[04/23] Cubs @ Mets

Just some of my favorite photos from yesterday’s series finale  against the Cubs.

You can click on the photos to visit my flickr site where you can see whole set.

Now about last night’s game..

It was my first night game this season, and it’s rare because I don’t like shooting night games as much. With my gear I have to sacrifice picture quality with high ISOs and also low shutter speed means bigger chance of blurred images. But I had to go this time because there was a lot on the line. Winning this game could make Mets take their very first series of the season, and with Santana pitching and not so much offense we’ve been seeing, it was possible that K-Rod would be gunning for his very first save of the season as well. Mostly it all happened as I’ve expected. Santana pitched well, and K-Rod got his first save. What I didn’t expect to see, but was glad to see nonetheless, was that Mets showed some offense of their own and it made for some interesting photos.

It also was my first time seeing Ike Davis at Citi Field. I was down in Florida for this year’s spring training games in March so I saw Ike and had very high expectations for him. But seeing him at Citi Field playing at a major league game was a different feeling. However, he still managed to amaze me like he did back in those spring training games. I believe he has a great future ahead of him and I hope I get an opportunity to shoot his memorable moments as a Met. I was kind of hoping for his first major league homer so I can photograph it, but oh well better luck next time.

After the game, I realized that I’ve been to Cubs game three times, once at Shea, and twice at Citi. And all three times Mets have won. The game at Shea was one back in 2007 where Mets came to rally in the bottom of the 9th to overcome 6 run deficit, so maybe I bring bad omen to those Cubbies, who knows.

I’m 2-1 this season at Citi, and my next game will be tomorrow against the Braves. I prefer shooting day games so I hope that I get some great photos tomorrow. I’m kind of excited about seeing Heyward too, gotta see for myself if all the hype is for real. I can’t wait.

Here is.. Mets In Pictures blog

So here it is.. Mets In Pictures blog.

As a Mets fan and a photographer, I love shooting photos of Mets playing. I’ve been posting my photos to Flickr, and passed along my photos to some of my favorite mets blogs, but people suggested me I should open a photo blog. I thought, If I could expose my work to more people and help them enjoy Mets even more, what’s the harm? So I decided to give it a shot. Thus, Mets In Pictures.

To introduce myself just a little, my name is Kay Chae and I’m Korean freelance photographer residing currently in Long Island City. I’ve majored in photography in college, and if I’d say so myself, I believe I’m the best Mets photographer ‘outside the press box.’ I’d love to get a press pass someday and shooting from there, then I will really show what kind of photos that I can take, but for now I have to adapt to my surroundings and I equipped myself with enough gears to shoot Mets play. If you see an Asian guy with huge camera lens on his shoulder at Citi Field, chances are that you’re looking at me. But gears are not my biggest weapon, for all those newspaper press guys have much more expensive gears and obviously press pass to get to any location at the stadium to shoot their photos. It’s my ability to capture the moment once step ahead of time and position myself in anticipation of great moments. I know how to shoot a great sports photography. I’ve shot professional baseball, women’s volleyball, and even ice skating while my stay in Korea. Sports photography is one of my biggest passion, but it’s much more fun shooting Mets play than any other sports because I love the Mets. You get better photos when you’re emotionally attached and engaged to your subjects. It’s a great feeling shooting David Wright hitting a home run or Jose Reyes stealing bases. I hope to capture those memorable Mets moments on camera for this season and beyond.

For this season, my plan is to attend at least one game of each series of home stands. I wish I could go to every single home stand games, but regular guy like me can’t really afford that much ticket prices. But I will try to at least shoot a game of each series. I’ve been to a game each for first two home stand series, against Marlins and Nationals, so that’s a good start I think. I’m going to finale of Cubs series tonight, and I guess that will be first official photo posting for this blog. I take time in ‘post production’ of my photos so it won’t be real time updates like some other mets blogs, but if you love Mets and you’d like to see great photos of them, I believe you’ll enjoy what I will be posting in this blog. And I’ll have some ramblings about Mets here and there as well.

Well then, enough with introductions. Gotta start shooting!