John H. Reid III Photography
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Gates Mills, Ohio
44040
216-272-4774

Friday, April 1, 2011

Opening Day is here

The other day I posted panoramic photos from the Sony Nex series camera that are created in camera by stitching a number of photos together in the sweep panorama  mode. Before digital panoramas could be done with a swing lens panoramic camera, the film plane in the camera was curved, and the lens would swing in a semi-circle to create the image. The one downside was that since the entire frame was not exposed at the same time you couldn't use strobe.
Here's one from Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and I'm going to guess that it was opening day, as there's a big crowd, and that was about the only time that building was so full!
     (On a closer look, it is the opener. The red, white and blue bunting is a giveaway!)
Keeping with the baseball theme (somewhat) here's an example from the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, NY, home of the baseball Hall of Fame.
Finally, just some fun shots from a game in Cincinnati. I liked the way the second baseman and right fielder were mirroring each others movements.
On a somewhat sad note, this is the first opening day in some 75 years that Bob Feller has not been a part of the Indians. Feller died this summer at the age of 92. He is the only major league pitcher to toss a no-hitter on opening day.

2 comments:

  1. Just remembered a fun story about swing lens panoramic cameras. They used to be used to take team photos, into the 70's. The players would line up in a semi-circle, the camera would be set at the center point, the lens would swing, and a very wide and not very tall straight print would be the result. Because both the players and the lens plane were curved, the resulting photo looked like a straight line. I know someone who played at Nebraska in the early 70's when the team photo was still done that way, most likely with a Cirkut camera. It used a huge piece of film, like 5" x 24", some even larger. Anyway, one enterprising player figured out that in the time it took for the lens to swing he could get from one side of the lineup to the other, so he got himself placed on the end of the line on the side of the line that would be exposed first, then, when he knew he was no longer in the part of the film being exposed, ducked down and ran behind the others, popping up on the other end of the line to be in the photo again on the other side. If I remember correctly, he is on each end of the last two team photos he was in.

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  2. That is great. I would love to see that photo

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