High home is where my heart is

Posted on June 15, 2015

Instagram of a general overall interior scenic view during the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on Saturday, June 13, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

I have written before how much I love shooting from the high home position at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Over the years I have shot countless San Francisco Giants games from this wonderful perch directly behind home plate with a glorious view of the field and the bay. I even shot Game 1 of the 2010 World Series from this position. This past Saturday the Giants hosted the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4:15pm start due to a FOX television national broadcast. This meant we would have some crazy great light. It also meant I needed to get off my ass and make my first trip of the 2015 season up to the television platform behind home plate in search of a little magic.

In baseball when hitters are slumping they need to try and hit the ball up the middle or go the other way. For me it always helps to shoot from a different angle, like high home, to break out of the doldrums of shooting the same old crap all the time. I love baseball, but shooting it all the time can drive you nuts if you don’t move around and shoot from different angles. How many baseball cards do I need of all these guys? I want to make some pictures! I need to amuse myself and stimulate my brain. Saturday afternoon’s trip upstairs really helped.

After 6 innings the light was gone and so was I, but not before I made some pictures I really liked. There were no plays at the plate. There were no plays at third. There were no plays at second. That’s OK, I still had fun. Despite the fact that the Giants played awful (again) it was hard for me to get mad when I looked out to the flag pole in right-center field and saw the bright orange 2014 World Series Champions banner flapping in the wind (see above). Editing the pictures from this game was a blast. It is such a pleasure not having to look at endless frames of guys swinging the bat. I feel like I might have my stroke back a little bit. I am planning on making more solid contact during tomorrow afternoon’s day game against the Mariners. Just like my dad, the great Al Mangin always used to say, “Take two and hit to right.”