals have also had a winning season in all of their last five seasons. Similarly, there will be only four or fewer teams that will be able to claim the same. At the time I write this, there is only one other team in major league baseball that has won more regular season games in the last five seasons than the Nationals.

The Nationals have never won a post-season series. Hopefully that changes this year.

GO NATS!


Setup
The background and tabletop are a single sheet of dark blue presentation paper. A small continuous-light lamp is at the right front fitted with a custom snoot to reduce the size of the beam of light. A white reflector is above the scene opening up the shadow area on the left side of the baseball. A flashlight set to its lowest power is on the right side shining only on the background to ensure that it appeared blue between the ball and hat; otherwise, the entire background appeared black. If you are not using a profiled and calibrated monitor and a browser with excellent color-management capabilities, you may not be able to see those blue tones.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, were you shooting tethered and if so did you have to make many adjustments after first test shot?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, John!

I was shooting wirelessly tethered using the Camfi Wi-Fi system and a small laptop. I don't remember whether I had to make adjustments after the first shot but I almost always do if for no other reason than to perhaps improve the exposure. I can tell by the filename that this was the 16th shot I took, but I also remember that this was the third composition and, thus, also the third lighting setup. That implies that I used an average of about 5 shots per composition, which would be typical for a simple scene such as this that, unlike glass as a comparative example, is relatively easy to photograph.

Once I began shooting tethered I had to make far fewer shots after the first test shot. The process also became far more enjoyable because tethered shooting makes it so much easier to see the results of whatever changes I make to a composition and lighting setup. Most important, once I think I've captured a keeper, I very rarely have to return to my makeshift studio to continue shooting due to closer inspection using a larger monitor that has revealed unsatisfactory details; tethered shooting makes it possible to discover those details and correct them while I'm still shooting.

[Shadowman]

Thanks, John!

I was shooting wirelessly tethered using the Camfi Wi-Fi system and a small laptop. I don't remember whether I had to make adjustments after the first shot but I almost always do if for no other reason than to perhaps improve the exposure. I can tell by the filename that this was the 16th shot I took, but I also remember that this was the third composition and, thus, also the third lighting setup. That implies that I used an average of about 5 shots per composition, which would be typical for a simple scene such as this that, unlike glass as a comparative example, is relatively easy to photograph.

Once I began shooting tethered I had to make far fewer shots after the first test shot. The process also became far more enjoyable because tethered shooting makes it so much easier to see the results of whatever changes I make to a composition and lighting setup. Most important, once I think I've captured a keeper, I very rarely have to return to my makeshift studio to continue shooting due to closer inspection using a larger monitor that has revealed unsatisfactory details; tethered shooting makes it possible to discover those details and correct them while I'm still shooting.

I can see blue right where the lines of the cap and ball meet, the rest looks black. Is that how you see it or do you see more blue throughout the background?

[madcrow]

Mike, great image, colour, very sharp. Love the light on cap and ball.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Maurice!

John: I see the blue tones primarily and immediately in the triangular area shown below. Above that area, the blue fades to black at the top of the image. The larger the display of the image, the easier it is to see the blue area. Once my brain tells me to look for blue tones rather than black tones because I've seen them in a large display, I more easily see them also in a small display.

[Wavelength]

Excellent image!!!

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Nandakumar!