San Diego Padres starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell warms up between innings in a game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on April 7, 2018.

This was shot at 1/80th of a second while panning with the focus point on the pitcher's face. It's a single frame with no Photoshopping done. A photographer next to me was trying to do this and was having zero luck getting a shot where the pitcher's face wasn't blurry. He asked me if I had ever done this type of shot, and I answered that "no, I had never attempted it with baseball". Because he brought it up, I was tempted to try it. On just my 2nd attempt, I got this shot. I tried probably 10 to 15 more times after that and couldn't get another one that didn't have a blurry face. I couldn't keep trying for long, because I had to go back to a fast shutter speed to cover the rest of the game like I was supposed to. This was shot with a 400mm, so I couldn't get both feet completely in frame from my shooting position while having the focus point on his face.

1 Comment

I would actually like to see more motion blur in this shot. And I know you mention it but I can't seem to stop letting his foot cut off bother me. If I shot it and wanted to use the photo I would be bummed about teh foot and crop tighter, maybe just below the knees, or through the thighs. The interesting motion is in the arms not the legs.

Contest Submissions

Click on the thumbnails below to comment and rate each image.

Click here to learn about the Fstoppers rating system and what each star value means.