6/28 - June Sunset

Who knew New York could be a beautiful place!? It was a gorgeous night right outside my apartment so I decided to go out and walk around the apartment complex and take some pictures of the setting sunset behind the trees and the buildings.






6/25 - Thinking outside the box

Over the recent homestand, I've taken a couple of pictures that I was impressed with myself. I've also tried to get some different angles during the homestand. I was experimenting a lot, trying to think outside of the box and it turned out pretty nice. Overall, I was happy with what I did the past week. I'm always looking for new and creative images around the ballpark and you should start seeing more of them instead of the old generic action pictures. Anyway, here they are:





1 - Jose Morales attempts to tag Buck Coats at home plate
2 - Jason Repko eclipses the sun during the pre-game warmups
3 - Jacque Jones, Repko, and Dustin Martin stands in front of the flag for the national anthem
4 - A rainbow streaks across the sky after a rainy inning at Frontier Field

6/22 - Sports Illustrated Possibility?

So today at the baseball game, one of my bosses, Chuck Hinkel, the media relations director of the Red Wings, came up to me and asked me to take a photo of Frontier Field's famous popcorn chicken at the concession stand. He told me that Sports Illustrated might be using MY photo for some Minor League Ballpark's Best Food special. I don't know when it'll come out.

As per my friend Stephanie Kiessling's request, here are the photos! (not sure which one will actually be in there)



Now, I know it's not much, but like what my friend Ceasar Jones said, "It is, it is a small, but a great start nevertheless!"

6/21 - Digging My Archives, Eva at Lake Superior

Tonight, I decided to dig around my archives and see what I can find to post to this blog. Over the past few days at Frontier Field (Home of the Red Wings), I've been shooting a couple of the players' kids, and it reminded me of my little second cousin, Eva Alexandra Parks. Last summer in 2009, my whole family and I went up to Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota together for a week-long vacation. There at Lake Superior, I was taking millions of shots and I got a lot of shots of little Eva, who was about 18 months young at the time. Here's a couple shots of her. Cute, isn't she?







6/20 - The Repkos

Today after the game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox), they had a post-game special where fathers and their kids and go on the field and play catch in honor of Father's Day. When I went on the field, I saw the Wings' centerfielder, Jason Repko, and his toddler son (didn't catch his name) playing catch on the field. So I got some pretty nice shots of the two and the mother in the end as well.







6/20 - Happy Father's Day


I just wanted to wish you a very happy father's day. Thank you for EVERYTHING that you've done for me in the past 21 years and I thank you in advance for everything that you will do for me. You are my truly one and best friend of all time (no offense, Mr. Upton and Mr. Nulph). I've thought about finding some father's day poem and put it in here to show you my love, but I realized something: They're all a load of crap and I know the best way do this thing is just to be blunt with you. So here goes:

I love you dad. Happy Father's Day. Thank you for everything.




"I am the eagle
I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals
That reach to the sky"
~ John Denver




First two images, the credits goes to my mom. First one was at my high school graduation. The second one was in Grand Marais, Minnesota in 2007. The third one was at our cabin on Lake Superior.

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And just for the giggles, here's my backup dad, Uncle Steve:


6/19 - Life's a Beach

Today I hit Ontario Beach in Northern Rochester on a somewhat gloomy day. It was still a hot, humid day, yet cloudy. But it was still nice out at the beach, until it started raining. Anyway, here's some snapshots from the beach today.









6/18 - Buck "Coats" the Competition

For this weekend's series between the Rochester Red Wings and the Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox), I got to see an old friend of mine, Buck Coats. He was with the Iowa Cubs when I was the bat boy back in 2006. We got to know each other that year and turns out that he was a pretty cool guy. Yes, Buck Coats is his real name. Doesn't even have a middle name.

"I was raised on a farm," Coats said in an interview back in 2006. "Just Buck Coats. No middle names."





1 - Coats awaits for the pitch

2 - Coats eyes a ball in left field

3 - Coats follows through on a 2-run triple in the 7th inning

4 - Coats in the dugout


6/12 - The Birthday City

Ahh... Chicago. One of my favorite places to be. For my 21st birthday, I got to spend the weekend with my parents and one of my best friends, Dylan Nulph, in Chicago. We got an awesome condo with an unbelievable and stunning view of the Chicago Skyline. The night lights is just surreal. I could just sit in the condo and stare out of the window all day and never get tired of it.





Leading off the set of the images is the skyline of Chicago taken directly from the condo. You can see Lake Michigan in the background and when it gets dark enough, you can look across the lake and see the lights from Michigan and Indiana.

The second picture is the John Hancock Tower, the second tallest building in Chicago.

The third image is the Wrigley Tower, fading away into the dark night.

In the final picture, there was a fireworks going on over the Navy Pier (about a mile away from the hotel) and the view of the fireworks over the skyline was just incredible and astonishing.



6/8 - Danny Boy

Congratulations to Danny Worth! He just got recalled to the Detroit Tigers yesterday to replace Adam Everett, who has been designed for assignment. It'll be his second stint with the Tigers this season and hopefully, he'll stick around for more than a couple of weeks. Here's a few more shots that I took of Danny right before he got called up to the show.



The first picture that I took, he saw me with the camera and he suddenly got shy. Aww....

6/7 - Worth Watching

During the school year at RIT, I've met many different friends from my Photo Arts class and there were three girls in my class that are on the volleyball team. One of them, Christina Worth, actually has a brother that plays baseball for the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers). They're in town this weekend playing the Red Wings, so I got some great pictures of Danny in the meantime. Also, I've put up a pair of pictures of Christina as well. Check it out!






They look alike, don't they? I don't see it.

Another ironic thing.... they both play for the Tigers.

GO TIGERS!!

6/4 - What? Can't Hear Ya!





STRIKE!! What? Can't hear ya! That's right. Ryan Ketchner, a pitcher for the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) is actually deaf. This is just another example that deaf people can do anything. They simply just can't hear. That's all. Ketchner uses two hearing aids on both of his ears to help him hear the coaches, players, and the umpires. He could become the first deaf pitcher to make it to the bigs since Luther Taylor did so in 1908. If you look closely in the 1st and third pictures, you'll notice that he's wearing his hearing aids during the game. That's his decision. If it was me personally, I'd keep my cochlear implant off. Helps me stay focused on the game. But this is definitely an inspiring story and every deaf child should look up to him as a role model, even if he hasn't made it to the majors yet.

6/3 - Happy Valencia's Day

Yesterday, third baseman Danny Valencia, who I have been developing a friendship with, just got called up to the Minnesota Twins to fill in for Michael Cuddyer, who went on the bereavement list. I'm so happy for him to finally get a taste of the majors. He has been doing really well with the Wings, hitting .292 with 15 doubles and 24 RBIs in 47 games. So here's a few pictures that I've taken of Danny over the past few weeks.





One thing that I know for sure, he always smiles for the camera. :-)

Here's a link to an article on him: Twins call up Valencia for finale vs. Mariners

6/3 - Rochester Red Wings vs. Norfolk TIdes





For this blog, I thought I'd try to do something a little bit new. After each series I worked with the Red Wings, I'm going to post the best pictures (one per game) from the series. So leading off this little segment on this blog, I present the Rochester Red Wings vs. Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles).

In game one, Matt Tolbert went 1-3 with a triple and a run. He was the Wings' lone run in that game, as they dropped the first game of the series, 2-1.

Game 2 brought a lot more excitement, however they lost the game 4-3. They were down 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning and tied it on a Dustin Martin's 2-run double. However, the Tides pulled out a rally in the top of the ninth inning and beat the Wings. In the picture, Glen Perkins, who has been struggling the whole season, had a decent outing, throwing seven strong innings and gave up only two runs, notching himself a quality start.

The third game of the series, the Wings picked up their first victory of the series, winning the match 5-4. In the game, the Red Wings were wearing green jerseys to help promote United Way. Shortstop Trevor Plouffe smashed a go-ahead 2-run home run in the fifth inning.

In the final game, the Red Wings split the series with a dominating victory of 9-0. Starting Jeff Manship was outstanding, as he threw a complete game shutout. He picked up 6 strikeouts and allowed only 4 hits along the way. He also only needed 92 pitches to get through the game.

The Red Wings face the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) this weekend. I've been looking forward to this series for a while for two reasons: Ryan Ketchner and Danny Worth. Ketchner is a pitcher for the Mud Hens and he is deaf. Worth is the older brother of a good friend of mine at RIT. Should be fun to watch them.