Last year about this time I took a picture of Luke after he made a routine pop fly catch that was anything but routine...between the sun and the breeze Luke had a tough time getting under it and he fell backwards to the ground catching it. When he sat up he had this look on his face of sort of relief and frustration all in one. At the time I wrote about how I've photographed him and his teammates for years now, I've been at the newspaper for almost 15 years and these guys are just a year or two older than that. So since they have been old enough to play, I have been photographing them. And this team is good. As little leaguers they even won a state title. So when I photographed their team and individual pictures I almost feel like I know them...and they seem to be comfortable with me. They each had their pose ready knowing I'd let them do whatever they want--my only guidelines are nothing obscene and it has to be something mom and dad will like---and I guess that it doesn't do anything to harm the reputation of the school. So when Luke came up with this pose I was thinking--oh man how am I going to fit this into a memory mate design.... he challenged me in a sense.... but I like that. Gives me a chance to think like a painter and try to use those tools I've developed over the years. I was also thinking about baseball's history and past-time and it seems an aged look works really well. I did this for the MASH team this year as well and this one I made a little different, but tried to keep that feel. SayerMotter Photographs and design by Richard Sayer