The Week In Sports

This was a fun week. I got to get out and make some photos outdoors again. I was able to photograph a few softball games and even a baseball game. As this goes live I will be covering track and field for the final day of three. Because I will be so busy there I will talk about the entire track meet at once next week. It will be old news, but if I want to talk about the event it will have to wait.

Making The Catch

This was a great play by the Purdue centerfielder. She trapped the ball, but made the play closer than I thought that it would be when the ball was hit. for this weekend I went light and easy and took my 200-600mm lens with me. Having that range to quickly rack out to 600mm allowed me to make this photo. If light was never an issue I would probably use this lens 99% of the time. This was a fun photo to make on the first weekend of the season. You are usually blocked by something at field level for these types of catches. Here though I was able to make the photo.

Welcome Home

Part of the fun of heading out to the park was to see Abbott Badgley play in her hometown again. My first ever Harrison softball game would have been during her senior season. It is always cool to see these kind of homecomings. Abbott had a full cheering section to help her. She had a good weekend at the plate, and even picked up a win on the mound.

Bittinger Stadium Looking Good

Bittinger was looking good this weekend. For being the first real week in March it was amazing how nice the grass was. I went out to the outfield to make this photo of the field and kind of show it off a little.

One Of My First Softball Photos Of The Year

I got to the stadium a little into game one of three on Saturday. Of course when I walked in there was a runner on third. I made a photo of her there, and almost as soon as I did the ball got past the catcher and the race was on. She came headfirst into home plate. I lucky was sort of ready for this, and I made the photo. This was a heck of a way to start my softball season. Hopefully the rest of the season can be this exciting.

Bubble Time

If you follow this blog then you know that I can get obsessed with making bubble photos. I made both of these after watching the player for way too long and not the action. I love a good bubble photo though so it is always worth it.

Another Delaney

My little one is named Delaney so my ears always perk up when I hear that named called. Purdue has a new catcher named Delaney. She had a pretty good weekend when I was there, and it was fun to make photos of her. One of these days I need to get a photo of both Delaney’s together. I always find a way to make way too many catcher photos, but with one named Delaney I might find a way to make even more.

Using The Scoreboard

You can only make so many photos of the pitcher. Here i went a little wider to get the scoreboard in and make something a little different. With the pitchers name in the board I might just keep using this idea throughout the year.

Welcome Back Ross

Ross Learnard was a heck of a pitcher for Purdue a few years ago. He was part of the squad that went back to the NCAA Tournament. He did it all at Purdue, and it was good to see him back at Alexander Field on Wednesday. He is the Butler pitching coach, and hopefully he makes a long career out of coaching.

A Catcher With Wheels

If you read the blog then you know that I love catchers. Wednesday I watched one hit a triple which is very exciting. It is said to be the most exciting play in baseball, but if the catcher is stretching out the triple it is even more exciting.

The Fans Make All The Difference

Alexander being packed has many great benefits to Purdue. One benefit that they have for photography is that the backgrounds are better. These type of photos look so much better with fans in the stands. I tried to take advantage of the fans throughout the day in my backgrounds. Hopefully the crowds keep coming out as the season goes on.

Aggressive Is Fun

The aggressive style of ball that Purdue plays is very fun to photograph. They are active on the bases, and that makes for good photos. With a lot of new faces on the team I will have to learn who will take that extra base. We have some games coming up for me to do just that though.

A Great Start

Purdue scored nine runs in the first two innings. They really put the pressure on Butler early. This team can pour it on when they are firing on all cylinders. It will be fun to see how that translates to the Big Ten season.

This was a fun week. By the time this post goes live I will have already photographed two days of the Division II Track and Field National Championships. It should give me some photos and stories to talk about next week right off the bat. This has been a crazy few weeks of making photos in new and interesting places. It has also been nice to get back outside to make some photos.