NCAA College Baseball Regionals – Irvine, Ca – Day 2

June 4, 2009 in Sports


UCI was scheduled to play Virginia at 8pm. Today I was planning on setting up a remote camera, which I decided to set up for a shot at second base. I was told that I would have to set up my remote before 2pm because that is when the players for the 4pm game would get to the field and start warming up.

I got to the field at around 12:30pm. The decision was either to get a shot at home plate or at second base. My home plate remote success was pretty poor in the past, so i decided to get some action at second base. At first I was going to set up my camera above the dugout at first base, but ended up setting it up underneath the ESPN camera inside the first base photo well. If you look closely you can see it attached to the railing underneath the front of the ESPN camera.


It was at a good ground level angle, which was even better because nobody could physically stand there, so I knew I was the only one getting this shot. Since I had to leave the camera there from 1pm-11pm, I put on a rain cover due to the overcast weather that stayed around all weekend.

After I was done getting the camera clamped down and all the rings taped down, I left and came back at 4pm for the first game of Fresno State vs San Diego State. I remembered that I wanted to try a panning shot of the pitcher for when I shot Stephen Strasburg, but I had forgotten to try it when I shot him on Friday. I decided to try it and found that it was much harder than I had expected. Out of about twenty tries, this was the only shot where I got the pitchers face in focus.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 50iso, 25, 1/13th

During the Fresno State vs San Diego State game I also spotted a guy hanging a huge banner over the top of the parking garage that is behind the outfield wall. I heard that he doesn’t have any affiliation with UCI other than the fact that he likes our team.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 200iso, 2.8, 1/2500th

Below, the umps talk over a call that the Fresno State coach is unhappy with as the coach stands by for their verdict.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/1600th

Below, a SDSU player has a huge diving catch attempt. He didn’t get it.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/2500th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/2500th

It was a good opportunity for me test my remote in the first game to make sure that my focus was correct. Below, a Fresno State player slides into second as the SDSU second baseman throws to first base for the double play.


Canon 40D, 70-200mm @ 185mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/320th

The reason why I only had this one shot from this play was because I still had my camera in single shot mode from when i was doing my panning shots. After I realized I was still in single shot, I switched over to continuos and got some more frames of a SDSU player looking to throw the double play.


Canon 40D, 70-200mm @ 185mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/1000th


Canon 40D, 70-200mm @ 185mm, 320iso, 2.8, 1/1000th

After the first game I took out my memory card and downloaded the photos onto my computer to check to see how the shots came out. The focus and everything else looked good and was ready for the UCI game. Below, UC Irvine shortstop Ben Orloff makes the double play against Virginia.


Canon 40D, 70-200mm @ 185mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/500th

Below, UCI’s Eric Deragisch stands outside the dugout before approaching the plate to bat.


Nikon D300, 70-200mm @ 155mm, 2500iso, 2.8, 1/640th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1000iso, 2.8, 1/400th

Below, a few shots of UCI’s starting pitcher on Saturday, Christian Bergman.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/800th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/800th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/640th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/640th


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/800th

Usually my shots of the firstbase man making plays dont turn out too well. They are usually shot from the third base photo well and have a cluttered background. Below, shot from behind home plate, a UCI player slides back to first before the ball reaches the Virginia firstbase man.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/640th

Below, shot from the top of the seats behind home plate, UCI’s Jeff Cusick keeps his foot on the plate to get the batter out at first.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/800th

Below, UCI head coach Mike Gillespie talks with the infielders after speaking with starting pitcher Christian Bergman.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/500th

Below, UCI baseball staff and players review stats and strategy outside of the dugout.


Canon 1D Mark IIn, 400mm, 1600iso, 2.8, 1/500th

I still wanted to get a good wide angle shot of a packed UCI ballpark. Here is a shot taken between games from the media tent that overlooks the field.


Canon 5D, 15mm, 500iso, 2.8, 1/400th

I waited till about the 7th inning of the game and then went directly behind home plate at the top of the seats. This is what I ended up with.


Canon 5D, 15mm, 400iso, 2.8, 1/50th

Check back for the last day of the Irvine Regionals.