Recently I went out to shoot some collegiate baseball pictures. I had a picture in mind where I would focus just on the ball being pitched -- the ideal shot would freeze the motion of the ball with only the ball in focus. Here is one of the shots I got that day...

Many people ask how this shot is done. Well, it's kinda like what the character Edna Mode from the movie The Incredibles says..."Luck favors the prepared."

Luck is basically being able to time a shot that involves timing the placement of an object to arrive at a fixed focal length in less than a half second.

Preparation is -- manually prefocusing on a spot approximately two-thirds of the distance between the pitcher and home plate, use the infield grass. Also, shoot in manual exposure mode -- the fewer decisions the camera has to make, the better. To freeze the action of the ball you'll need the fastest shutter speed your camera will allow -- and don't try this at night! ;)

The above image was captured at ISO 400, 1/6400th shutter speed, f2.8.

I positioned myself directly behind home plate and shot through the backstop netting. You'll have to just keep practicing to get the timing of the pitched ball delivery to coincide with the arrival of the ball at your pre-focused distance. Yes, it will take some practice. But that's the beauty of digital photography -- it's not costing you any more to keep shooting!