Oh boy, I think that my maid needs to be fired after seeing all of the dust collecting around here! As you can probably guess, the wedding season and traveling combined have kind of kicked my butt. I’ve still been pretty good about getting images up on the Anna Lynch McClary Photography Facebook Page though. The ironic part is that I’m poking my head in here just to let everyone know that I’m jumping on another airplane tomorrow and will be out of reach for a few days. The next couple of weeks I get to travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Colorado, and even make a stop in Nebraska for weddings and senior sessions. I’m going to miss my bed and my kitties, but it should be a good time filled with lots of great photo opps.

Oh, and when I return, I vow to be a better blogger. To show my seriousness, here is one image from each of the sessions that I shared on Facebook today.

-alm

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I’ve often bragged about my seniors on here. It seems like so often all you hear about high schoolers is what crappy attitudes they have and basically that if it isn’t one issue its another. I don’t know if I’m just lucky, or what’s going on, but since I started shooting seniors a few years back I’ve never left a session and felt like one of them had a bad attitude or even thought, “Wow, they’re in for a rude awakening after high school.” My seniors have all had their heads on straight, been ridiculously polite, and really just super sweet and fun!

My two seniors last week, Richie and Sarah (her sneak peek will be up Friday) definitely fell into this awesome category. Oh, I should also add, that they’ve all been crazy good looking!

-alm

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I have what seems like a hundred million other images that need to be blogged, but I wanted to get a few of these up while they’re fresh in my memory. This past Sunday our niece and nephew rolled into Fort Wayne on one stop of their Midwest ballpark tour vacation with their mom and dad. One of the big drawbacks of living out here is that we miss out on so much with these two. We packed quite a bit in while they were here though.

The first night’s agenda didn’t go exactly according to plan, however. Mother nature decided to unleash a couple of inches of rain on the field just as Stephanie went down to race Johnny (the TinCaps mascot) at the TinCaps game. She was plenty bummed out, at least until her “new friend” Brad came over the radio and asked if she could come back Monday to race. From pretty much that point until the race the next day, that was all we heard about. She continually insisted that it was her lucky day, after Sunday was scratched from the lucky day list.

She definitely enjoyed the limelight and her big screen time. She even had a few people recognize her up on the concourse which only lamented the fact that she was a celebrity.

After a quick meal, it was onto the play area.

I have to laugh at how different these two are already. Brennan is very much a taking it all in kind of kiddo, while even at his age Stephanie wanted to be in the middle of it all. This picture just cracked me up, because it totally described their personalities.

I was totally impressed by how fearlessly 5 year old Stephanie scaled the huge climbing wall.

One of the perks of having an uncle that spends so much time at the ballpark is that you get to “help” out with the field.

The next day we were off to a quick park trip and then time to continue on with the ballpark tour in Chicago.

What a bummer it was to miss out on Buehrle’s perfect game by less than 24 hours. Everyone enjoyed U.S. Cellular and Chicago though. Stephanie and Brennan even took a night off of cheering for the Rockies to root on the White Sox.

It was a bummer to have to leave them before they headed back to Colorado, but the real world and our jobs were calling. Right about now they are probably taking in a game at Wrigley before starting the drive back to Colorado. Thanks for coming out guys, we already miss you!

-alm (aka Aunt Anna and Uncle Mitch)

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I used to be able to stay up as late as I wanted and never have a problem. Now, it is 10:30 (which is actually 12:30 in my regular timezone) and I’m struggling to get my fingers to do what my brain says.

Today was a jam packed day of staring at a computer until I headed out to Ovid to shoot one of my favorite cutie little boys. I can’t wait to get up a few images from today’s session, and I know his mom can’t either. They’ll definitely be worth the wait though.

Before I give in to the sandman, I needed to stay good on my promise of an image from Parkview. It wasn’t the original image I was going to blog. In fact, it was one of the very last ones I even edited, but is a new favorite for me. This shot is taken in left field, where the doors to Mitch’s shop open onto the field.

-alm

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It is currently almost 3:00 a.m. on what is finally the TinCaps Opening Day. I left Parkview Field about 1:00 a.m., and there were quite a few members of the front office still there, putting their finishing touches on their contributions to the big day. On the field were two guys who will probably still be there for a couple more hours, will go home, catch maybe two hours of sleep, grab a quick shower, and head back down to the stadium. Those guys are Grant, the Assistant Groundskeeper, and my husband, the Head Groundskeeper, Mitch.

Like the title says, this post is me bragging a little bit, so be forewarned that the cheesiness begins here. Almost five years ago, in a moment that can only be described as fate, I met Mitch (the fact that he ever even talked to me after that night is a miracle in itself). From pretty much that day on my friends were asking if he had a brother, because they knew there was no way that I was crazy enough to ever give him up. As if treating me like a queen, encouraging me to follow my dream of photography, and being the best friend I could ask for isn’t enough, he is also one of the hardest workers I have ever met. Mitch doesn’t do anything half way. If something isn’t done right, he will start over, and continue to start over until it is perfect. Just tonight when I asked how things were going, he showed his perfectionist side, and voiced his concerns over the couple of spots where the sod hadn’t taken yet. I’ve lost track of the amount of nights that he has pulled all nighters to make sure that his lines are straight in the mow pattern and his on field painting is exactly as he had it pictured. On top of being the kind of man that I can’t help but be incredibly proud of, he has somehow managed to balance those long nights, and the long hours, that working at a ballpark requires, with spending quality time at home.

Tonight as I was getting ready to head home, I was standing on the warning track behind home plate, (trying to keep off of the grass) just taking it all in. All night I could sense the beginning of an absolutely electric atmosphere, and couldn’t help but feel 100% thankful for our far from perfect life, that just seemed pretty perfect tonight.

Hard to believe that the end of September Mitch was finalizing the design for the field and eagerly watching for progress.

So many fans often take the playing surface for granted… I know I used to. Now that I “get” to hear all about the different varieties of Kentucky Blue that are on the field, which one is coming out of dormancy a little slower than the others, and why Poa is such a bad thing, I appreciate it a LOT more.

Parkview has already provided so many memorable moments, it is going to be great to see what new ones pop up throughout the season. (Hint: Those who attend the game tomorrow will better understand what was going on in this shot.)

I think this is probably the best “self portrait” of us that I could finish this post with. Thanks for putting up with my cheesiness and allowing me to gush. I’m normally very anti-PDA, so I’m going to consider this giving credit, where credit is due.

-alm

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In a previous post I had mentioned how much I was looking forward to being able to separate baseball and photography this year. However, I didn’t explain myself very well. There’s no way that I can just put the camera down all together, especially when it comes to my other love. I can however, say no more “canned”  and expected shots. The work that I did when working at the ballpark wasn’t necessarily my style. In fact, my style tends to zoom in on the details and change the way an everyday item might be seen. Not to say I won’t every now and then have the stereotypical pretty field shot (my husband wouldn’t let me stop taking those), but I really like shooting whatever floats my boat.

And finally a shot of the field. They were finishing up on the net yesterday when I stopped by. Also, anyone who has been by the field or checked out the webcam will have noticed the a couple of the growth blankets are missing. After the hurricane that swung through last Thursday, Mitch went into the field only to find that a *few* of the blankets had grown legs and moved. Luckily, they were all still on the field, just up against the walls and dugouts. I think it is pretty safe to say that they’ve turned into his nightmare for the week.

I really can’t wait to post up some shots when everything is all finished and greened up. Parkview Field and the entire Harrison Square project are truly going to be gems.

-alm

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It isn’t opening day, but it is the next best thing… first spring training game! While I enjoy watching basketball, football and hockey, it just isn’t the same as baseball. The end of October leaves me counting down until this very day. My beloved Rockies have their first game today down in Arizona. Here’s hoping this is the beginning of a much better than 2008 season!

Baseball is a way of life in my house. In fact, if it weren’t for baseball we’d probably be living in a cardboard box since it is responsible for Mitch’s paycheck. Last year I joined my two loves and had the opportunity to shoot baseball. While it was a good experience, I think the two are better left separated. Because of the crazy and demanding schedule I missed out on most of wedding season and only got in a select few sessions.

Locally, we’re gearing up for the start of the TinCaps season here in Fort Wayne. Opening day isn’t until April 16th, but the longer hours are starting for Mitch, and I’m hearing more about fertilizer programs, equipment, grass, and dirt. Single game tickets went on sale yesterday and it sounds like it is going to be a packed house that first night. I can’t wait!

The best part of all of this… spring is right around the corner! I’ve been eyeing a new bike, and thinking that I can’t wait until it is nice enough for me to ride down to the ballpark.

We were with a short season team last year, so this opening day wasn’t until the middle of May. The crazy part was that it was COLD that night!

Mitch doing what he does best, playing in the dirt and grass working on the field.

My parents flew in for a weekend and I had a day off. What did we do? Well, we watched baseball of course. By the way, you have no idea how hard it was to get someone to take this picture… can’t say Cubs fans are the friendliest around.

Welcome back baseball!

-alm

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Where did my life summer go? Seeing as how it’s been a long while since I last posted, you can probably guess that I underestimated the time that I would spend at the ballpark. Although I haven’t had much, or really anytime this summer, I have kept shooting. The nice thing has been that besides the daily baseball shoots, I have been making an effort to shoot more for myself. I’ll slowly share some of those images now that I am getting closer to having my life back.

However, this should not come as a shock that the only images I have handy right now are baseball shots. Here is one that I got when Mitch, my friend Maribeth, and I drove up to Canada for the Northern League All Star Game. It worked out that the guys were playing in Fargo the day before, so we stopped there first.

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