Photographing hitters at bat requires great timing, persistence and a
little luck.
Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts connects with the ball vs. the
Baltimore Orioles on September 26, 2015 at Fenway Park.
The Photo
The 3rd base photographers’ well is a pit next to the visiting
team dugout at Fenway Park, and it didn’t even exist the last time I photographed
a Red Sox home game. It was a special treat to be back shooting my hometown baseball
team, and a new experience shooting from this vantage point. I was determined to photograph a player
batting, but capturing a good hitting moment is always difficult, because balls
are pitched at 90+ MPH and balls leave the bats at over 100 MPH. Photographers have to time the moment right
and also get a bit lucky, so it’s important to shoot many, many photos in order
to get just one outstanding shot.
When Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts stepped into the batters’ box, I
wanted to simultaneously capture both his sweeping swing and the baseball. I had taken several pictures of him earlier
in the game, but the photos were nothing special. On this pitch, I fired the camera as he began
his swing, and he lined the ball foul down the third base line straight toward me
and the other photographers. I flinched
and ducked away, as a Baltimore Oriole player reached out from the dugout to
snare the ball. The fans in the stands
were waiting for a foul ball souvenir, so they complained loudly to the Baltimore
player, but the photographers avoided being struck and were very grateful.
In the image, the ball is slightly larger than normal because it is
heading directly at the camera, which makes it stand out more than it normally
would. Unfortunately for Bogaerts, he didn’t
reach base during this at-bat, but he did continue his stellar season with the second
highest batting average in the American League.
3 Tips
1)
When photographing a hitter batting, fire the
camera as the batter begins his swing.
2)
Take lots of photos because you’ll need a bit of
luck to time the photo at the moment the bat and ball meet.
3)
Watch out for foul balls coming your way.
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