Padres Opening Weekend
The 2021 baseball season is here. The blog has been lacking again, so it’s time to start this back up once again. Here’s a look at some of my photos of the Padres from the Opening Weekend.
Supercross at Petco Park
This week we look back to a year ago and a gallery of photos that I never posted. During the baseball offseason, Petco Park is converted into a in a dirt track for Supercross and a few monster truck events. I’ve shot several racing events before, including the Indy 500, some short track NASCAR and a few rally races, but these dirt bikes up close were something much more impressive than I expected. They were much louder too. Overall it was a great experience, I always love the challenge of photographing something new and meeting some photographers that cover another sport. I can’t wait for the racing to return to Petco, but I’m sure our grounds crew can.
Padres Dominican Academy
I haven’t kept up with this blog much over the past year, but moving forward into 2021 I’m going to post a Monday photo blog of current work or looking back on some unpublished work from the past few years.
I was just reminded that a year ago I visited the San Diego Padres Dominican Academy while visiting the country to capture Fernando Tatis Jr.s’s offseason workout following his rookie season. Interesting how much can change in a year, but being able to visit a country that I had never been to before and seeing prospects in the Padres farm system many for the first time was an experience that I’ll remember fondly. The Academy is tucked into almost the middle of nowhere, you follow a series of backroads and seemingly forage through the jungle and then you just drive into this oasis of baseball.
Red Sox Alumni Game
Dozens of former Red Sox players returned to Fenway Park Sunday morning to play in a 3-inning long Alumni Game before the Red Sox faced the Braves that afternoon. The game was headlined by players like Pedro Martinez, Wade Boggs and Derek Lowe.
Ohio States visits Purdue
About a week ago, The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to West Lafayette to face the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue was coming off two large wins over lesser opponents, and Ohio State would be the first real test after dropping an important game to the Illinois Fighting Illini in Champaign. The game in Mackey Arena came as somewhat as a surprise as an unlikely contributor helped the Boilermakers take down the Buckeyes. PJ Thompson hit several clutch shots and finished with 12 points, including a big three pointer in the second half. It was obvious from the tip-off that this was a significant game, as the crowd was outfitted in colored shirts for cancer awareness, the game was televised on ESPN and Purdue President Mitch Daniels even made an appearance in the second half.
After a while these games begin to starting feeling the same. You have your telephoto lens, and maybe a second body fitted with a 300 mm lens or a 24-70 mm lens to capture the players drive the basket a little wider. I've felt myself fall into the same rut, you just end up going through the motions every time. So you know what? I've tried to push myself a little harder. I've worked with Nikon Ambassador Andrew Hancock a lot over the past year, and I've begun to pick up some of the little things he does. Specifically this fall we traveled to Ann Arbor to cover Michigan face Michigan State in the Big House for The Player's Tribune. I saw how he approaches the game as a story that you have to tell. If you look at Andrew's work from the College Football Playoff National Championship game, it becomes obvious. Bill Frakes, another Nikon Ambassador whom I met while covering American Pharoah's journey to winning the Triple Crown in 2015 with Andrew, It was time that I started working harder.
The guys at Roberts Camera took care of me by setting me up with a new Nikon body, and some Pocket Wizards so that I could start doing some remote work. I put it to the test when the shot the game when Iowa came to face Purdue. I even broke out the 400mm, a lens I thought would have served its purpose and would be packed away after football season was over. I tried some new things. I went high in the stands, I went low with my remotes, I went into the tunnel, I was everywhere.
Purdue vs. Penn State
Purdue bounced back after a tough road loss to Illinois by defeating Penn State in Mackey Arena Wednesday night. The Boilermakers improved to 15-3 after a convincing 74-57 rout of the Nittany Lions. Purdue's Vince Edwards led the team with 19 points, while freshman Caleb Swanigan finished one rebound shy of a double double. AJ Hammons is the nation's leader in blocked shots and added two more on Wednesday. That gives Hammons 301 in his career, making him only the second player in school history with career 300 blocks.
Purdue vs. Minnesota
A late afternoon start for the Boilermakers meant I wasn't going to be able to stay for the entire game on Saturday. Fortunately, this week I didn't miss much after I left at halftime. But with the help of some gear from Andy Hancock, I was able to capture a remote shot that I've been meaning to get all season.
Purdue vs. Virginia Tech
Purdue faced ACC foe Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon. The Boilermakers kept the Hokies in check with several defensive plays and a score, making the score tied 14-14 at the half. After there the wheels became of come off the track for Purdue, giving up numerous big plays and returns. I had to leave the game in the 3rd quarter; but hopefully next week when Purdue takes on Bowling Green there will be a different final result.
Purdue Lacrosse
Saturday afternoon, I planned on heading over to Natalie's Second Chance Dog Shelter to continue the photo essay I've been working on for the past few weeks. At the same time, the Purdue Club Lacrosse team was going to be facing Iowa at a local high school. It had almost been since I was in high school, that I saw a live lacrosse match so I decided to head over and take some photos. Purdue won by a score of 18-10.
Best of Basketball
Saturday marked Senior Day for Purdue's basketball team, and would be the last Purdue game I covered this season in Mackey Arena. I've compiled some of my best shots from this season.
Purdue vs. IU Manager's Game
The night before the Boilermakers and the Hoosiers met in Mackey, another rivalry game took place. Both team's managers competed on Keady Court in front of a small crowd of Paint Crew members.