He quickly discovered he loved the art – and the challenge – of sports photography, and via contacts, was able to shoot at professional events in car racing, soccer, and baseball.
Ahead of this year’s Masters, a friend with a connection to the Masters reached out to Augusta National, who offered Griffey a spot in their team shooting the tournament for the website.
In interviews last week, Griffey said he accepted but insisted he should not treated differently from the other members in the photo pen. But given the best of the best photographers are sent to cover the Masters, Griffey told Golf.com he felt like an amateur.
Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany is greeted by family.Credit: Augusta National/Ken Griffey Jr./Getty Images
“It doesn’t matter your status in life, if it’s something you don’t do professionally and everybody here is a professional, you’re still nervous to walk in the room,” Griffey said. “How would these guys feel if we all got into a batting cage, and I was sitting there critiquing them? It’s the same thing.”
Griffey was given a locker and sent on assignments each day, including being sent to capture Bernhard Langer’s round, or to shoot from certain positions and holes on the course. His photo editor offered genuine appraisals and criticisms to Griffey about his photos.
“The one thing I learned about is backgrounds,” Griffey told Golf.com. “Your backgrounds are crucial. If you have a great background and your subject is in there, you’re gonna have a great picture. If you have a great photo in the foreground but your background is blown out, you don’t have a great picture.”
Ken Griffey Jr. (right), in his playing days for Seattle.Credit: AP
Griffey has all of his own photography equipment, including the long telephoto lenses.
“You know, I’m getting better at it because I’m starting to understand and know what they expect from me,” Griffey said of his time working for Masters.com.
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“I mean, I can go out there and rattle off 30,000 pictures — anybody can — but it’s about so much more than that. The lighting is a big thing, the background, so many things.
“You can have a good picture of someone but if the background isn’t right it can turn out terrible.”
Like everyone on course, Griffey found himself around the 18th green as McIlroy and Justin Rose played out the first hole a tense playoff.
And as he did so many times in Major League Baseball, he smashed another home run.
with AP
