Opening Day in Cincinnati

                        Great American Ballpark by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Reds bring new confidence into season

 

Defending NL Central champs know what it feels like to win by Mark Sheldon of MLB

 

The Reds take nothing for granted, but have carried a confidence throughout Spring Training that they can repeat as National League Central division champions.


No, there weren't any major upgrades or additions to the roster during the winter -- or spring -- while rivals like the Brewers and Cardinals were busy. Then again, when you had the NL's best offensive team, one of the best defenses and a deep pitching staff, how much tinkering can really be done?


The stability is welcomed as they prepare for Opening Day against the Brewers today at 2:10 p.m. ET, but it comes with a caveat: The younger players are expected to keep taking steps forward.

"I think any time you have or nearly have your 25 guys set before Spring Training even starts, it's a huge advantage for any team," Reds first baseman Joey Votto said. "I think a lot of people don't give us enough credit -- people come up with complaints about us not making trades or any major moves in the offseason. But so often, players come into their own over time and go from being average to above-average ballplayers in one offseason. That happens when you're in your 22-28-year-old range, the younger part of your career. I don't think we needed to make any more adjustments."

              National League MVP, Joey Votto by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Votto, 27, is the reigning NL Most Valuable Player, coming off a huge year and a jump to elite status. But he is hardly a one-man show.

                 Jay Bruce by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Ohio Sports Photography

Right fielder Jay Bruce, 23, hit a career-high 25 home runs and finished strong after a rough start to 2010. Ditto for 26-year-old center fielder Drew Stubbs, who hit 22 homers and is still developing as a hitter. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, 29, is capable of hitting 30 homers and was a first-time All-Star and became a two-time Gold Glove winner last season
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The pitching staff was a stable bunch, as well -- until the final 10 days of camp, when health issues thinned the rotation.


Shoulder injuries put No. 3 starter Johnny Cueto and No. 4 starter Homer Bailey on the disabled list to start the season, but neither are considered seriously injured. No. 2 starter and 2010 17-game winner Bronson Arroyo was diagnosed with mononucleosis and will keep pitching while trying to conserve energy.

The Reds have already been able to look to younger pitchers like Travis Wood, Mike Leake and Sam LeCure to step up behind Edinson Volquez and Arroyo.

Reds manager Dusty Baker obviously didn't plan on testing his rotation's depth this much, this early. But he steadfastly remained positive about the situation.

"What you going to do?" Baker said. "Everybody is doom and gloom. I'm not like that. I was taught to find a solution. Instead of the sky is falling, Chicken Little and 'oh me, oh my,' you try to figure out a solution. The problem is going to be there. It's already there. I hate it, but it's there."

                          Francisco Cordero by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

The unexpected, but short-term worries about the rotation are joined by other questions. Can a slimmed-down Francisco Cordero take his solid spring performances into the regular season? Will flame throwing Aroldis Chapman be a stable presence in a left-handed setup role? As the everyday left fielder, can Jonny Gomes build upon his career season from 2010? Can Paul Janish, who had a strong spring, thrive as the new regular shortstop? Will Scott Rolen be as productive in the second half with the wear-and-tear of the season on his body?

If the young core can make their expected improvements and others do their jobs well, Votto believes those questions -- and any others -- will answer themselves positively.

"We can be a much better team, I think," Votto said. "It all starts and ends with the pitching staff, but they're a young group of guys also. I notice huge leaps between offseasons. You can step back, think about the mistakes you've made and how you want to improve and adjust your training. You experience life lessons, and it pays off on the field."

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Tips on Becoming a Great Sports Photographer Part 3

   Big East Track Championships at University of Cincinnati by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

...Part 3

Freezing Action Shots

So far, we have discussed each event and they types of shots to be taken. Safeties generally are taken at times where the action is minimal, and we don't have to concentrate as much on freezing the action. But what sells, and what the viewers want to see are people suspended in mid-air. They want to see the crisp ball laying just off the receivers finger tips. To do that, we must freeze the action.

Freezing the action requires fast shutter speeds. Most modern, high end 35mm SLRs have a top shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second. Except for a speeding bullet, this is about fast enough to catch anything you or I are likely to shoot, even an Indy car blasting around the track at 230mph.

But it isn't that simple. Lets first discuss a standard photographic rule of thumb, which is the minimal speed for hand-holding a lens. The minimal shutter speed for hand holding a lens is 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. Thus a 50mm lens should not be hand held any slower than 1/50th of a second. A 300mm lens should not be hand held at less than 1/300th of a second. If your camera does not have shutter speeds between say 1/250 and 1/500, then you round up. So for a 300mm lens, your minimal hand hold speed may be 1/500th of a second. The more proficient you get, the more likely you are to be able to cheat by one shutter speed. A monopod is the preferred way for action photographers to gain additional steadiness. It can generally buy you one to two shutter speeds of hand holding.

Not only has it become more difficult to hand hold these lenses, it becomes harder to freeze the action as well. The lenses get heavier and harder to hold. Your breathing and heart beating and muscle strain are enough to cause still objects hard to capture. Longer lenses not only magnify the scene, they magnify the apparent movement. If a runner passes through the viewfinder with a 50mm lens attached in one second, then at 500mm, the same person moving at the same speed will pass in 1/10th of a second.

Generally, to freeze action, you need at least two full shutter speeds if not more faster than the hand hold speed. So for our 300mm lens, you will need at least 1/1200 to 1/2400 to freeze action with this lens (rounding up, that's 1/2000-1/4000th of a second). Even at these speeds, you may have to follow side to side movement, called panning to have the movement crisp when you expose the film Lets say you are shooting a car racing event. Even at high shutter speeds, if you hold the camera still and wait on the car, you will capture a blur. By matching the movement of the subject with the movement of the lens, you minimize the relative motion between the two.

For subjects coming to you or heading away, their apparent movement isn't as great. Many people make up some of the action freezing by getting things coming toward them.

Film is critical in freezing action. Each increase in film speed gets you one more shutter speed. So if you shoot an event with ISO 100 film and the best you can get is 1/500th of a second, switching to an ISO 400 film gets you to 1/2000th which may be enough to freeze the action. Going to ISO 1600, will take you to 1/8000th of a second.

Adding high shutter speeds, fast films, monopods, panning, or shooting objects as they come toward you, and capturing action at its peak will let you freeze fantastic shots.

Giving the illusion of movement.

Many new action photographers worry about freezing action, trying to get the crispest shots possible. Even veteran photographers will try for crisp shots, but they are not afraid to allow some blurring.

Stop and think about it for a minute. A baseball pitcher throws the ball, the batter swings the bat. Your eyes don't freeze the action precisely, so why should your pictures. A blurring bat, or an elongated ball leaving a blurry arm imply movement. As long as most of the body and the face is crisp a little motion in the hands, feet, and projectiles is acceptable and in many cases desired. This is another little cheat in not having that fast of a shutter speed.

Some times, we slow the shutter speed down intentionally to amplify the movement. We have all seen shots of runners where the background is a blur their arms and legs are a blur, but their body and head are fairly well focused. Combining panning, slower shutter speeds, and predictable movement and you can capture some very dramatic pictures showing all kinds of movement.

These types of shots require patients, work, and a lot of experimenting. Don't hesitate, when at an event to experiment with different techniques . . . after you get your safeties and your primary shots.

Emotion

Shots that lack emotion are ho-hum. They lack energy. They lack story telling ability. If there is no emotion, then there is little desire to view it. Most tight action shots of players will be emotional. Regardless of level, these players, when they are exerting themselves, exhibit emotion. From the little tee-ball player messing with her hair and her helmet, to the strain of a pole vaulter working to get over the cross bar, there is plenty of emotion to be found in sports. You will, from experience be able to edit out the shots that lack emotion and do not tell the story. But it requires shooting and shooting.

You should also look for emotion from other sources. As years of ABC's Wide World of Sports told us . . . The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Make sure to save film to shoot the players after their events. Or during their events, don't always focus on the ball, but on the emotion after the big 360 degree slam dunk. Don't forget to look for emotion in the coaches and the fans. A lot of the best shots come from the crowd.

Where to Start

 It's important to understand that not every photographer will be able to take this information and expect to step onto the field at Great American Ball Park, sit in the press gallery and expect to capture Grade A shots of Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. To get to that level, you have to have a proven sports portfolio and work for an agency who can get you access.

Before you get to that level, you have to shoot a lot of minor sporting events. The best place to start is your local youth leagues. Early in my career, I got broken in on high school sports, but through my experience there, I got to shoot for my college papers and year books. That allowed me access to shoot NCAA Division I sports early on. But I would not have had that opportunity without having developed a portfolio from my early days of shooting.

Local youth leagues provide you great access and opportunities to use smaller lenses to capture shots. As your portfolio develops, you can approach shooting at higher levels. You can get a lot of practice and experience here which is valuable when going to "The Show".

Today, I am back shooting for a small town paper and the highest level of sports that I have reasonable access to is high school. Even though I have been to "The Show", I still enjoy getting pictures of 5 year olds when they catch their first ball or score their first goal.

You may however get opportunities to shoot pro games from a fan's perspective. Depending on your location in the arena, you can get some reasonably good shots. Take your long lens and some high speed film and make the most of it. In these situations, freezing action isn't as important as being able to hand hold the lens. The players will be at such a distance that their movement will be like a person closer to you with a normal lens on. As long as you have enough shutter speed to get a steady shot you should be able to get memorable shots.

Summary

One final note. Don't rush your action assignments. Spend some time, and expect to burn some film. Only through practice and looking at the results and going back to it will you get the timing and skills needed to one day capture world class shots.


Written by Rob Miracle in 1998

Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Reds fans didn’t expect much when Jay Bruce was called up to the Reds in May of 2008, other than relentless greatness.

The Bruce whose walk-off homer gave the Reds the NL Central title Tuesday night was the Bruce fans initially expected to be the next Ted Williams – roughly every night, thank you.

“It’s been some ups and downs for me, but I’ve battled,” Bruce said, blinking champagne from his eyes in the postgame clubhouse. “This is unbelievable. There’s nothing like it.”

From the time Bruce became the Reds’ No. 1 draft pick in June 2005, he was tabbed a future star. After hitting his way up and out of Triple-A in May 2008, Bruce provided immediate dividends by going 11-for-19 to start his major league career. Expectations flew off the charts.

Bruce returned to planet Earth and finished with a .254 average (21 homers, 54 RBI) his rookie year.

In 2009, Bruce had some wondering if he would ever make it. He hit .223 with 22 homers and 58 RBI, and also missed two months with a broken wrist.

Come 2010, Bruce again has been streaky. A midseason funk included a paltry July, when he had no homers and five RBI for the month.

But, Bruce since Aug. 1 is hitting .319 with 12 homers and 25 RBI. For the year, he is now at .275 with 22 homers and 66 RBI. Defensively, his strong arm and range have made him one of the top right fielders in baseball.

Was Bruce thinking homer on his game-winner?

“No, no, no, no,” Bruce said. “I was just trying to get on base. It takes 25 guys to do it.”

Manager Dusty Baker started Bruce on Tuesday, even though Bruce was 1-for-17 lifetime against Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez. Baker had sat Bruce when the Reds faced Rodriguez in Houston recently.

Bruce went 0-for-3 to start the game Tuesday, then pounded a Tim Byrdak pitch to Kingdom Come.

“Hey man, law of averages,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “Tonight it didn’t quite work, but I’m glad he was in there to face Byrdak and be a winner. Sometimes you’ve got to stick with guys. Sometimes people don’t understand that you’ve got to show faith in them, in order for them to grow and get better.”

That is Bruce, who at the ripe old age of 23 has been through plenty in the majors.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot,” Bruce said. “The guys here, players, coaches, everyone has really stayed with me and stuck by me. I really appreciate that.

Posted by photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

Bruce Almighty Leads Cincinnati Reds to the Promised Land!

Reds Top Astros 3-2, Clinch NL Central

Cincinnati Claims National League Central Division Championship

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Houston Astros and clinched the National League Central Division championship on Tuesday night.

Fans spent Tuesday snapping up tickets ahead of the historic game. It was the first time the Reds won the National League Central Division title in 15 years.

A Jay Bruce walk-off home run sealed the deal for the team.

Bruce homered on the first pitch from Tim Byrdak in the bottom of the ninth for the 3-2 victory that secured the NL Central title.

It was a fitting finish to the unexpected championship drive. Cincinnati has won 22 games in its last at-bat, second-most in the majors.

Left-hander Aroldis Chapman (2-2) pitched a perfect ninth, topping out at 101 mph while showing playoff opponents the nasty stuff they can expect.

Bruce latched onto the first pitch from Byrdak (2-2) and lined it over the wall in center, sending teammates sprinting to home plate to pummel him after he touched home with the title-winning run while fireworks went off overhead.
With the title, Dusty Baker joined Bill McKechnie as the only managers to lead three different NL teams to the playoffs. Baker also has made it with the Giants and Cubs.

The Reds sold 30,151 tickets for the clinching game -- above-average for a cool September weeknight -- and took the field almost tasting it. Second baseman Brandon Phillips said he doesn't drink and has never taken so much as a sip of champagne.
"Everybody is looking forward to seeing me do it," Phillips said. "I don't know how it's going to taste. I don't know what's going to happen."

Most Reds were novices at the sip-and-spray tradition. Four female fans in the upper deck wore shirts that, side-by-side, urged the home team to "Show Us The Bubbly."

They showed some defense when Drew Stubbs stretched above the wall in center to steal a two-run homer away from Carlos Lee in the third inning, drawing a standing ovation.

The crowd was on its feet again in the sixth, when the Reds loaded the bases with none out. Phillips tied it at 2 with an infield single to the hole at shortstop, but Bruce grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Bruce made up for it on his next swing.

The Reds celebrated their title a day after Philadelphia clinched its fourth straight NL East title - no surprise there. The Reds' recent history made them a most unexpected playoff team.

The Reds hadn't reached the postseason since 1995, when Davey Johnson took them to the NL championships series, then lost his job because owner Marge Schott didn't like him.

After that, Cincinnati lost its way.

The Reds went through three owners, five general managers and seven managers without once making it back to the postseason. They came close in 1999 under Jack McKeon, losing a playoff for the wild card to the Mets. Ken Griffey Jr. arrived the following year, raising expectations for a long run of division titles.

Instead, the bottom fell out.

Griffey was hurt often and the Reds plunged into a streak of nine straight losing seasons, their worst in a half-century. Not even the move into Great American Ball Park in 2003 made much of a difference. Junior came and went. The losing went on.

Cincinnati finished fourth last season, its second under Baker, but the franchise thought it had the makings of something and kept the roster intact.

Right call.
The Reds got into the race in mid-May and didn't crack under pressure. Instead, the defending-champion Cardinals fell apart. The two teams were separated by no more than three games from mid-May to mid-August, matching each other win-for-win.
An emerging core of young players pulled it off.

First baseman Joey Votto grew into an MVP candidate this season, ranking in the top three in batting, homers and RBIs. The Reds' youth-laden lineup became the NL's most prolific, leading in batting average, runs and homers. The defense became one of the NL's best.

And Chapman put some sizzle in the stretch drive when he was called up in August and hit 105 on radar guns.
It was an emotional night for Baker, who won his fourth division championship as a manager. He also took the 1997 Giants, 2000 Giants and 2003 Cubs to the playoffs. He's the ninth manager to lead three different franchises to the playoffs, joining McKechnie, Johnson, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Joe Torre and Dick Williams.
Baker's father, Johnnie, died last November after a long illness.
"It's really special for me this year because I think about my dad a lot," he said. "Last year was very difficult. Every midnight call I got I thought was about my dad. He wasn't supposed to live past the All-Star break, then he wasn't supposed to live until August, then he wasn't supposed to live until September. He lasted until I got home.
"So I just knew when the season started that my dad was with me big-time."
The Reds won't be a postseason favorite, given their inexperience and their struggles against other top teams. They've gone 58-28 against losing teams, only 30-41 against those with .500 or better records.
For them, just getting there was a breakthrough.
Had the Saint Louis Cardinals lost their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, that would have also given the Reds the division title. A Cardinals loss would have also triggered fireworks.
The team had a big fireworks display after the win.
 
Posted by photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

Cincinnati Reds Outfielder, Jay Bruce learns from bout with adversity | MLB.com: News

Bruce learns from bout with adversity | MLB.com: News

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

Article from Baseball Prospectus on Cincinnati Reds

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9612&mode=print&nocache=1254773945

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

9 Days till Opening Day

Seems that I've always been lucky so far to have been able to catch Cincinnati Red's Outfielder Jay Bruce when he is about to hit a homerun. In this shot Bruce is loading up for a long drive into the right field bleachers.

Jay Bruce Cincinnati Reds Photograph. Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush