In The Field: Baseball In The Shadows
Kyle Schwarber, Opening Day
On April 8, me and the kids went to Opening Day for the Philadelphia Phillies.
I’ll turn 52 in a few weeks…and this would be my first Opening Day as well. I was as excited as they were.
So, I took the day off from work, pulled the kids out of school at noon (game time was 3 pm) and by 1 pm, we were headed down I-295 towards Philly.
With a quick stop off at Wawa for hoagies, though. (I’ll take Wawa over 7-11 or Quick Check any day of the week and twice on Sundays…but I digress.)
The day was beautiful, the excitement palpable. I’ve been coming to to the intersection of Broad Street and Pattison Ave in South Philly to watch baseball since my first game in 1975. It truly never gets old.
However, I haven’t seen many mid-day games in April. Usually summertime, when the sun just blasts the fields or night games.
As we watched the game unfold, I started to notice the shadows creeping across the fields. There are a few baseball photographers I follow on Instagram, like Kevin Liles, who shoots the Atlanta Braves, and Brad Mangin, some of my favorite work from them are their “shadow” photos.
Aaron Nola with the kick
I had my Fuji XT3 with me (never did sell it) with the small and light 15-45 lens. We were up in the middle section of seats – not the tippy top of the stadium, but not down low either. I had an unique vantage point.
Rhys Hoskins on Third
Jeurys Familia on the mound
It was a fun little experiment do try to incorporate the shadows into the photos. While I love down low, up close photography, being higher up to see it all is fun too. I think my favorite shot is the Familia one because you can see the whole infield and stands.
But I like the Nola one too, because of the negative space.
The other good thing about being at the game? Getting to see the Phillie Phanatic parachute in with the game ball!
A good…no great time was had by all.
On the way out of the city, one final stop for nourishment – Pat’s King of Steak in my old South Philly neighborhood!
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