Guys Day at the Ballpark

Today I started a family tradition. I took my dad, brother and my 2 nephews to a Saints game. I'm hoping to make this an annual tradition for all of the guys in our family.

Because we all live all over the state, we tend not to all see each other except at Christmas and maybe one other time throughout the year. This gave us an opportunity to get together outside, do something fun, eat hot dogs and cheese curds (though I'm already regretting that), and generally hang out, just the guys for an afternoon.

The game was packed to capacity, but opened up after a few innings as the lightweights left. I don't understand going out to a baseball game for only 3 innings, but whatever. It gave us more room.

The Saints won handily (after a 7 run inning) and we had a good time. I was, however, surprised by the interest that the boys had in photography, particularly Taylor, who wanted to use my Canon digital SLR. At only 6 (I just know I'm somehow getting his exact age wrong), his hands were really too small to handle it, but, on his own, he asked me if there was some way I could help him hold the camera steady. I offered my hand as a tripod under the lens and he announced that a solution had been achieved, "Thanks, that works". He then pretty much filled up a memory card with photos, including this remarkable one of my dad. I'm really impressed with the shot he managed. And, this one was a refinement. He took one right before this one that wasn't as well framed up and he wanted to take it again.

After each shot, he hit the preview button and was checking them out to see if he captured what he was after. It was cool to see him so interested in what he was doing.

I also had my Fuji in my pocket, which gave James a chance to take pictures too. Between the 2 of them, they shot 142 frames in a matter of a few innings. It really caught their interest and got them into the game. I think I'm going to see if I can track down some cheap 3MP cameras and get them each one for Christmas. I'm going to get prints made of a few of these this week and send them to them with a note of encouragement.

Also, Tim told me that he picked up an old eMac for $60 for them, so they have a place to look at these photos and mess with them. I'd really like to see what they'll produce on their own.