Photos by Jordan Megenhardt

It’s been ten years since the World Championship of 2001, and this past weekend all of the players from that team got together for a reunion at Chase Field. And to honor the great 2001 team, the current team donned the purple and teal uniforms for the weekend. Originally they were only going to wear the throwback uniforms for the Friday game, but fan feedback was so great that they decided to wear the original colors all weekend long. It was a great opportunity for some unique photos! Between our currents guys and all of the legends of 2001, it was a very exciting weekend for everyone.

We had some great access for the reunion tribute on Saturday, and were able to get some great candid images of guys like Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Steve Finley, Bob Brenley and countless others.

Once the reunion ceremony started, Jon and I tried to cover some unique angles. Jon shot the guys as the came out from the dugout onto the field, and I took a position on the field near the pitcher’s mound. There were dozens of other photographers there to cover the event, you can see them in a few of these photos.

It was a great atmosphere at Chase Field all weekend. Guys were happy and competitive. We took three of four against the Padres, and almost took the fourth game. There were plenty of chances for some amazing images, both candid and action. Here’s a look at some of what was captured.

Photos by Jordan Megenhardt

This past week was incredibly busy for us, with all the All-Star Game festivities. We covered every aspect of every event and are just now getting around to editing-down our photos. As soon as we get time, we’ll make a post and share our favorite images from All-Star weekend.

Until then, we thought we’d share some images from Sunday’s game against the Dodgers. Daniel Hudson made it easy for us to get some great photos. He pitched a complete game and hit his first-career home run!

Usually, we shoot with Canon equipment but during All-Star week, we borrowed some Nikon gear. I thought I’d switch it up today and shoot the game with the Nikon gear, mostly to play with the multi-exposure feature on the D3S.

It took a few tries, but I was pretty happy with a few of the multi-exposure images of Hudson throwing. In order to make the image not look so busy, it’s important to try to get the subject in front of a clean background. At a ballpark, that isn’t always easy.

Hudson pitched a complete game, and since the D-backs are in the National League, he also got a few at-bats. I moved around to a few different shooting positions and when Hudson hit his first home, I was set down behind home plate.

Also, as Hudson was at the plate, Andre Ethier’s headshot accidentally ended up next to Hudson’s name on the lineup board. But, it must have been good luck because he hit a line drive straight over the left field wall!

It’s always fun shooting a game like Sunday’s game. Hudson had a historic day, and like I said, he made it very easy to get some nice images.

Here are a few more shots of Hudson from Sunday:

Photo by Jon Willey

Between a heated series with the Giants during the week and some close inter-league games against the White Sox this weekend, there was plenty of great baseball to cover this homestand at Chase Field.

We’ve been neck and neck with San Francisco all season long, vying for the top spot in the NL west. Every game against the Giants has been hard-fought and this three-game set felt like a playoff series, full of drama. Even though we came up short, losing two of three, Justin Upton’s exciting first career walk-off homer gave D-backs fans some hope and showed the Giants that we weren’t going to make it easy for them to repeat as World Series champions.

As for the White Sox series, Friday night’s game was one to remember and one of the best all-around games that I can recall this season. The stage was set for Daniel Hudson to take on the team that traded him away, and he’d even get the chance to show them their mistake against the guy that he was traded for, Edwin Jackson. Hudson ended up throwing a spectacular game and hurled his first career complete game.

Another plus for us was the television cameras being moved back so they weren’t hanging over the wall in the photo well. By doing this, it freed up a spot in between the cameras and the D-backs dugout. This allowed us to get some great candid shots, as well as some action from an angle that we normally don’t see.

Here are a few of our favorite images of the week.

Gallery Photos by Jordan Megenhardt

by Jordan Megenhardt

Photographs by Jon Willey and Jordan Megenhardt

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During a rainy day at Salt River Fields this past spring, we set up a portrait for Justin Upton and Chris Young that would be used on the cover of the second issue of the D-backs Insider magazine. After the shoot, as we brought our gear inside, just as it started raining, Ryan Roberts, friendly as always, wandered over to us. “When’s my photo shoot? I want to do a photo shoot!” he said smiling.

Three months later, after Roberts helped lead the team to the top of the division, he’d finally get his answer with a cover shoot of his own.

Roberts is the kind of guy that we look forward to working with. He is enthusiastic, approachable, and genuinely gracious.  And, with his personality in mind, we began discussing what to with the photo.

During games, I noticed that Roberts was habitually on the top step of the dugout. Constantly cheering on his teammates or studying the opposing pitcher, Roberts was never idle.

Inspired by his habit, we decided to set up a shot that would pay tribute to his dugout routine.

The day we did the shoot, Greg Salvatore and I sat down for an interview with Robert and his wife at a restaurant in Scottsdale.  At the same time, Jon was at the ballpark, setting up and testing the lights for the photograph.

With the roof open and the dugout in shade, Jon had to deal with difficult variations of light. The sun would be behind Roberts and overhead, which actually worked out well because that meant that his face would be in shade and we’d be able to control the light with our strobes. And, as always, Jon’s setup needed little tweaking and when I stepped to model as he tested the light, it was basically exactly what we wanted.

We used three lights, two Alien Bees 1600 and one 800. One of the 1600’s was in front/right with a medium strip box; the other was behind the subject with an eleven-inch reflector. We used the 800 to the left with another medium soft box.

Dealing with ballplayers on game days gives us little room for error and time management is extremely valuable. It’s important to have everything setup and ready to go by the time the player arrives, so that we can get them in and out quickly.

By the time Roberts arrived a few minutes later, we were completely set.  He was excited and very, very easy to work with.

We shot a few different photos during the shoot but we ended up choosing this one to be the cover:

This is the unedited, original version of the photograph. We will post the actual cover of the magazine next week, but if you’d like to see it sooner, all you have to do is come out to Chase Field and pick up a copy of the D-backs Insider!