Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I live in a house full of boys who love sports. They love to play sports, talk about sports, and watch sports. Every so often, we get tickets to go to a professional game. This is a high point in the boys' lives and one that deserves to be preserved in their scrapbooks.

In a professional event, I am usually not in position to take great photos of the action. We are usually seated somewhere in a large stadium, with a distant view and the heads of those in front of us sticking into any photos. So, I leave the action photos to the pros and I focus on documenting my family's experience at the game.

Given that I am focusing on the family experience, here is a list of photos that I try to take at a professional sporting event:

• The stadium - often the stadium has a nice sign with the home team and mascot or logo out front. I take this photo on the way in, but I don't always use it on my scrapbook page.
• The scoreboard - whether I'm taking a photo of the final score or some other information presented during the game, the scoreboard provides an interesting photo opportunity, provided we have seats where we can see it.
• The action - I usually take several photos of the game, not trying to capture a particular play but just the basic look. I strive to get several players from the home team into the photo. In an outdoor night game, I will try to take these photos before dark.
• Close-ups of my children - there is nothing like the look of joy on my son's face when someone on the home team hits a home run. I have learned to immediately zoom my camera into wide angle and take a photo of him watching the ball go over the fence (or watching the replay on the big screen).
• Photos around the stadium - with little children, we generally do things besides watch the game. Whether it's playing in the playground before the game, posing with giant cardboard players, or eating junk food, I try to get photos of these activities as well.

When I start to create the layout of the game, I usually use one or more of the action photos to set the mood. In the layout below, I have used the action photo across the bottom on one side.

Some other possibilities I have used are to print a large image on vellum and use it as a background or just put some action photos in a row across the page.

Assuming one or more close-ups came out well, I use the close-up as a focal point and then add other supporting photos to the layout.

In the journaling, I always make sure to include the following information:

• Date, teams playing, and final score
• Name of the stadium - stadium names change over time and one day my son may want to know if his first professional baseball game was at Veteran's stadium or Citizen's Bank Park. (It was the latter, but his cousin and best friend went to the Vet.)
• Special event - was there any special event that day?
• Important details about the game - when we attended a professional soccer game, the visiting team pulled their goalie with minutes left to give them an offensive advantage; this strategy backfired, and the home team quickly scored several more goals. My son found this incredibly interesting so I made sure to include it in the journaling. Did a player have a hat trick, set a record, or hit a grand slam? Make sure you include this in the journaling.
• Personal details - what made that day special for our family? This could be anything from singing along to the national anthem, finally climbing to the top of the biggest slide, or meeting the mascot. These are the stories that will distinguish the game from all the others.

What if Dad takes the boys to the game while you stay home and scrap? You can still make great layouts. Make sure Dad takes a camera and tell him what photos he is supposed to get. (Remind him that he is not auditioning for a job as a sports photographer and that his assignment is to take photos of the kids.) If possible, get a family member who was at the game to do the journaling; if not, ask them about the game and write the journaling yourself.

Next time take your family out to the ballgame, don't forget your camera, and remember, "It ain't over till it's over." (Yogi Berra)

Visit Scrapjazz for an amazing selection of Sport Scrapbook supplies and much more!