play ball

Welcome back,

Your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome back,

To that same old place that you laughed about.

Well the names have all changed since you hung around,

But those dreams have remained and they're turned around.

Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)

Back here where we need ya (Back here where we need ya)

Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've got him on the spot, welcome back,

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

Wow who would have thought a song from the 70’s television show Welcome Back Kotter would be an appropriate way to return to the blogosphere after a 3 year absence. I kind feel like Vinnie Barbarino of the Sweat Hogs should be greeting me with a snarky remark but you know when you get the desire to go back and do something that you have not done in a while, you often want to go the way of Cheers and go “where everyone knows your name” so I decided to return the comforts of my catalog of images and to once again open the vaults. So enough with the 70’s and 80’s television references lets get back into the swing of things. That is right it is time to jump back into the time stream with the help of Time Turner and head back to a point in time that is just a little over a year ago, November 2015.  During this time we will be returning to a very personal shoot that produced a set of prints that I count among my favorites. Oh and once again the usual time travel warning, do not touch anything, and do not look for Grey’s Sports Almanac or I will have to send Biff after you, which may result in you being thrown in a pile of manure and called “butthead”. Well now that the PSA is out of the way and all waiver forms have been signed, let us proceed.

              For those of you who know me, you know I have a strong passion for baseball. I played it for as long as I could but once my body gave out and I had to go under the knife that was it for me. The spikes were hung up, the ball and glove were packed in the black equipment bag and the bats were zipped into place in their pocket and tucked away, leaving only my memories of games played and stories to be shared on rare occasions.

            As I was rummaging through my storage shed I came across a box of old prints among other memories. As I opened the box to look through all my old images from when I was in photography class I came across a photo I did of an old baseball, bat and glove. For a few minutes I gazed at the photo and I even smiled at my work, but the longer I looked upon this image I realized it represented the best that I could do at the time with the idea I had but it was not the best I could do now! So just like George Lucas did with Star Wars, (HA! See there it is the first reference to Star Wars in almost 3 years! There was no way I was going to not make one; you should know this by now.) I returned to my original concept and I set out to produce what my mind had conceived all those years ago as I lay in the grass in my grandparent’s backyard shooting the original image of, a ball, a bat and a glove.

            As the original concept for the baseball shoot began to return from as the music artist P.M. Dawn says “one of the corners of my mind” I started to shift more boxes until I could get to my bag of gear and see what I had left inside besides the memories of umpires barking calls, the snap of leather after a ball hits the pocket, and the crack of a bat. When I finally got to my bag, unzipping it like a pea pod to reveal the white pearls with red stitching, all the while inhaling the smell of dirt and worn leather inside, the final idea had come to me. This would not be just one image to replace the original concept image, but a series of images, no a collection of images because just one image would not properly convey my passion for the game.

            As my vision went from idea into a project I realized that I need a more vintage look for this shoot, so I began the task of searching through dozens upon dozens of baseballs for just the right ones, I searched eBay for the perfect bunting, I went to my display case and removed my vintage wood bat and glove and pulled out all the necessary camera equipment. And then once I had everything I began to shoot frame after frame, filling numerous cards with images of a leather glove, a wooden bat, along with both new and old baseballs, and some patriotic bunting.

            When the shoot was done it felt like I had accomplished my goal in just a matter of minutes but a quick look at the clock and I realized I had spent an entire day on this shoot. I set up numerous combinations, of bunting and balls, bunting, balls and glove, ball, glove, and bunting and countless other variations. Eager to being the production of my new print series I spent the rest of the night and better part of the early hours of the morning selecting images, re-touching and deciding on the layout. As I produced my first print I had a revelation for a new set up that did not occur to me the day before. So the next day I gathered up all my equipment and spent another few hours adding more content to my original idea. As I wrapped up my second shoot a third idea came to mind and I hurried back to my machine and started to work on selecting the final images for the new Baseball Collection.

            Finally after a few days I had my final 6 images for the collection, along with a sepia toned composite that I feel captures the spirit of the Golden Age of Baseball perfectly. But why six images in the collection you ask? Well six represents the total number of outs in any given full inning of play. I had actually thought of producing nine images total for the collection to represent each inning in a standard game and I may still add 3 more images at a later date, however as Leonardo da Vinci has said “art is never finished, only abandoned” so for now I am abandoning this series as I turn my attention to a possible football or basketball collection.

          Below you will find my new Baseball Collection and my composite image as a tribute to the Golden Age of Baseball. Should you wish to purchase a print, feel free to message me or head over to Fine Art America and just search for me by name and you can pick up a print or two there as well.

            As always I hope you enjoy my work. 

There Is Always Baseball - A print to capture the Golden Age Of Baseball

Play Ball - A print that sparks the memories of a father and son taking in a game.

National Pastime - As the title suggest America has long had a love affair with boys of summer.

Fenway Park - A field where legends such as Ruth, Mantel and Robinson played the game.

Nine Innings - Each ball representing how hard the game has been played.

Extra Innings - Bonus baseball.