Let me get something straight 'right off the bat'. I am not a baseball fan. Baseball may be right up there with hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet, but for me it is one of my least favorite sports to cover. Sure I am happy when I make a good photo, but honestly, the sport does very little for me.
When I cover baseball I find myself looking around for something interesting to photograph (like birds flying overhead or uniquely shaped clouds in the sky).
Actually I look for different angles, and different possibilities for photos. I do know enough about the sport to have a pretty good idea of what may happen at any given time, but I can also be surprised when things don't go quite the way I had thought that they would.
Recently I spent several games standing behind first base and keeping an eye on second base for that "double-play photo" each time there was a baserunner. Then after thinking about it, I decided to give up on that image and start watching for a good tag at first base.
In between yawns I pre focused my 300mm lens on a piece of ground just past the first base. Then I popped a couple of no-doze caffine tablets and tried to stay awake long enough to see the pitcher make a throw to hold the runner on the bag and possibly get a photo of a head-first slide.
I must have pressed the shutter as a reflex while nodding off. The sound of the camera's shutter woke me, at which point I realized that I actually gotten a half-way interesting baseball image. Luckily I had my eyes closed when I shot this photo. I think it is the only way I had the timing AND the focus come together at the same instant.
I appreciate that there are a lot of baseball players out there who love the game and even more fans who live for the games and stats. I respect that. It just isn't my game. For me baseball is just one step up from watching golf on television, which is just a step above paint drying or grass growing.
The point however, isn't whether or not I enjoy the subject matter. The point is, that I enjoy the challenge of making a good photo. That may mean shooting photos at an event that I detest or one where I am enthralled by what is going on, but either way it is the image that counts.
This is an approach that has taken me several years to develop. I wasn't always this open-minded. Ha! I guess I have mellowed with age.
And when it comes to having a baseball, a glove, and bunch of dirt slammed into your face while you dive onto the hard ground at some guy's feet, I say...
"Better him than me."
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