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.
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