Big Joe

Do you have someone who encouraged you to fuel your passion? I sure did. His name was Joe. He was one of the original team photographers for the SOMD Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. Opening night of 2008, the very first game for the Blue Crabs, he was the only photographer in the stadium who got a shot of the first pitch. In fact, you can count probably 5 or more news photographers, in the stands etc, just standing there talking to someone. Joe was a baseball guy like me and he knew the importance of that shot. In 2009 I was just a season ticket holder and by 2010 I had purchased a little point and shoot camera to just take photos from my seats, just for myself as memories. It wasn’t long before I purchased my first DSLR. It was a low level model but it was the start of my passion for photography. I had good friends in the staff and 2010 I was given a credential. I wasn’t going to do much more than move around the stands some to empty seats to get photos. Still pretty much just taking for myself. Joe saw me one game and told me to come down to the field and shoot. I knew at that time I had no place down there but he must have seen something in me to ask me to come down. We both loved the game. We loved to listen to the managers in the dugout and before the game talking ball. He taught me a lot about using a camera and settings etc. It wasn’t long before I upgraded my gear. I was hooked and Joe knew it. Before long Joe and I were teaching each other. We loved learning as much as we could about photography. We would hang out before the game and chat with players and so on and then we usually went to opposite sides of the field to start shooting the game. We would switch sides at various points. The point was to make sure that one of us got the shot. We knew if there was a great play and we were on opposite sides, one of us would get it. Who got it didn’t matter to either of us. It was only important that someone did. At some point later in the game we would end up side by side and talking. Once I got working in many more places it didn’t take long to figure out that isn’t how many photographers feel about other photographers. What Joe and I had was special. We had much more in common than baseball and photography. We both were from Pa, where our dads were in the funeral business. We loved the same types of sports and music. We found we had a lot of the same experiences growing up. We loved getting together for dinner during the season and during the off season. Together we expanded our shooting to affiliated baseball in Bowie. Joe’s health got to him and by 2015 he wasn’t able to shoot as many games as he wanted to. That didn’t stop him from pushing me forward. As I got more opportunities to shoot things he was so proud. I wanted to do the best I could and to learn as much as I could to make him proud of us both. It was like I was always taking him with me where ever I went. As he did for me I wanted to be sure I was going to pass on to someone else what I was learning. His job and health kept him away from the ball park in his last years. We talked about retirement and all we would do. He got to games that he could and I cherish those moments we had, especially as they were not as frequent. Joe finally got to retire but we never got to do all the things we had planned. He passed away shortly after he retired. It was so very sudden and I never got to say good-bye like I would have wanted to. I still have him with me on every shoot. I know there are times when I screw up that he is laughing at me. I still shoot every game wanting him to be proud. I am so thankful that he took the time that one day to get me down on the field. He pushed me to my passion and encouraged me to do everything I could. We all have that person in our lives. We can only hope that one day someone says the same thing about us.