2013 Project 52, Week 17 - #fyeahbaseball

Week 17: April 23-29

Sharon and I jokingly made up a rule for ourselves upon moving away from Birmingham that we would always live in a city with a Major League Baseball team. She was born and raised a Phillies fan, and while I was a latecomer, I will never not be a Cardinals fan. It's now a month into the baseball season, and by dint of work trips and of living in a city with Major League teams, and I've already managed to attend two games and see four different teams in person. For a baseball fan, this is a giant perk of "big city living".

Taking photos at a ballgame is tricky; in my mind I have glorious images of iconic baseball moments that I want to recreate, but sheer logistics (namely: location, location, location/distance) bring me back to earth pretty quickly. I'm not saying I have to have the latest and greatest of equipment, but I might give my left kidney just for a chance to sit in the photographers' nest along the sidelines of the field with my own, usual equipment.

Unlike in Baltimore, where I had a bit more freedom to move around the stadium and shoot, I encountered a Citi Field seating configuration that didn't allow for people to approach the field level areas so easily. And while I was allowed by an usher to run down the steps in between innings to shoot Cole Hamels going through warmup pitches, I inexplicably only went halfway down the steps and got not-as-close-as-I-could-have. I... had a massive brain fart. The opportunity was there for the taking. I don't even understand it, myself.

Cole Hamels has what I think is a pretty distinctive pitching motion, mostly because he's long, lanky, and both very effective and well practiced. I wish I had a closer shot of him, but I'm happy with this capture of Hamels, mid-pitch. The pitching form, however ruinous on a person's body in the long-term, is a beautiful thing, especially when performed by one of the pros.

150mm (DX) : ISO 400 : f/5.6 : 1/1000s
Cole Hamels on the mound for the Phillies

I don't know if I'll be able to make it to Citi Field this June when my Cardinals visit the Mets. If I do, I will take another shot at getting close through my lens to a player I'm interesting in capturing.

2013 Project 52 entries:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | 

Week 8 | Week 9 |  Weeks 10-13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 |