Day 185: Hard Line

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 86mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

Softball shifted back to Wigmore this past weekend.  Mother Nature in turn decided to really crank up the temperature, leaving the entire city in the midst of a heat wave.  Still, regardless of the weather, Ekklesia would play on, black jerseys and all.

(Nikon D60, 18-55 VR @ 55mm, f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 200)

For the most part, it was a fairly standard affair, from a photographic viewpoint.  No particular shots that really broke the mold on what I usually shoot, though being there was still pretty fun.  I did find that I had a bit of trouble shooting from the third base line as the sun started to set though, and so spent the majority of the second game from the first base line.  A few more pictures from the doubleheader:

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/500, ISO 200)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~70mm, f/4, 1/1000, ISO 200)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 170mm, f/3.2, 1/1000, ISO 640)

I did however say that 'for the most part', this was a standard affair.  There was a relatively painful flashpoint in the middle of the first game though.  After a year and a half of shooting softball, I finally got hit.  Now, before you start panicing, I assure that I am okay.  No broken face, bones, "jewels", or camera equipment.  Whilst shooting from the third base line, I "caught" a hard hit line drive from one of Ekklesia's infielders, Wesley (pictured at the very top) of the post.  As you probably might notice, he's got pretty big arms and a good swing, so this was by no means a dinker.  Below is where I got hit, in the rear right side of my waist/upper butt.  At least he got a semi-meaty area, rather than say, my legs, arms, or D60 that was handing at the same level.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/50, ISO 800)

I hardly even saw it coming.  I always make sure I keep an eye on the batter, either through the lens, or with my peripheral vision.  If my field of view were to be treated on an X/Y-axis basis, when a ball is hit I will either see it move across the x-axis (indicating it went either to centre, or to left/right field, depending if I'm standing on the first/third base line, respectively), or along the y-axis (indicating it's coming in my general direction, relative to the line).  This particular line drive, did neither.  It practically stayed at (0,0) on a coordinate grid.  I was able to catch a flash of light green (the ball), long enough to realize it was heading straight towards me.  Failing to physically move my position, reflexes kicked in and I started turning, trying to shield my head in the process.  Luckily, my D60 hanging off my shoulder swung with me, clanking against the D90 and 70-200 around my neck in my front torso.  It was then that I felt the hard impact in what I initially thought was my buttocks.  I didn't go down, but I managed to scare practically everyone on Ekklesia.  Albert Kong ran out of the dugout screaming "NOOOOOOOO", then clutched my cameras to make sure they were okay (all in good fun).  Not much in the way of injury aside from the bruise, thankfully.  I took a couple minutes to settle, and then went back to shooting.  For the rest of the day, folks kept asking how I was doing.  I think I can say for certain, that this will be the only time in my life that so many people will be concerned about my butt. :~)

The worst part about all this?

It was a foul ball.