Acclaimed Photographer Jean Fruth Celebrates Women in Baseball with Sony Cameras

Documenting The Heroes of Women’s Baseball

The modern game of baseball can trace its lineage all the way back to the Roman Empire. While variations of the ball and stick game can even be seen in cricket and rounders, American baseball, as its now known, has gripped the globe. You can hear the crack of a bat from South America all the way to Japan and the Philippines.

But for Fruth, baseball has become more than a game and more than a career.

“I reached a point in my life where I wanted to surround my work with purpose,” Fruth said. “It was important to me to make this film, because I wanted to shine a light on the game’s unsung ‘sheroes.’ To give them the visibility they deserve and to create more opportunities for women in baseball.”

“For all the girls and women who see the film, if they can see her, they can dream to one day be her.”

See Her Be Her is Fruth’s first documentary and while the photographer found new challenges to explore, she wanted to bring the wonderful action and gameplay that is often found in her photography. She wanted to tell the story of how she saw the game. 

“This is not a just ‘talking heads’ documentary,” Fruth said. “It not only required all the interviews, but also verité scenes, and high-speed game action.”

Balancing intimate interviews with action on and off the field required a small team. It wasn’t just about travel requirements and budget, the team needed to be quick on their feet and provide a comfortable setting for subjects. Partnering with Berthiaume early on, Fruth found a creative partner who could provide that support. 

“Martin is a seasoned documentarian and cinematographer. He knows how to be a one-man-band,” Fruth said. “It was essential for me to be able to go into homes and conduct intimate interviews to best tell the story. A small crew allowed our ‘sheroes’ and other subjects to feel comfortable and trust us, letting us into their lives without feeling intimidated."

“Working solo, Martin could set up and light interviews in 30 to 40 minutes, while I prepped our subjects,” Fruth added. “He handled filming, lighting, and audio while I conducted the interviews, after which we would quickly switch gears to verité scenes and game action.”

How The Sony FX3 Captured See Her Be Her

Early on, the project utilized the entire Cinema Line. But as Fruth and Berthiaume traveled the globe, the Sony FX3 became their third creative partner. 

“Through the United States, Canada, Uganda, South Korea, Puerto Rico and Cuba, we used only FX3s,” Fruth said. “By staying light weight and compact…it gave us the flexibility to move locations quickly while still keeping the same quality and creative expression that we had in earlier shoots.”

This globe-trotting adventure saw the team tackling a wide range of lighting scenarios and locations. From blue hour and direct sunlight to giant stadium lights and traditional practical lights, Fruth and Berthiaume captured interviews, everyday moments, and intense action during games and practice.

“The consistency throughout the Cinema Line is great and enables you to get creative without worrying about matching cameras,” Berthiaume said. “The 15 stops of dynamic range are a must when moving at this pace.”

“It’s been quite rewarding to bring the S-log3 footage into Resolve and see how much detail was maintained from bright skies to shadowy faces on backlit subjects. Shooting a baseball game on a bright sunny day truly highlights how beautiful the color rendition of the Cinema Line sensor is.”

When moving completely to the FX3, Berthiaume was able to match image quality and color and keep up with the demands of international filmmaking without having to worry about stabilization and audio.

“The size of the FX3 was key in moving fast and enabled us to jump from sticks to gimbal in seconds,” Berthiaume said. “Features like autofocus and the audio automation of the UWP-D27 and the SMAD-P5 MI shoe adapter really makes it possible for a single operator to ‘run and gun.’”

“Some of our creative choices included capturing slow-motion action sequences,” Berthiaume added. “Lucky for us, the FX3’s extremely compact camera body can achieve 120fps in UltraHD with a flick of a switch. It looks beautiful and is available at any moment.”

But the toolkit that Fruth and Berthiaume utilized allowed for more than crafting a compelling documentary. As a creative partner, the FX3 gave the team the ability to take advantage of more creative opportunities. 

“The FX3 really allowed us to be bolder in public spaces,” Berthiaume said. “Because of our small footprint, we shot on the streets of New York city, San Juan, Havana, Daejon, Miyoshi and even in remote villages outside Kampala in Uganda without ever having to deal with any issues and the attention that comes with big cameras, a large amount of gear, and big crews.”