This fall I had a good friend reach out and ask if I can shoot some photos of the little league baseball team he was coaching. Most of 2021 has been a challenging year professionally and personally and I haven’t had a chance to shoot a lot, so I jumped at this. This photo opportunity was for the Lansing Lugnuts who are in Smyrna Little League AAA division.
A bit if nostalgia hit me seeing the kids out their playing, hearing the parents root for their littles ones, hearing coaches yelling out the phrases, “hey… pay attention!”, “good job” and the classic, “don’t swing at a ball over your head!” Most of the games were about the same, a lot of pitches that were balls, fielding errors, pass balls, and kids yelling out rally calls from their benches.
I had an opportunity to shoot 3 games for the Lugnuts. I used my Canon 7D with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, which was great for little league. Starting off I was a bit rusty, even though this was little league, there is still fast action going on. By the 3rd inning of the first game I shot I found myself back in the groove and shooting like I do this on a daily basis.
The 3rd and final game I shot for the Lugnuts would be their last of the season. They lost in the semifinals of the Smyrna AAA playoffs by the score 5 to 4. Even though these are little men on the field, they were in a few pressure situations that didn’t go their way. The good thing is they had a supportive coach who was encouraging and taught those guys valuable lessons after each game.
Smyrna, GA. Coach Adisa talking to his team and yet none of the players are paying attention. Rumor has it that coach Adisa has loss the team and the players are now just playing for snacks. - Just kidding here .
It was fun getting back out to shoot some baseball. I worked with the coach on getting shots of each kid to be printed out for their end of year party. It was a good feeling seeing the kids and parents' reaction of their photos. My hope is that these pictures will create lasting memories and build up their confidence. Who knows, maybe I have taken photos of a future big leaguer.
The fun of little league baseball, showing how many bats you can hold at once.
Until the next post,
2@N