Nicole over at Olagato House and fleerfan of The Fleer Sticker Project both commented favorably on my first piece on the photography of baseball cards. My first piece focused on 1991 and 1992 Topps and showed off cards other than White Sox cards. They are out there, you know.I had been thinking about doing followup articles about other companies and other sets. Nicole reminded me of the beautiful photography in the 1993 Upper Deck set. This was around the period where I started to get out of baseball cards, so I'm not as familiar with this set as I should be. I do have a good chunk from when this set first came out, but not rows of it like I do the 1991 set, for example.
So, armed with this support, I soldier on with another installment of looking at the photography side of cards. Some of these photos are simply breathtaking. Some capture moments of action, moments of candidness or just beautifully posed shots. This is not your typical Sears photo.
These photos scream to be seen by more than just a kid plunking down his allowance. This show the beauty and attraction of baseball. You can see the crispness of the photos. Only when you actually look at the card of Juan Samuel, do you notice the specks of dirt that is erupting violently as he slides into the base.
You can almost sense the excitement that the crowd must have been feeling when Orlando Merced leaped into their lives to try to rob a souvenir away from a fan. These are works of art waiting to be discovered. They are timed perfectly and posed just right. This is why I stayed collecting for so long and it's part of the reason that it draws me back every time that I stray.
For those of you who think I may stray off the topic of the White Sox, I've led off every photography article with a nice card of a White Sox player. Fear not, I haven't forgotten that this is a White Sox site. It's just nice to appreciate the other teams in baseball. Without them, where would the White Sox be?
Thanks Nicole, for reminding me of the Karkovice card. It slipped my mind.
5 comments:
I'm glad my comment inspired you to post these other cards. I need to look through the set again.
To add to the White Sox quotient of this post, here's Ron Karkovice on the phone. Some people may hate these kind of shots. I think they're great.
I agree totally! They are shots that you wouldn't normally find on a card. That's what makes them so interesting.
That Karkovice card completely slipped my mind. It's one of my favorites from the set.
This is the best set Upper Deck ever put out. It's been all downhill from there unfortunately.
This is my favorite upper deck set by far. I don't know what process they put the photos through to make the colors so vibrant, but I love it.
This is another classic. Before the hobby went insert crazy, the card companies actually put some effort into making the base sets and the photography the selling point.
You just don't see much variety in most photos now. Most action shots end up looking the same - a pitcher in his wind up or a batter taking a swing. Bring back some variety and some more interesting candid shots.
I also agree with the post from russ. The colors are so bright on these cards. Some people may not like that, but I think it makes them look great.
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