The June 12 2024 Reds Guardians MLB Game At GABP
February 21, 2025
Photographing A Reds Guardians Game With A Large Crowd
In June 2024 I photographed a Major League Baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Guardians. This was an assignment for Cincinnati CityBeat. I have been photographing a few Reds games for the last couple of years, but this one was much more fun. Why? The large crowd.
Photographing the Reds is always fun but challenging. Attendance is generally really low during the week. For most of my life, the Reds have been a losing team. Not many fans show up. So when I am photographing the players on the field, there are thousands of seats empty in the background.
For the Reds-Guardians game, the stadium was maybe half full, considerably more full than any other game I have shot. This was exciting for me, as the photos would look different. Additionally, part of my assignment is to photograph fans in the crowd. When not many people are at the game, it is harder to find interesting fans to photograph. This was incredibly easier when photographing this Reds-Guardians game.
Photographing Sports When You Are Not A Sports Fan
I do not like sports, but I love photographing the Cincinnati Reds. All my life, my mom and sister have been obsessed with baseball and softball. Ohio sports teams have always been a disappointment to me including my high school and college teams. I decided years ago to just rid myself of the agony and disappointment that sports brings.
I grew up going to Reds games, always thinking they were boring. I always appreciated going to games because not everyone got to go. It was always fun, but I never cared about the games. When I am in the dugout photographing the teams now, I take time to appreciate that I have the ability to be there. Hundreds of thousands of fans would give anything to be shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best professional baseball players in the world.
