I’m a sucker for good sports photography books. This includes both action and non-action work. Three or four years ago I was in Powell’s Bookstore in beautiful Portland, Oregon where I found shelves full of excellent sports photography books. One that caught my eye was “Prospects: A Portrait of Minor League Baseball” by David Deal. I bought the book and looked at the it years ago but forgot I had it. Little did I know I was imbued by Deal when I came up with the Andrew Brackman photo project. When I looked at his work I loved what he did and made a mental note that I would want to do something like this in the future. When I first saw this book I lived in Washington, DC long before I joined NC State and long before I knew who Andrew Brackman was.
About a week ago I was about to fall asleep when I jumped out of bed remembering that Deal’s book was on my bookshelf. I ran downstairs to check out the book again to see what kind of photos he had and measure them against my work so far on the Brackman project.
I was actually fairly happy to see that I had some good stuff in comparison; not to say that my stuff is as good as his of course. Deal did have some great images that made me say “Man! I want a photo like that.” That was especially true of some of his portraits where he took players aside to photograph them one-on-one. That is not something I have done with or talked to Brack about and am not sure if it would even be feasible. He also utilized some lenses with shallow DOP that I may consider employing myself. That Canon 50mm f/1.2 is looking tempting now. Bokeh baby! (sorry, only a photographer would get that)
Deal also has a great eye for light and did some powerful photos mixing light with dark areas. He made excellent use of ambient light in this project. If he used external light sources I can’t tell; and that is the mark of excellent photographer.
If you are a baseball fan, Deal lived a life that most fans and photographers dream about. In 1999 and 2000 he traveled the nation to states like Montana, North Carolina, Maryland, Oregon and Iowa just to name a few. He traveled to minor league stadiums with fairly unfettered access to the players in both the dugout and in the club house. This access helps capture the culture and life in minor league baseball not usually seen by fans.
Beyond the photography, “Prospects” offers great writing and insights on life in minor league ball. Take this passage as an example:
“The season’s schedule can become monotonous, so players will pass the time by searching the stands for attractive young women. In nearly every park I visited, girlfriends and single women sit behind the home dugout where they can be seen easily by home team players…. In an attempt to minimize the distractions during the game, the team issues a $25 fine to any player caught staring into the stands.”
Now, if I could just find someone like a book publisher to sponsor me for a year to do a project like this. Talk about the life.
If you are a baseball fan, I recommend this book make it’s way to your coffee table. The book is out of print however and may be hard to come by.