Fly Ball

It all began years ago while I was up in a rented helicopter capturing aerial shots for a client. From the air, you can see dozens of ball fields. While flying over cities, suburbs, or farmland, that familiar diamond shape jumps out.

Baseball diamonds are a bit like snowflakes … the shape is immediately recognizable but no two are exactly alike. I admit that photographing ball fields from on high is a bit of an obsession. As a kid I was really into following baseball, especially the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now I capture diamonds from the air. 

The sizes, colors, conditions and surroundings varies greatly. Baseball fields can spring up on virtually any piece of land--from a gritty North Philadelphia vacant lot to a manicured university turf field.

In contrast to photographing buildings from the air, ball fields are exceptionally flat. The character traits of a given field are etched in the terrain, whether it’s sand, grass, dirt or synthetic turf. Others are circular from base-rounding wear and tear that show a field’s age like tree rings in a stump.