Little things make me happy.

Posted on May 13, 2011

Nate Schierholtz #12 of the San Francisco Giants leaves the batters box kicking up dirt and chalk during the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

I shot a baseball game yesterday. I shoot many baseball games each season. I will shoot close to 100 big league games in 2011 from the first pitch of spring training to the final out of the World Series. Yesterday’s game was nothing special. Diamondbacks @ Giants. A nice day game in San Francisco. I was on assignment for Major League Baseball Photos. It was a pretty day for baseball under the sunshine at the most beautiful park in America, and there was nowhere else I would rather be.

There was not much action during the exciting 3-2 Giants win. My job was to shoot tons of stock of both teams, mostly the Diamondbacks, so the client would be happy. As usual I got there early, before 10am, in order to shoot batting practice. The Giants did not hit, but the Snakes came out in their reddish hats and pullovers to get in some practice swings, so I was able to get a bunch of nice candid head shots in the can before the game started.

Once the game got going I needed to drill batters and pitchers, trying to get real nice stuff of every guy who plays. This is all fine and good, but it gets boring after awhile. In order to keep sane and have some fun later in the evening when I have to edit everything I like to shoot some different details and other images that might not excite an editor at a trading card company, but they might put a smile on my face.

During the second inning I was shooting in the inside third base well -one of the great positions to shoot a game from. The great V.J. Lovero always called inside third the “creative position.” Of course, he was right. You can goof around down there and try some different things. For a few hitters I tried to shoot some tight details of batters as they dropped their bats and sprinted out of the batter’s box. I shot dozens of frames before I moved outside third base to shoot more traditional batting pictures. I only got one real usable image, but I am super happy with it (see top).

When I got home to edit I was excited to look at my take, and I especially wanted to see how the details turned out. All I needed to see was this one frame and it made me happy. My former editor at MLB Photos Paul Cunningham (who is currently a master craftsman of leather goods) always tried to get me to shoot stuff like this. I was so excited that I emailed the frame to him last night foe his approval. It was nice to hear him on the phone today as he told me how much he enjoyed it.

On a forgettable May afternoon in the beautiful ballpark by the bay I got one frame I am really happy with. I will take that every day I shoot!