Behind the Lens vs Worcester Red Sox and Toledo Mud Hens, and Some Rambling

(All photos by photographer Ethan Bissinger).

The last two weeks were filled with sun (and rain), fun and baseball when we faced the Red Sox and Mud hens! These are the best images from the past 12 games and some insight into what went into them.

Philipp Glasser (center) gets water dumped on him after hitting a walkoff single in 11 innings against the Toledo Mud Hens.

12 games in 14 days.

These past two weeks have been so crazy. Whenever we have two homestands in a row, it’s always a fun, sleep deprived experience, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Funnily enough, it was supposed to 13 games in those 14 days due to the rainout of a game played in Worcester from a few weeks prior but the 2nd game of our scheduled doubleheader, the game we were supposed to play to make up that game…got rained out.

What are the chances?

I digress.

Recently, I’ve been trying to figure out, in my personal opinion, what separates a good photographer from a GREAT photographer. Though there are multiple aspects as to what makes a photographer great, I’ve found a couple out in my search and I’ve been trying to implement them into my workflow when it’s acceptable.

(This next section is a bit of rambling in places, so read if you’d like, or just enjoy the images).

I believe that one of the aspects of what makes a great photographer is what they are willing to do for a photo.

Are you game to stand in the rain and be cold and wet and uncomfortable to get a cool photo? Are you willing to sit in snow and freeze yourself to get THE shot?

I’ve known photographers who have stood or sat in mud to get a shot (shoutout RITs Mud Tug photographers), gotten their cameras drenched to get a low angle shot of a jump into water, held their cameras over fire to get a shot that MAY get used. A part of it is what you’re willing to do to get a great shot.

Another thing that makes a great photographer great is where, if they have access, in the ballpark/stadium/arena are they willing to go to get the photograph, which plays into what they are willing to do.

If you’re with a team, serving as one of their photographers, it’s your job to tell the story of the game, yes, but you also are in charge of telling the story of the atmosphere of gameday.

It’s so easy for a photographer to stay in a photo well and get the same photos every time. I’ll admit it, baseball gets boring. Pitch…ball 1. Pitch…strike 1. Pitch…fouled off. Statistically, there are more than 300 pitches thrown during any one game. The trick to being great is to experiment with your angles and get the action from somewhere that nobody else is getting it. Make those pitches look interesting.

My boss at the Pirates, Harrison Barden, was a big utilizer of the idea of angles. During my time, especially during our Padres/Cubs homestand, he told me that he was challenging me to not shoot from my normal spot on the lower level concourse for 6 games.

During this time, I spent a lot of my time shooting from the 300 level seats in PNC Park as well as the outfield, and I learned how important it is to get these angles and to get the action from somewhere that nobody else is, it was great.

This has an exception, though. Outlets, like Getty or Imagn all want photos from these photo well angles, because they need to solely tell the story of the game, that’s what sells. Ultimately, these photographers are getting the job done, I respect it, I love meeting these amazing photographers, they’re all wonderful in my experience.

There are lots of Getty photographers that are there to capture a game, but don’t just capture a game, they take the game and find the interesting spots to shoot from, especially highly attended events and games. They are the great photographers.

Patrick Smith is a fine example of this. His photo of Yoshinobu Yamamoto winning Game 7 of the 2025 World Series sticks in my mind. He photographed him from above, in the 300/400 level, getting surrounded by his teammates who ran to the mound to celebrate. Yamamoto’s face is the only one looking up, and he has a huge smile on his face. That’s storytelling. Elsa Garrison, Sarah Stier, Megan Briggs (Rochester Native!), Ezra Shaw, Steph Chambers, Hector Vivas, the list goes on. There’s so many great photographers to take inspiration from.

I can admit that I disappointed myself after my aforementioned internship in Pittsburgh was done. I looked back at my work after the season concluded and action took too much of a front seat in my work. Though I got some ballpark atmosphere and some fans, I was scared that I’d miss a big play or something would happen that I wouldn’t get and that kept me focused on the action and nothing else, which was a very big mistake. I learned that the action, especially if one photographer is already documenting it, should take a backseat in favor for the atmosphere and the fans and what makes PNC Park the magical place that it is.

This regret has made me learn, which is exactly what it should do.

Dave, an usher at ESL Ballpark, poses for a portrait

As a team photographer, my job is to run around and tell the story of our team winning the game, but it’s also to tell the story of the happenings around the ballpark, especially in Minor League Baseball. Bobbing for hot dogs, on-field mid-inning games, etc.

Yes, these people are bobbing for White Hot Dogs, a Rochester staple, out of Genesee Beer, or “Genesee River Water”.

I took the 3rd inning off to find where this was happening, set up in my position, decide which person to focus on, and get the shots.

These photos are disgusting, I’ll be the first to say it, but that’s what makes them interesting. People willingly bobbing for raw hot dogs in beer, that’s so gross but so fun. That’s minor league baseball.

The action wasn’t going undocumented, though. I’m lucky to be in a spot where we have interns to cover parts of the game so I can explore and get different angles from them. I’m trying to instill in their minds that they can get these different angles, too, and I love to see them out and about getting the action from around the ballpark.

I love day games because the sun is so harsh that it creates detail in places that are sometimes just mundane. This baseball was almost fully shaded by a cinderblock during our 1:05pm game, but that harsh sun gave it a sharp look which I love.

While writing this, I’m re-listening to a video about centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr. photographing The Masters golf tournament for the first time. In this video, they interview Bob Martin, Managing Editor for Masters Photography (but also an award winning sports photographer) at the tournament, and he talks about what he wants to see from Griffey in terms of his shots. Detail and clean backgrounds are huge components of what he is looking for, and more importantly how able a photographer is to see the detail and background, and then compose the photo on the fly before shooting, not after.

Bob Martin — Sports Photography

2025 Masters: Best of Ken Griffey Jr.’s photography — ESPN

Here’s a link to Bob’s work over the years and Ken Griffey Jr.’s work from The Masters, both are pretty incredible.

This above shot I like, but I did do one similar in Pittsburgh that I like even more.

The harsh Sunday day game lighting came in handy.

As I’m writing this, a quote was said that really got me thinking.

“If I was their editor, I wouldn’t want to see golf photos. I’d want to see a really pretty picture with golf going on somewhere in it.”

This quote has me thinking and planning for the next homestand. I won’t go on with the deep stuff anymore, but for next homestand, I’m going to try to make pretty pictures with baseball going on in them, that’s my goal.

That Wednesday, we also had our 4th walk-off victory of the season on an 11th inning Phillip Glasser single, which gave me some of my favorite frames from the Toledo series.

One of the advantages of being a team photographer is having the access to getting these close up shots. Anyone shooting for a wire or outlet needs to stay in our photo wells and get shots from there, but I’m able to get into the action with them and get images that I wouldn’t be able to get if I was in another spot.

This applies as well to our clubhouse area and having the time and access to our players during the quiet times.

This is a favorite of mine, especially since when this image was taken, we were in a race for the AAA playoffs. This image of our reliever Zak Kent was taken during pregame before the Tuesday game, and it’s easily one of my favorites from the season.

The weird thing about this photo is that it wasn’t the photo I intended to make.

I went down to our tunnel area because I wanted to make a photo that was better than a photo I had gotten during our opening series against Lehigh Valley, this photo below.

To me, this photo was good in the moment, I liked the symmetry, but it was a bland photo, kind of boring. He’s walking down a tunnel, that’s it. Cool framing, that’s about it.

The photo of Kent has more feeling, it’s dynamic. One sole overhead light is lighting him up in the most dramatic way possible. We get visions of victories from the photos next to him and in front of him, the red lines leading him down the tunnel, the fact that his jersey has a nameplate and the 2nd photo doesn’t, it all adds up to be a cooler image.

What I love about writing these entries is that when I look for photos to use for it, it lets me create a wide edit that I can slowly start taking photos from and creating an edit of about 20–30 images instead of the 100 that I gave myself initially, just something fun.

Before I go on to my next point, I wanted to mention how fun it is when a player is able to bring members of their family onto the field and how fun it is for me to be able to get those moments. In this case, it was reliever Trevor Gott and his son.

Trevor was able to accompany his son on the field, who was our Play Ball Kid that game, and that led to some fun moments.

I like quiet moment photos more than action photos about 75% of the time in terms of baseball in particular.

Quiet moments speak to me more in baseball. I mentioned before, regular season baseball can get boring, the same movement is done over 300 times in one game. Having the ability to be able to focus on getting quiet moments during these games makes me really happy, it allows me to slow down and truly appreciate my time and my craft.

Though these quiet moments are fun, the action keeps me sharp and focused.

As I put these photos together, I noticed the angles of them a lot. Between going in the photo wells, the stairs to the field, the outfield, all these fun angles, I love them.

This entry took a bit of a winding road to get to the end, I’ll admit. I went on a sort of stream of consciousness for a bit, but I don’t regret it. That’s how my mind works, and if it works for me, then why change. Could also be the energy drink I’m having, maybe both.

The famous Kodak Building in Rochester, NY.

Thank you for reading this entry, I truly appreciate it. I hope you got something out of it and can see where I struggled in the past and you can learn from me.