It's not very often that I photograph people. Although I own some nice lighting equipment, I don't use it as often as I would like. However, at least once a year I break out the studio lighting gear to capture portraits of youth baseball players.

This year, I volunteered to capture pictures of the youngest travel baseball team in our organization. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 8 year old players. To my surprise, the players were very easy to work with. Nearly every player was comfortable in front of the camera and took direction well. They were also able to produce a natural smile "on demand"! It was fun interacting with the players.

It had been almost a year since I used my lighting equipment. But, the Einstein strobes are very intuitive to work with. It took me just ten minutes or so to get the strobes in position and calibrated. Following is the lighting setup that I used for the session:

• Nikon D800 camera
• Nikon 70-200 VRII lens
• Einstein E-650 Flash Unit (3)
• 47" Octabox
• Umbrellas (2)
• White Foamboard (reflector)
• Savage Seamless White Background Paper (9 feet wide)
• Nikon SB-900 flash on boom stand (for hairlight)

The Nikon SB-900 was set to SU-4 mode so that it would automatically fire anytime the other stobes were activated. I set that strobe on manual at 1/16th power.

Here are a few images from the session:

Nick BestrickNick Bestrick of the 8U Orland Park Warriors baseball team in Orland Park, Illinois on May 4, 2014.

Nick BestrickNick Bestrick of the 8U Orland Park Warriors baseball team in Orland Park, Illinois Kyle EvoyKyle Evoy of the 8U Orland Park Warriors baseball team in Orland Park, Illinois on May 4, 2014.

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