That Brief Moment in Time

For my Scott's Shots section in the upcoming September issue of St. Louis Sports Magazine I chose this photo because it was a fun image to get. Here is the story:

How cool is this photo? When shooting baseball, photographers always try to get a ball on bat shot, and quite often we get one that is acceptable. But it is very rare to get one where the ball seems to be embedded in the bat. In 26 years of shooting Major League Baseball this is only the third time that I have truly captured this moment, and this is the coolest one so far. There are many things that make this a fun image for me.

First of all, when I shot this, the sun was in and out that day. Secondly, I was shooting in the outside first base photo pit, where I don't shoot that often. For some reason I really felt like I was relaxed and as they say "in the zone". I know I will get a lot of flak from my fellow photographers for saying that but it is true, I just felt that my timing was on that day. As the pitcher started his windup I took a deep breath and squeezed the shutter button when I saw Albert's shoulders move. By the time your brain tells your finger to press the button, & it does and the shutter lag in the camera it's easy to miss this shot.

I have always reacted to the hitters shoulders, not the actual swing. When the shoulders move, I react and this time I froze that special moment in time.

94 Inc. Building the brand

I had a great gig this past week. I was hired to shoot P.R. photos and stock for a new street basketball team called 94 Inc., 94 being how many feet between the baselines of a basketball court. We had a couple of tiring 12 hour days but I wished the shoot would never end.

The players I met were the greatest group of guys on the planet and incredibly talented athletes. It is cool watching a company start from the ground up, the team went to a boys & girls club and talked with the kids, performed for them and even played a little 1 on 1 with some of them. They will perform for charities, create a clothing line and have episodes on MTV, showing them play and what goes on behind the scenes, documentary style.

We shot portraits on the Mississippi riverfront, in a studio, at a cool older YMCA gym, on a basketball court in a park, at a shopping mall, working out, and a t a club for a launch party for the company. You can probably tell how much fun I had, but I will let my assistant Jeff Curry give you his take on the shoot: Unforgettable is the only word that can describe the 94 Inc. photo shoots. I have been working with Scott for almost two years now and have been on plenty of photo shoots with him. Usually we set up lights, shoot the subjects for maybe 30 minutes if we are lucky, then break it all down and leave. Working with the 94 Inc. guys was like being in a bizarro world of sports photo shoots. The guys were as nice as could be and willing to do anything we asked of them, and they would have let us shoot for four or five hours if we asked. When Scott showed them photos, these guys’ eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning and they were 6 years old, and this reminded me of why we do what we do.

The photo shoots were amazing, but the public appearance the group did was the most satisfying part of the two days. These guys talked with kids from the boys and girls club, and watching them interact with these kids was unforgettable. They are the type of role models that kids need. These two epic days reminded me of why I love photography. Support 94 Inc. because they are the type of company that this country needs.

Well, that about says it all, this shoot was definitely a 3 pointer at the buzzer to win the big game!

The "Spring" Classic

I was fortunate to cover a few games of the World Baseball Classic in Miami this past week. It was an interesting experience, but not much different than covering an All Star game. One of the cooler things was that the fans were so much more vocal during the game, not just after a big play. There was a ton of Latin music being played in the stands by fans that brought their own instruments. There were at least 4 sections that had these impromptu bands playing around the stadium.

In my opinion shooting this type of game is more difficult because there is so much more to pay attention to. When a country's All Star pitcher is pitching to a different country's All Star hitter, they can both be equally important to be shooting, so you have to decide who to key in on all during every at bat.

I was happy to have a decent spot to shoot from which also helps in covering the game and not missing the action. For my first game I walked around and shot elevated for a little while which game me a nice angle on my first play at the plate. My next 2 games I was on a 3 foot riser outside of the 3rd base dugout, and I also got to shoot through the screen behind home plate for one inning during each game. In the Puerto Rico vs. USA game I ended up with a great angle on my second play at the plate which I really liked because no other photographer had the angle that I had.

When David Wright hit his game winning single he hit to the opposite field and watched the ball the whole time so I never saw his face, but I stayed on him and then he turned towards his teammates which made for a nice shot. Then the mobbing began and I just kept watching for Wright and stayed on him. I was happy with my coverage of the 3 games I shot and I thank USPresswire for giving me the opportunity. My next blog will probably show my favorite images from this Spring Training, thanks for reading.

A Decent Game

When you shoot 20 Spring Training games and 81 home games you are sure to have some bad games, so you really appreciate the good ones, today was one of those good ones. The weather was nice so I decided to put my 2x converter on my 400mm lens. Shooting baseball with an 800 is risky when you are so close as is the case in a minor league stadium. There is very little room in the frame for hitters and pitchers, you pretty much have to shoot the outfielders or hope that the action will fit in the frame.

With the shot of Carp I was on the field about 60 feet behind the catcher while he was warming up in the bullpen. The Jon Jay leaping catch is the kind of shot that you are thankful that you have a converter on. The ball kept tailing away and I just stayed on Jon as he climbed the wall. Exposure, composition, and timing all fell in place for this image. After the 5th inning since the game was close I decided to shoot without the converter in case something happened. The double play is the old stand-by in baseball photography, focus on second base and let the action happen. The thing that makes this a nice shot to have is when the infielder jumps over the runner, many times it is just a boring routine shot, we had both today as shown.

The last shot was taken after Joe Mather hit a walk-off 2 run home run in the bottom of the 9th against the Red Sox, the light was great and it is just a nice celebration shot.

A More Relaxed Setting

One of the things I love about Spring Training is that I have less distractions and less restrictions when shooting the games and the workouts. I can walk freely just about anywhere during the workouts, drills and batting practice as long as I'm careful.

The picture of catcher Jason LaRue was right before the game and the pitcher was getting ready to warm up. I asked Jason to hold still for a second and then let him get back to work. I underexposed the shot to darken the background and held a flash to the side to light his face.

For the Pujols photos I sat on the ground behind a screen near first base. This allowed me to be basically be in front of Albert instead of the side which is usually all we see of the hitters. It was interesting that I had a harder time getting the timing down of Albert's swing, I usually watch his shoulders which are harder to see move when I'm in front of him. I can only imagine how hard it is for an infielder to react.

Spring Training

Well I have been down in Jupiter Florida for 5 days now and the weather is starting to cooperate finally. When I got down here we had highs in the low 60's and it was pretty chilly for Spring Training. Today it's supposed to be in the upper 70's and the funny thing is that I see how warm it is back up in St. Louis.

Usually the best part about Spring Training is that I get back into baseball shooting mode, but this year even my first game 2 hours after I landed went well. I feel like I have been shooting baseball all winter, maybe because I shot my first Cardinals game back in 1983 has something to do with it. It's about time I stop getting rusty in the off-season.

The photos I chose to post are all about timing, usually the hardest part of shooting baseball after a 4 month layoff. The broken bat shot is luck that the ball and bat are still in the frame, I'm just trying to shoot a decent hitting shot and the bat happened to break when Allen Craig made contact. If you look at all of the broken bat shots during the season it is amazing how few have all of the pieces in the right place. The funniest thing about this pic is that Allen is a Cardinals hot prospect that was on loan to the Dominican WBC team that game and it figures that he is the one I get, Not David "Big Papi" Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, or A-Rod.

The next pic is Cardinals 1st round draft pick Brett Wallace who is supposed to have great hitting power. Seeing the bat bend from the sheer torque of his swing is amazing, just try to bend a wooden bat by standing on it, it won't happen. Over the years I have only captured two other Big Leaguers that you can see the bat bend during their swing, Scott Rolen & Albert Pujols.

Aiming for that one shot!

This year I promised myself that I would try to make at least one nice image with my fisheye lens at each hockey game. It has become a mission now because I have captured a few nice moments but I feel like that one special one is still out there. When I shoot hockey through the holes in the glass I use a 70-200mm zoom lens on one camera and a 10.5mm fisheye on another camera around my neck. I feel like these shots really put the viewer right into the action. I have shot a few cool ones like the puck flying past me, guys reaching for the puck as they head towards my position, and T.J. Oshie hitting the puck in mid-air like a baseball player. I just feel that there is one out there that I haven't captured yet. Oh well, the mission continues.

Catching up...

So in February of 2007 I was asked to be part of a new local magazine called St. Louis Sports Magazine and it was exciting to be part of something from the ground up. We are working on issue number 24 and still going strong, and now the magazine is partnered with 590 The Fan KFNS radio. I am the Director of Photography, which basically means that I take most of the pictures and help pick what photos are used. You can read each issue for free by going to http://www.kfns.com/ and clicking on the St. Louis Sports Magazine link. Please let me know your thoughts and ideas for upcoming issues.

Back to Blogging

I was made aware from an associate of mine that it has been over 2 years since my last blog. Well, I am going to attempt to make up for that time with some new posts. My last post was when the Cardinals made it into the World Series in 2006 and as we all know defeated the Tigers. I was fortunate enough to have made a nice image of the team with the trophy which will always be a fun memory.