The Grapefruit League

There are a lot of wonderful things about the Grapefruit League. Watching baseball in February in shorts and a t-shirt while the rest of the country is freezing is certainly high on the list. Watching major leaguers play in a small venue is like watching your favorite band perform in a small club instead of a stadium.

You also get to see your favorite players relaxed and stress free as they seem to be playing just for the love of the game. But also you see players that you may never see again. Who is Thornton? I don’t know. He didn’t make the team, isn’t on the Pirates roster. But we watched him pitch two innings in Bradenton and he certainly looked good doing it. Hope he makes it to the show some day, just because.

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Fast Ball

Fast Ball

The Franchise…#22

No player has done more to help raise the Pittsburgh Pirates from the cellar than #22 Andrew McCutchen. Roberto Clemente wore number 21 and that number has been retired. I remember when Clemente was young and he lived next door to my parents in the Chatham West Garden Apartments in Pittsburgh. Clemente had this beautiful swing, even watching him hit foul balls was fun. Well, maybe not so much for the pitchers. McCutchen is the same. He looks beautiful hitting foul balls or in this case a home run as he did here against the Yankees in February.

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Pirates Outfielder Andrew McCutchen

Pirates Outfielder Andrew McCutchen

Sunset Walk

We have been back from Florida for two weeks now. Hole up in our mountain abode surrounded still by mountains of snow. Fortunately the snow is melting slowly so we can avoid some local flooding. Each day we watch the temperature creep up into the high twenties or low thirties and opt to walk on the treadmill watching episodes of Warehouse 13. I wish I could teleport and just take a walk on the beach. Note to self,”Stay south through March!”.

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Sunset Walk

Sunset Walk

A Coaching Moment

This is part of a series of three images taken during the Black and Gold Game in Bradenton Florida last month.It was great to see the expressions change during this short discussion about a missed catch in right field. It and some other sequences that I have captured have made me think of a potential book or gallery project called “Trips”. It would be an odd size book so maybe better as a gallery installation but I am way ahead of myself. I am still editing my novel and no other book project will happen ahead of “DreamMap”

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A Coaching Moment

A Coaching Moment

Sand Portrait

I have been occasionally taking self portraits since I first started photography in the 1960’s. This year the term “selfie” became a word according to The Webster Dictionary. I can’t think of a better word to describe our inward looking, self indulgent, jerk off culture of the modern times in which we live.

I feel kind of sorry for those who feel the need to document their lives by pointing a phone camera at their faces in front of a famous place or building. If nothing else ask another person with a camera to take your picture where your face isn’t terribly distorted by your cheap camera phone lens and you can actually see the beauty of your location. I am happy to do this and am asked frequently to take a souvenir picture for someone when I travel.

This my latest self portrait with my wife at Clearwater Beach.

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selfportrait

Yellow! Yellow! Yellow!

In the Robert Altman Classic “Nashville”, actress Geraldine Chaplin plays a journalist. She walks around babbling into a hand held tape record about everything she sees. In one scene she is walking through a field filled with abandoned School Busses saying in her funny British accent “Yellow, Yellow, Yellow.

This orchid got the message. Grown and cared for with many others by my friend Jerry Synowiec in Florida.

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Yellow Yellow Yellow

Yellow Yellow Yellow

Florida’s Unique Shy Wolf Sanctuary

Did you ever think you could stand inside a wolf habit and pet a wolf? Well you can.

Naples Florida is home to a unique charity,The Shy Wolf Sanctuary. They rescue wolves that have been bred or purchased as pets and then abused or abandoned. The sanctuary is the only wolf sanctuary in the USA where you can actually interact with these beautiful wild animals. They are totally supported by donations and merchandise sales. The staff is made up completely of volunteers. Plan a trip while in south Florida for a real wildlife encounter.

If you buy a print of this image, I will donate all my profits to this wonderful organization.

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Petting a Wolf

Petting a Wolf