Night photos and kids sports

March 12th, 2010
I'm completely new to photography and have not ventured past auto on my Nikon D40. I would love some suggestions or links to help me take some better pictures at the baseball field. My kids are in tee-ball and once it gets dusk and the lights come on, I am having a hard time focusing.


Any help will be greatly appreciated!
March 13th, 2010
OOOH - tough one.

If it is light enough - try switching to sport mode. The camera will do all the settings for you.

If it is too dark for the auto focus, I would stake out a spot where you know action will take place - say right next to first base and manually focus on the first baseman when he is standing on the base, then you'll be all set to capture the play when it happens. Same thing for home plate - try to manually focus on someone there when they are relatively still, then snap away when action happens.
Usually, you want a fast shutter speed to stop the action, but the lights may not be bright enough. If you are close enough you could use a flash, but built-in flashes don't fire very far.

The key will be getting close - luckily at tee-ball, this is usually OK. :)

Good luck!

March 13th, 2010
Thanks so much! Luckily tomorrow the game is at noon. I will try that out during the next practice!
March 13th, 2010
I would put your ISO to the highest you have, I think that's 16000 then I would switch to 'A' (Aperture mode) move your aperture to the lowest number (larger opening) you can for your lens then let the camera shoot as fast as it can.
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