Looking Back at the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2015

This is the second year in a row when I have really watched the entire careers of the whole class. I remember collecting the baseball cards of these guys as they started their careers. I have seen three of the four play in person. Randy Johnson was the one player that I never saw play, but I do remember watching his games on TV. As a lefty myself I always take an interest in a lefty that is doing well. Randy is also a photographer which is something that he has always talked about, but I did not know about it until the last year or so. Pedro Martinez was a fun pitcher to watch. He was a force back in the day for the Red Sox. For some reason when I saw him play the White Sox though he would look very human. I remember Joe Crede seemed to have his number. I have the above photo of John Smoltz from a game I saw him pitch on my birthday in 2009. He was a member of the Cardinals to close out his career, and a rain day at work allowed me to make the trip a day early to see the Cardinals play the Nationals. I knew that I would be watching a special player. Six years later we know that he was special enough to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. As a photographer I am not supposed to have favorites. As a kid I did not have that problem. From the moment I first saw him play I liked Craig Biggio. He was just that guy that would do anything to get the win. He was a player that was not afraid to get dirty, and it didn’t hurt that he played catcher. Of course since that time he moved around the field a little. It is a shame that his only chance at a World Series title happened the same year that my White Sox were in the series. If it had comes against any other team I would have been rooting for him to get the title. This past season I was very fortunate to be able to photograph both of his kids while they were playing for Notre Dame. I really have a problem with the Hall of Fame committee at times. I don’t know why a guy like Craig was not a first ballot guy. The politics and games that the voters play can be irritating sometimes. No matter though as he is now part of a very good Hall of Fame class. Although he would have been part of a pretty good class last year as well.

Looking Back at Your Older Photos

As I said above I made this photo in 2009. This was a period of time when I knew that I enjoyed making photos, but I was lacking some key knowledge that would have made them better. I would shoot in TV mode which is shutter priority mode. Sometimes my photos would come out okay, and sometimes they would not. I could freeze the moment, but my settings would sometimes fail me. I shot this with my camera that I used for five years. I had the Canon Rebel XT. My lens of choice for action at the time was my 75-300mm lens that would lose a couple of stops as I zoomed in. Night games were always a problem, but that is what makes a photo like the one above that worked so special. It is at times like this when I look back that I realize how far I have come in a short period of time. I found photography later in life. I wish that I had found it earlier for moments like the one above. Although had I found it earlier I would not have been there at that time.