Words and Light

Summer means baseball, and in these parts, that means a) the York Revolution and b) local league ball.

I’d never shot at Stewartstown’s field before, nor had I ever seen a similar setup. The playing surface is maybe six feet below the ground on which the nearby community building stood, and the fence serving as the backstop extends all the way to the dugouts, whose roofs rise about three feet above ground level. So, after securing the home team manager’s permission, I camped out on their dugout roof while I covered the game.

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Taken in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. That red thing on the dugout roof marks roughly where I sat.

With that vantage point and some gorgeous evening light, I got to make baseball pictures I’ve never made before.

For example, twin dirt clods:

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Red Lion’s Eric McNeil gets home for a run as Stewartstown’s Adam Allshouse waits for the ball in the third inning on Thursday, June 28, 2012, at Stewartstown.

Evening light was insanely nice. And the game was moving at a pace where I felt like I could relax and make pictures, not just shoot-shoot-shoot.

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Red Lion’s Austin Hinkle lets a ball past him in the fourth inning against Stewartstown on Thursday, June 28, 2012, at Stewartstown.

I’d never shot on a field with such nice, selective light on a pitcher:

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News.

The sun soon faded beyond the horizon, and the light evened out on the playing field. Then I noticed that the pitchers — from both teams — had dug quite a hole into the pitching mound. Never saw that before, either:

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News.

So, combined with the nice angle-of-light and the higher vantage points possible, I’m excited for the next time I shoot at Stewartstown.