Softball and Photography Projects

This is the final week of an 8-week Portfolio Development class I enrolled in. My initial purpose for the class was to narrow my photographic focus and hone my editing skills. I was hoping to develop one or two themes that could be expanded over time. However, it didn't take long for my best intentions to fall apart. Weather conditions in south Florida have been uninspiring this winter, company has filled my house for weeks, and gallery hours were expanded in an effort to capture those illusive snowbirds. Two weeks into the class, with little time to explore new shooting venues, I had an epiphany... at 4 a.m. one morning. I find myself at the ball field several times a week taking pictures of The Kid and his team. Why not make them the subject of my portfolio? And so it began...

my quest to capture Marco Island Senior Softball, specifically the (currently) 18 - 0 Joey's Pizza team.

Their fun loving spirit is contagious. I wanted to capture that and their intensity, determination and passion for the game.

For me it became more than fulfilling a class assignment. It became a labor of love.

These men are no longer in their prime. It is hard to run, for some even painful.

It is harder still to bend, to stretch and snag an incoming ball. All things taken for granted in their younger days. Plays are executed in the mind but the body is all too frequently non-compliant.

Many of these men have had joints replaced, shoulder and back surgeries, torn muscles and ripped tendons. They are battered and worn, but not beaten.

They show up faithfully twice a week, don their gear and head out onto the field. They range in age from 58 -84.

They all have one thing in common, an intense love of the game.

Congratulations to Joey Pizza. They have done something no other team in the twelve years of Marco Senior Softball has been able to do. They are 18 - 0, undefeated with 5 games remaining in the regular season. No matter how the season plays out they are true champions.