Through my pals at Minnstameets, I was invited to a special event at the Twins’ ballpark, Target Field: a group of 8 Instagrammers got to tour the stadium before the Twins played the Kansas City Royals, including shooting during batting practice. I love that ball field, and so I was excited about the offer. I started imagining different ways to show the scale of the stadium, and also looked forward to bringing a minimalist’s eye to the park.
It was great to be in the empty stadium and have time to look with my photographer’s hat on. Usually when I’m watching the Twins I’m thinking about the game, and what I’m going to eat. But on this day, we were given a tour by the Twins’ photographer and their social media director and had access to lots of places I’d never been to.
As it turned out the weather was threatening, so the Twins cancelled their batting practice, as the infield was covered with a giant tarp. We were all a little disappointed until the Twins reps invited us back again the next night so that we could go down onto the field and see the players up close. So we all got to go to two games last week.
It was really fun to be down on the field and hear the crack of the bats as the players batted, although because of the protective cages they use during practice, it’s a little hard to shoot anyone actually batting. No matter; it was still a great experience.
I was surprised how many people are already in the stadium a couple of hours before game time; there were people cleaning glass, and making sure the seats were tidy; the food stations were opening up and getting ready for the crowds, and there were several other groups that were touring through the stadium. And of course, there was the huge crew for the field itself, bringing out and removing the tarp, moving the equipment, and prepping everything so that it’s ready for the start of the game.
Even though the Twins lost both nights it was hard to feel too disappointed because it was so much fun to be at the stadium in a different capacity, and great to be able to shoot something that I normally never would, looking for ways to bring my own style to the game.
Thanks, Minnstameets and the Minnesota Twins for including me in an experience I’ll never forget.
