Category Archives: Football

Missing St Francis At Candlestick Park

12 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in 49ers, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Canon, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, niners, Remembering Candlestick Park, Saint Francis of Assisi Statue, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants, St Francis of Assisi Statue, tell it goodbye, the stick

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The St Francis of Assisi Statue lit up with the setting sun at Candlestick Park in 1988 when the stadium and statue were still there. Now, they are both gone from this location. When the sun shone thru the halo around the head of the statue, it was truly magnificent.

Old SF Gate Article about St Francis of Assisi Statue

This statue was at Candlestick Park for 40 years. Does anyone know where this statue is now? According to this article, there were plans to build a shopping mall to replace Candlestick Park. This statue was created by the artist – Ruth Wakefield Cravath. It was installed in 1973. This statue was the guard to watch over all the sporting events at Candlestick Park.

During these pandemic times, there has been a lot of loss – lives, jobs, income, money, and daily livelihoods. Whenever we should gather again, there will be people we saw before the pandemic who are gone now. When Candlestick Park was demolished, many old fans went out to watch the different phases of the work. Fans lost an iconic stadium where they spent a significant amount of time enjoying sports while building close relationships. 

Significant loss is difficult to handle in normal times. But during this pandemic life, loss is harder due to our lack of physical interaction with people outside our bubble. Looking at old pictures and remembering the people and this old statute at Candlestick Park gives me comfort. Old photographs allow me to reflect on the good old times and the people who made the memories great. 

Just as the St Francis of Assisi statue guarded the sports events at Candlestick Park, we also need to keep guard of the precious people and events in our life – past and present. We can remember the people we miss during these pandemic times thru photos and think about their wonderful character to mimic in our life.

Photos remind us of what and who we miss!

 

Candlestick Park Red Chair Flare

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, Lost Ballpark, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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This Candlestick Park Red Chairs photograph was shot in the later afternoon before a night game. These chairs are the best memorabilia to remember the Stick! Maybe one day my wife will allow me to own an actual chair. I did buy an orange seat to use as a background for shooting my photo products.

Notice the light flare on the upper right corner. As per 2nd previous post where I mention about most of the time, a photographer will avoid this light flare in a picture. Well this is an example where I wanted the flare to show the light rays over the rows of chairs. The flare also reflects a nice glow on the bright red chairs.

A photograph should show off the best features of the subject. This light accentuates and highlights the good attributes for these chairs at the Stick. The natural flare also gave a great glow to these classic red stadium chairs.

Natural lighting is an important ingredient for a good picture.

My mother-in-law (who is only 99 years old) has a habit of wanting to save money and close the lights. If she gets up in the middle of the night, she will not turn on the light. She already does not have perfect sight, and light will illumine her path to prevent an accident. I have tried to help by putting night and motion lights to help her.

Just like my mother-in-law – we forget how important light is and how much we need it.

Practice shooting pictures with different degrees of natural lighting to see the reflection, flare, and glow in your results.

As always – my photos are not altered via software to give the “glow”.

Get the glow on in your photos!

 

 

What was on the Southside of Candlestick Park?

26 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, niners, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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Do you remember the southern part of Candlestick Park. I took this shot in 1988.

I love looking at the design of the red pattern of the support beams circling the outside of the stadium.

The vintage cars in the parking lot remind us of this eta in the 80’s.

Notice the ramp which leads to other parking lot areas. It provided a safe ok walkway away from the moving cars.

Candlestick Park was a welcoming stadium. Tickets were affordable. I did not have to plan ahead to go to a game. I could spontaneously go to a game and just buy tickets to attend a SF Giants game.

Can we also learn to welcome people into our life? Are we accessible to people? Do we have walls preventing people into our lives? Do we share our experiences with others to encourage or help someone?

We can all learn from the legacy of Candlestick Park.

What is the Glow behind the double doors?

30 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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This place does not exist anymore in physical form. It does exist in our memories and pictures.

The Glow is back-lit sunlight streaming through the door windows and cracks of a set of double doors to a lost ballpark that was demolished in 2015.

This is the entrance to the lower reserve and lower box section behind home plate at Candlestick Park. This was about two hours before game time for a SF Giants game.

My wife said this photo reminds her of something from the “The Twilight Zone”. It makes you curious and a little afraid to find out what is on the other side of the double doors. The glow makes you fearful to discover the cause for the glow.

A good photograph causes people to think and use their imagination when contemplating the meaning of the image. It should make people think beyond what they physically see in the image.


Who was the biggest Free Agent to sign with the SF Giants?

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in 49ers, AT&T Park, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, niners, Pacific Bell Park, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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The answer is one of baseball’s all time great, Barry Bonds. I took this photograph at Pacific Bell Park during Fuji Photo Day.

Barry Bonds signed with the Giants in 1992. The Giants were still playing at Candlestick Park. He was playing with the Pittsburg Pirates before becoming a free agent. He was the most sought after free agent available in 1992. He signed a record 6 year $43.75 million deal. The deal was orchestrated by Peter Magowan. He became the highest-paid player in baseball history. Barry Bonds played for the Giants for 15 years.

Barry Bonds played left field at Candlestick Park. Al Michaels, the ABC broadcaster for Monday night football, stated left field at Candlestick Park was one of the most expensive piece of real estate in any sports stadium during a 49’ers game in 1992. Al was referencing the large contract paid to Barry Bonds who would play in left field (the north end zone) of Candlestick Park for the 1993 season.

Here’s info about Barry Bond’s deal with the Giants

I was thinking about the Barry Bonds deal as the Giants are contemplating signing huge free agent Bryce Harper. Let’s see where Bryce Harper signs.

It Will be Nice when the Saint Francis of Assisi Statue Sees the Light of Day Again

09 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in 49ers, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, niners, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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Back Lit Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi was photographed in front of Candlestick Park in the late 1980’s. The steel and concrete statue by Ruth Wakefield Cravath was  moved from the ballpark when it was torn down in 2015. It was put in storage in Oakland and will be refurbished. The new location for installing the statue is to be determined. The statue was installed at Candlestick Park in 1973 after the project to add seats and enclose the stadium for the 49ers.

Mass Transit to Candlestick Park Back in the Day

09 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in 49ers, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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This was the Double Decker Escalator which was going up to the main concourse area at Candlestick Park. I remember going to Candlestick Park a long time ago and marveling at the escalators there. They were extremely impressive in moving large amounts of people to and from the parking lot to the stadium concourse areas. They were very reliable as I don’t remember them being broken for any SF Giants or 49’er games I went to back then. They transported us quickly to the concourse levels so we could get our food before the games started. It is too bad all six of the escalators were torn down when Candlestick Park was flattened.

The image was photographed using color film with a 35mm Canon camera mounted on a tripod utilizing a slow shutter speed to get the blurred effect of the people moving.

Candlestick Park’s Eye Catching Red Exterior

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in 49ers, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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Candlestick Park had a very distinctive exterior look because of the support beams, light standards, and the red color. The support beams and light standards were painted dark green in the 1990’s. Candlestick Park was visible from US 101 for over a mile away before it was torn down. It was torn down in 2015 but it is still strange when driving down US 101 and seeing an empty space where it used to be.

I hope they will create a Candlestick Park museum on site when they build up the area in the future. There is so much history there and a lot of stories to tell.

Red Chairs at Candlestick Park

24 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by in 49ers, Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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The unmistakable Red Chairs at Candlestick Park in the lower box seat area photographed in September 1989 before a night SF Giants game. I have so many memories of going to SF Giants and 49’ers games and sitting in either The Red or Orange Chairs.

There were red and orange chairs in different parts of the stadium.

It was sad that Candlestick Park was torn down and that all the Red and Orange Chairs were removed.

I bought an orange Candlestick Park seat bottom to use for a background for taking my product photographs.  Due to expense and lack of space, I did not buy the entire chair.

Perhaps in the future, I will purchase a Red or Orange Chair from Candlestick Park for sentimental purposes.

Did You Notice the Night Glow at Candlestick Park?

09 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Baseball, Candlestick Park, Football, Former home of the San Francisco 49'ers, Former Home of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49'ers, San Francisco Giants, sf 49'ers, SF Giants

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This is an exterior view of Candlestick Park’s upper concourse level during a night game. Candlestick Park had a distinctive look that separated it out from all the other stadiums.

I used high speed Kodak T-Max 35mm film to take this picture. The film holds up well enough though there is a lot of grain in the picture. I used this film a lot for my night photography pictures.

Do you see the head of the fan looking out from the upper concourse level?  My wife loves this picture, but she did not notice the person until I told her. There were a few concession stands in this area, though there were more in the lower concourse.  The light in this walk way gave a unique glow to the Stick.  It is interesting to see the contrast of the shadows and light glow in the night.  It gave an interesting perspective under the upper concourse seating area.  This is another example of “chiaroscuro” which is the strong contrasts between light and dark.

It reminds me that art can be found anywhere if we will look.  I love finding art in stadiums.  It would be nice if I could continue this journey of photographing art in different stadiums in the future.