Baseball Photos on Zimbio

If you're like me, you've searched Google Images for photos of your favorite players past and present. Recently, I discovered the power of Zimbio, an online magazine publisher, which has a nice gallery to view ballplayers as well as other celebrities.

There are different ways to get to the galleries, but the easiest one I've found is by manually typing in the person's name like so into your browser's navigation toolbar:

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Joey+Votto
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Prince+Fielder
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Albert+Pujols

Zimbio immediately tells you above the first photo how many press photos (usually from Getty Images or AP Photos) it has archived of the person. You can also preview the thumbnails to the right, similar to Yahoo's MLB Gallery. The main difference is that Yahoo managed to pull an archive of 80 photos for Joey Votto, whereas Zimbio pulled a 247 photo archive. Zimbio also has a black background, providing better contrast for viewing the photos.

One caveat is that while Google Images pulls earlier images from the entire world wide web, Zimbio only pulls press photos. So if you're looking for that 1964 Topps Willie Mays card, you're better off using Google Images or EBAY. However, if you're somehow interested in following retired players in the press, Zimbio is a nice place to start your search. For example:

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Willie+Mays
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Mike+Schmidt
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Nolan+Ryan

Vintage LIFE Baseball Photos: Donn Clendenon

RECENTLY I CAME ACROSS some vintage LIFE baseball photos on Google Images, including this outstanding image of former New York Mets Donn Clendenon. Having been born after the '69 Mets made history, looking at a photo like this is the closest I'll ever get to experiencing baseball before my day--the wool, the felt letters, the high sleeves, the tiny wristband, the thin cap. But it's quite obvious that the photo needed a bit of optimizing in order to make viewers feel as if they're standing right there next to Mr. Clendenon. So I decided to optimize the photo using three adjustment steps in Photoshop that I typically use with vintage photos in order to get more accurate colors. These steps aren't necessarily all that I would use to optimize a photo professionally, but they help give me a quick look at a photo's restoration potential. This is not a tutorial, but rather a quick step thru of the process leading to the final result.

STEP 1: Adjusting light levels

STEP 2: Adjusting Color Balance

STEP 3: Adjusting Saturation

After

Before

(NOTE: It is not my intent to use these photos without permission, but rather through what I consider to be "fair use", I'm posting these photos for those who share an appreciation of vintage baseball photography. For this reason, I have posted smaller, low-resolution photos than the originals.)

Rural Baseball

WHAT DO YOU GET when you combine the innocence of youth with baseball? Flickr member lanier67 captured the answer perfectly with this charming photo. There is no real baseball bat, nor is there a real baseball. All these two kids needed was part of a tree branch and a pine cone, and it doesn't get any more natural than that.

(Photo credit: flickr/lanier67)

Statues at Nationals Park

IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS TURNING INTO a Washington Nationals blog, just that you really ought to see these recently unveiled statues of Walter Johnson, Frank Howard and Josh Gibson outside of Nationals Park created by sculptor Omri Amrany. Make your own judgments about them. Love, dislike or apathy? Yes, those are multiple limbs, balls and bats.







(Photo credits: flickr/Shelley935)

Night Diamond

NIGHT BASEBALL has been around for quite some time now, and this photo captures but one of thousands of lighted fields in North America. I'm drawn to the photo because it captures in a quaint way a small pocket of baseball in Toronto. From the soft glow of light on the field to the limited bench seating, this game is nestled quite cozily into the hillside. It's worth noting that the lighting is much more subdued than found in Major League Baseball. It is also strongly reminiscent of Morris Kantor's Night Baseball painted in 1934.



(Photo #1 credit: flickr/sewm)
(Photo #2 credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum)

Misty Fall Baseball

DID YOU THINK of the movie Field of Dreams when you saw this photo? This is actually taken from a game in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, according to the photographer. There are a few things that make this a great photo. The fog. Fog is dramatic and has a tendency to suspend our sense of reality. It creates a mystery where details are unclear and leaves us in wonder. In particular, that the outfielder's feet disappears into the ground makes it almost seem as if he's floating. The outfielder's relaxed pose is also quite calming to the viewer. Had he been in a more tense and tucked position, the mood would be dramatically different yet still effective. Another nice aspect of this photo is the sense of depth established by the foreground and background via the simplest of details. The edge of the infield dirt defines the foreground while the chain-linked fence stands in the background. The photo doesn't need anymore detail and gives us just enough to make us ponder the game of baseball.

(Photo credit: flickr/Sister72)

Safeco Field: A Well Rounded View

KNOWN AS A PITCHER'S PARK, Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, in this picture, is vast yet intimate. This fish eye lens shot not only gives us that sense of peering into a ball game, it also captures the wonderful tension between a warmly lit ball field and the cool weather above. There are many wide angle shots of stadiums out there, but the majority of them are taken behind homeplate. This one is refreshing because the shot was taken relatively high up, thus making the shot less claustrophobic, and because the vastness of the outfield grass is at center stage rather than the infield. It effectively makes the ballpark seem larger to the naked eye.

In addition to the field itself, my eye is naturally drawn to the man with the cutoff tee and grey cap. Isn't Seattle too cold at night to be wearing short sleeves? Or is this one of those rare warm summer nights we've been hearing about up there? Whatever the case may be, the man looks comfortable and engaged in the game, and his proximity makes me feel like I'm there next to him watching the ball game.

(Photo credit: flickr/ArtBrom)