Had the chance to spend the day in the sun at Wrigley today. Best of all, the Cubs won on a walk-off walk 2-1 in 10 innings...

Derrek Lee gets plunked by Jeff Suppan in retaliation for Carlos Zambrano hitting Prince Fielder in the previous inning. This caused the umps to issue a bench warning.

Man, those red hats look rough. Anyway, I like the second one better because you can see the ball and the tag. Great shots all around!

Nice as usual - I agree, the second one is better if for no reason than you can see Suppan's head. It's got the catcher, runner and ump -- the first is more just Hill. Both nice captures of course

The red hats are awful, just a way to sell more merch

The way this game ended was embarrassing, a bases-loaded walk on a pitch that was clearly strike three. Granted Fox worked a great at-bat, but there's no question it was a strike. The umpires have been brutal this season. Zambrano would have erupted if it was him on the mound instead of Suppan on that call

Great shots, do you have one of DiFelice's last pitch?

Haha Jeff Suppan sliding in at home. Is he nuts. Nice capture on the 2nd shot on the slide, the first one does not work for me, not enough Suppan Dennis.

Ted

Yeah, that ball four call was close. But, hey, I TiVo'ed the game and watched it (through the magic of fast forwarding through all the commercials and between pitch stuff) and there were plenty of close calls that went both ways all game.

The red hats were a little much - especially with the Cubs wearing their home blue jerseys. They wear these almost all home games when Zambrano pitches. The hats also tend to ruin the value of the shots as stock images. I mean, the NORMAL Cubs hats are already red, white and blue.

On the home plate shots, I agree about the second one being the better shot: it shows the very brief moment of the tag at the plate (in real time, it wasn't clear that Hill had made the tag) and it gets all of Suppan in the frame. Too bad Hill closed his eyes at the point of impact, but I suppose I would also close my eyes if a 200 pound athlete were barreling down on me.

Time like this, I also find myself wishing I had a 300 instead of my 400, slapped on the front end of my MkIIn (or I wish Canon would finally offer a lens like the excellent Nikon 200-400).

Thanks for the comments, and to those in the USA, Happy 4th!

Dennis these are great shots as usual. That shot of Zambrano is a killer....those color are so vibrant.

Frank Lauri

Yeah, what Frank said. Beautiful image quality... and nice grabs. The second shot with Suppan is the winner-- his missing head kills the first one.

Solid work as usual, Dennis.

Thanks for the kind words. Further to my comment about wishing I had a 300, here's a shot from about 400 feet away that shows even a 400 can be too short. This is an aggressive crop that shows the results of being cropped too much - lower than desired image quality. I'm not happy with the exposure and sharpness, but thought I'd use this as an example of how one lens (a 400) can be too tight for one situation (the play at the plate) and too loose for another - a shot of an outfielder playing a ball deep in his field.

It's a shot of the Cubs right fielder doing what he has done several times this year: losing a battle with the Sun, and trying to catch the ball with his right forearm. In the words of Rocky the Squirrel: "Again? That trick never works!"

Dennis,
While the second shot is better,I do like the intensity of the catchers eyes in the first one.
Great colors and sharpness in all, maybe white blown a bit in the last but you already mentioned your displeasure with this shot,still not to bad though.
You need one of them double mounted monopods with 2 1d bodies, one with a 300 2.8 and one with the 400 2.8. Like you dont have enough equipment weight to pack around already...lol.

jni-ss.com

Hi Dennis,

I think your photos are great. I always like what you post.

But, coming from a Brewers fan, and having watched it time and again on Sportscenter, I think that last pitch was a strike!

Keep the good shots coming.

Steve

Hey, thanks for the kind words.

That pitch might have been a ball, and it also might have been a strike, but in the old umpire's adage "it ain't nothin' until I call it", and he called it a strike..........Cubs Win!

Dennis

Dennis, nice shots! I'm starting to think the same thing about my 400. Love it, but sometimes too tight for my style of shooting. I really miss my 300, it was great for baseball, hockey and even football for me. Plus it was a joy to carry around compared to my 400. I may be looking for a trade soon and go back to the 300.

Very nice images, and I agree 2nd photo of the tag is better.

NIce shots. Gosh, those red hats are just awful...