Hot Shots

Just two weeks ago, I was shooting in the area around Duluth, Minnesota. And it was cold. Forty-five degrees. For a high. In June. Today, I shot a Little League All-Star baseball game and girl’s softball game in Warner Robins, Georgia. And it was hot. Very hot. My car said it was 102 when I pulled out of the parking lot.

I must admit, I had never shot much sports action before—kayaking, soccer, and some church league softball. So when a friend asked me to shoot their all-star softball team, I made time. Even better, the umpires at both games said, “do what you want, just don’t get on the playing field during the game.”

This was also my first chance to try out my 70-200mm f2.8 in action shots. At f2.8, I was able to really isolate the players against the background. This lens just has incredible bokeh, and in full sunlight—it’s not like they let me pick the game times to accommodate lighting—I was shooting at 1/1000 to 1/2000 most of the day. It’s not great for saturation, but it does an amazing job of freezing a bat and pitched ball in mid-swing.

Chances are, Sports Illustrated will not be calling any time soon. But I had a good time, learned a few things, and with any luck, I might actually sell a print or two. You can check out a few of the images here. I'll upload more as I get them processed.

Looking for Heroes in a Material World

The sports talk shows have been abuzz for the last week. Alex Rodriguez took anabolic steroids. It was the latest in a bizarre series of events for the New York Yankee’s third baseman. Rodriguez attracted notoriety over the last year when his divorce proceedings uncovered a strange relationship with Madonna, one in which she was accused of using a rabbi to brainwash him with the teachings of Kabbalah, a form a Jewish mysticism. But it’s not the Material Girl that has the baseball world in a frenzy. Instead, it’s the revelation that A-Rod took performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003, during which he hit 156 of his 553 career homers.

A-Rod is just the latest in a line of fallen stars, victims of themselves—McGuire, Bonds, Giambi—some loved by fans, others hated. But they all shared one thing—they cheated and they tarnished baseball for many years, if not forever. What baseball needs is a few more true heroes.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to be number 44. I wasn’t alone. Who could blame us? He was an Atlanta Brave. And he was a hero. Hank Aaron was a tremendous player and a man of character. The only thing he was dosed up on was resolve. He broke Babe Ruth’s homerun record, but in doing so quite possibly changed the world. He hit 755 career home runs in 23 seasons—none on performance enhancing drugs.

And what of Dale Murphy? For so many years, he was the face of the Braves. Despite two MVP awards and hitting 398 homeruns, he has been snubbed by the hall of fame. But Murph is most memorable for being another man of true character. No dugout fights with teammates. No clear and cream. Instead, his face adorned milk cartons and ice cream ads.

Baseball survived the Black Sox scandal and Pete Rose, and it will certain survive steroids. But it may take a few truckloads of asterisks to clean up this mess? What baseball needs is a few more heroes—a few more men like Aaron and Murphy.