Category: Meet the Bloggers
How Jon SooHoo got the best action shot of 2015
Jon SooHoo captures The Catch and says, “Everything happens for a reason.” Click photo for high-rez version.
Jon SooHoo is in his 30th year as a photographer covering the Dodgers, and he just celebrated the anniversary with one of the greatest shots of his career. SooHoo, whose LA Photog Blog has been one of the most popular spaces at MLB.com/blogs over the past five years, captured the widely seen photo Tuesday at Wrigley Field of Cub fan Keith Hartley interfering with Adrian Gonzalez and catching a baseball while holding his baby. The umps got it right, the fan got the ball, baby Isaac got fed, and SooHoo got the remarkable shot. I traded emails with SooHoo today for a first-hand account of the photo, plus some of the follow-up photos he took at the bottom of this Q&A. Take a look:
What was your reaction when you knew you were getting this photo?
Most of the time I carry a body with long lens and a body with a short zoom lens and because the photo wells are so close to the fans and the field, you never know what you can get if you bring the extra body with a smaller zoom. This play I had the camera up to begin with and once I could see the ball in flight and knew it wasn’t close to hitting me, I started to focus on Adrian as he came closer and then it happened.
Can you describe your proximity with regard to the photogs’ well and the fan?
I was in the first base photo well and I had the far right position in the well. The ironic part is that there were two empty seats between me and Mr. Hartley who just so happened to leave their seats after we hit three outs earlier. Everything happens for a reason when the Godforce is involved.
Did Adrian see the pic, and any reaction from him?
I didn’t ask him as we were all trying to make the first bus.
Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo
Did you have any interaction with Hartley after the play?
I did. I showed him the picture and he was pretty geeked about it. It was quite overwhelming.
What was he (and the baby) like after this happened?
He was pumped, posing for pictures and TV interviews.
Obviously you had to return to other subjects on the field, but just wondering what happened after you got the shot.
This is only my second day being able to transmit my images live, from my camera to my ipad out through my email to the Dodger Social Media guy Matt Mesa, who put the image up.
Where does this rank among the best baseball photos you have ever taken…from your own point of view? When you look at it closer, you even have Adrian seemingly looking at you, and you can see how closely the first-base umpire and crew chief Jerry Meals is following it, before he initially ruled it a foul ball.
It ranks way up there due to all of the factors coming into play: (1) Going live from camera to iPad to email the night before; (2) The right camera equipment at the right time; (3) the two fans between us leaving their seats; (4) the catch; and (5) the house wireless signal strong enough to get the picture out.
Here were subsequent photos captured by SooHoo after the catch:
Here’s the MLB.com video of the play:
And here’s a closer look at SooHoo’s proximity and aim:
Memo to fans, don’t interfere with balls in play.
– Mark Newman / MLB.com
Bulldogs, Blogs and Baseball
Really enjoyed seeing the Rangers’ Bark in the Park recap post by Kaylan Eastepp, the Rangers’ director of interactive and social media. This is one you have to see. Follow the Sweet Spot in Baseball blog, and join us at the all-new MLB.com/blogs portal as we surface cool posts around the baseball community. And as long as we’re on the subject, I’m going to take this opportunity to give some love to my English Bulldog, King Bingley (OK and my wife, sorry), so feel free to comment here or at MLB.com/blogs with shots of your own baseball pet.
Make sure you hang out regularly at MLB.com/blogs and leave your blog’s URL in the comments there as it’s easy traffic to your site from our main blogs gateway. And tell Kayla we sent you over there. She might even have tips on how to score a job in baseball.
A conversation with Camille and David Adams
I had the pleasure of meeting MLB.com PRO Blogger Camille Campins Adams and her husband, Yankees infielder David Adams, on Thursday during their visit to the MLB Fan Cave in New York. You can follow My Serendipitous Life as a Baseball Wife (note new URL) and say hi there in the comments anytime. Here is a flip video I took of the newly expecting parents:
Coming off 9 days of bronchitis so give me a break if I have no voice! And here is the full video of my interview with David on his call-up experience, impending parenthood, adjusting to third base, returning regulars, his spelling-bee prowess and other topics:
Meet the Bloggers: Caitlin Moyer
Many of you know Brewers senior manager of advertising and marketing Caitlin Moyer as half of the excellent blogging team John & Cait…Plus 9. Sunday marks the third birthday of that blog she maintains along with Brewers media relations manager John Steinmiller. Well, yesterday I reported on the Ivy Sports Symposium at Columbia University in Manhattan, and I was happy to see the day begin with Caitlin being introduced along with nine others young sports industry leaders as 10 NEXT award recipients. So first of all, congratulations to one of our own PRO bloggers, and secondly it seemed like a good idea to walk her out into the cold weather (she’s a Milwaukeean!) and grill her for the latest in our smash-hit Meet the Bloggers series! Ladies and gentlemen, Caitlin Moyer:
It wouldn’t be complete, of course, without turning the tables on her other half, so brace yourself, John: The Meet the Bloggers crew is coming for you at the Winter Meetings!
If you’re a Fan Blogger and plan to be around the Winter Meetings, let me know here in the comments in hopes we can add you to the series as well. Once we start up all the FanFests, Conventions and so forth, we should be able to do a lot more. And thanks for your patience with the October Latest Leaders, will catch up on that one shortly.
Meet the Bloggers: Gregor Blanco
You’ve seen some previous installments in this series from interesting ballpark locations, but nothing can top the setting for our latest Meet the Bloggers feature: a champagne-soaked clubhouse celebrating a World Series title. My iPhone got a little wet but I caught up with Gregor Blanco moments after his Giants won the 2012 World Series to ask him about that incredible achievement and his ever-popular MLB.com Blog, White Shark. Here’s what he had to say:
With the 2012 season now in the books, we’re going to be looking to continue this series. Stay tuned for details on how you can be the next MLB.com Blogger featured here.
Meet the Bloggers: Jamie Ramsey
As part of our Meet the Bloggers series, we recently spoke with Reds Assistant Director of Media Relations Jamie Ramsey, the creative force behind Better Off Red — consistently one of the most-read blogs in the MLB.com Blogs network. He talked about what made the 2012 Reds so enjoyable, his approach to social media and his blog’s loose feel:
If you’re an MLB.com Blogger and will be attending a Postseason game, make sure to get in touch with a comment below, and let us know your dates of availability. We’re always looking for our next Meet the Bloggers subject.
Meet the Bloggers: Bryan Mapes
When the Yankees-Orioles American League Division Series shifted to The Bronx for Game 3, we caught up with Braves fan Bryan Mapes to showcase his 3 Up, 3 Down blog as the latest subject of our new Meet the Bloggers MLB.com video series. I’ve spent much of this season over at our MLB Fan Cave, and I know that Bryan, as one of the original Fan Cave applicants who submitted a video last winter, has not only continued to interact with friends he made among the nine Cave Dwellers, but also has been going strong with a blog that shows a lot of versatility from multiple contributors. It features good podcasts and voices from different perspectives and regions around the Majors. We’re glad to have them in the MLB.com/blogs community and here’s our conversation in a rare quiet place at Yankee Stadium:
Many of you have asked to be featured in the MTB series, and we are doing our best to line up as many as possible at the ballparks where there still could be action before a World Series clincher. Please be sure to leave a comment here if you might be around a ballpark, and include your email. If you won’t be, then please sit tight as we’ll continue the series in the offseason but want to go the ballpark route first while there’s still time. – Mark
Meet the Bloggers: Emma Amaya
The latest installment of our Meet the Bloggers series features Emma Amaya, better known as Crzblue. Her blog, Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World, has been a part of the MLB.com Blogs family since February 2009. It’s a Latest Leaders mainstay, and for good reason. We caught up with Emma at her home away from home — Dodger Stadium — on the final weekend of the regular season to ask her about her blog:
We’re continuing to meet up with MLB.com Bloggers at the ballpark during the Postseason for this series. If you’re going to be at the ballpark and haven’t yet notified us, make sure to leave a comment with your blog URL and the games you’ll be attending.
Meet the Bloggers: Camille Campins Adams
Our second installment of our Meet the Bloggers series features Camille Campins Adams. Her My Serendipitous Life as a Baseball Wife blog chronicles her life as the spouse of a professional baseball player, and it’s been rising up the Latest Leaders. The Miami native spent this past season in the Northeast with her husband, David, a Yankees prospect. In between the Minor League and Arizona Fall League seasons, we caught up with her recently at Marlins Park in her hometown:
Want to be the next person featured here? We’re looking for MLB.com Bloggers who will be at the ballpark this Postseason to sit down for a video interview. If you fit the bill, please leave us a comment with your blog URL and available dates.
Meet the Bloggers: Alicia Barnhart
We’re starting up a new series called “Meet the Bloggers,” designed to introduce new folks around here (or re-introduce longtime bloggers, if you’d like to formally say hello). We’ll start off with Alicia Barnhart, whose Ballparks on a Budget blog is rocketing up the monthly MLB.com Blogs Latest Leaders. Alicia answered some questions for Michael Kelly of MLB.com during her recent trip to Coors Field:
Want to have your MLB.com Blog introduced this way? Let us know in the comments and be sure to include your blog’s full URL and ideally an email address. NOTE: For the next one, we need a blogger who will be at an MLB ballpark before the end of the regular season, so we’d need to quickly line up a chat there with you. Some might be done at the ballpark or maybe an offseason FanFest type of event, others may be done simply via email back-and-forth. Just shout in the comments if interested…and thanks to those of you who already have quickly responded! Will keep track of all the interest.
MLB.com Blogs Central 