Here are the Finalists…Vote for Your Favorite!

The contest entry period for the August contest is over. We have the finalists who have a chance to win the wonderful prize. All we need to do now is see which picture gets the most votes from you, the readers. Ready to see the entries?

First, we start with loyal reader and contributor Bryanne. She took her picture with the logo during a break from dinner. Here she is:

Next is our June winner, Steve. He hopes to be a repeat champion with his entry, a picture of him (well, his thumb at least) and the Hood blimp. Here he is:

Finally we have an entry from blog reader Alexis. She sent a great picture of her enjoying a game. (She's the one on the right) You’ll notice she hopes to steal some votes by including Bryanne in her entry. Clever tactic. Here she is:

So, there are the entries. Which one do you like the best? There will be three different ways to vote.

First, you can vote by leaving a comment on this post saying which picture you’re voting for: Bryanne, Steve, or Alexis. To be fair, I’ll only allow one anonymous vote for each entrant to count.

Second, I’ll place a poll on my sidebar where you can select a winner. That allows you to make a vote without having to tell everyone whom you prefer.

Finally, I’ll create an album for the contest entries on the Section 36 Facebook page Albums. You can vote by “liking” the photo you like the best. (While you’re there, you can “like” the page itself!)

Technically, since I can’t really stop you, you could vote for your favorite picture all three ways to stack the votes. Feel free to vote for more than one entry, as well.

I’ll allow votes until 8:36 PM on Monday September 3, 2012. Then, I’ll add the totals from the three voting methods to decide the winner. So, vote early, vote often, and spread the word!

Good luck Finalists!

One More Day!

That’s right. There’s only one more day left to enter the August contest! We’ve passed the point where you have a lot of time to be creative. No time to book a trip to the Great Wall of China, or the Grand Canyon, or Dollywood. Just print out the logo, take it somewhere close, and take your picture with it. Send it to me (section36 at gmail dot com), and hope for the best during the voting period. You only have until 12:36 PM tomorrow (Aug 31) to e-mail me your entries! Don’t delay!

After all, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to win a great book just because you didn’t take a simple picture.

Come back tomorrow to see the finalists, and start the voting process!

List of 36

Words you can make out of the letters in “JASON VARITEK”

1. jar

2. java

3. jest

4. joke

5. joker

6. kite

7.  raja

8. rave

9. raven

10. risen

11. rose

12.  rove

13. sank

14. satire

15. savor

16. sink

17. snake

18. sneak

19.  soak

20. son

21. stake

22. steak

23. stoke

24. stove

25. strive

26. tank

27. tanker

28. task

29. tears

30. tier

31. treason

32. trek

33. van

34. vast

35. vision

36. visor

There’s Stupid…There’s Really Stupid…Then, there’s the trade.

I’ve been quiet on this trade so far. I’ve had trouble putting anything into a coherent post. There are just so many reasons why this is such a stupid, infuriating, move, that I can’t stop jumping from one to the next. Basically, though, I can’t wait any longer, so I’m just going to roll through them all.

My first thought? So, this is what it’s like to be a Pirates fan? To see your best players traded away because you can’t afford them? But, that’s not really the case. When the Pirates dump good players, it’s because they know that they can’t win with just the one star, and can’t afford to fill in stars around them. So, the only option is to get prospects, and hope that five prospects mature into stars at the same time. Like the A’s did ten years ago. The Sox, though, had a team that (when healthy) was a winner. When the players on the 2012 roster were all healthy, the Sox were the best team in baseball. Why do you trade away players from that situation?

What’s the plan, exactly? I hear all about financial flexibility. To do what? To sign an all-star first baseman? You had one of the top finishers in the 2011 MVP race already. To trade for a multiple time all-star outfielder? You had one of those too. I actually heard a beat writer say with joy that the Sox had to pass on Edwin Jackson and Hideki Kuroda last off-season, and now they’ll be able to make those moves. Really? Dumping the core of a great team in order to sign Hideki Kuroda? That’s the plan? Go with a team made up of minor leaguers and Edwin Jackson? How does that make sense to anybody? Go ahead. Look at the list of free agents. Find me any of them that makes a roster better than the one that was just broken apart. Anyone?

I hope all the EEIdiots who have been calling for this start buying tickets. They wanted to go with the youth. They wanted to blow it up so that the team had nobody with any talent, but that would run out ground balls. They wanted a team of players who can’t pitch, but who eat salads at their locker. They got it. They better start filling the stands.

One good thing has come of this. It has made my avoidance of Boston based media complete. I can’t listen to anything they say anymore. I can’t read any Boston papers. It’s just sickening. What did they have to do with this? Everything. Imagine this. Two years ago, Carl Crawford signed a contract to play here for the next seven years. At the time he picked three other teams in all of baseball that he didn’t want to be traded to. One of them was the LA Dodgers. Less than two years later, he waived that restriction. That’s how unbearable the toxic media had made things for him. That’s how much they had made themselves the story. I can’t do it anymore. Unfortunately, I’ll still get too much of what they have to say form other locations. I wish I could stop that too.

The part I can’t stop thinking is that this trade smells of a cocky GM wanting to make the team his own. I hope Ben’s not pulling a Theo. I had hoped that since he has been here all along, he might not feel the need. Hopefully this trade wasn’t made just to clear out all of the old guard. It just makes a bad move even worse.

There’s just no upside whatsoever.

One Week left to Enter!

I know how it goes. People put things off. “I’ll take that great picture later.” “I’m going to Mount Rushmore next week. I’ll take a picture then.”

But then, you go to the movies later, instead of taking the picture. Or, it rains next week and cancels the trip to see the presidential carvings. Before you know it, three weeks have passed without taking a picture. So, here you sit with no entry in the August contest. No entry to win a fantastic book.

Fear not. You still have one week left to take that picture. Seven days to plan a trip to Disneyland. Or the St Louis Arch. Or Target. You can do it!

Keep those pictures coming.

List of 36: Words You Can Make From the Letters in “TOXIC MEDIA”

1. act

2. axe

3. came

4. coat

5. cod

6. code

7.  come

8. comedic

9. dame

10. date

11. dice

12. diet

13. dime

14. dioxide

15. dome

16. edict

17. exit

18. made

19.  mate

20. meat

21. media

22. met

23. mice

24. moat

25. mode

26. ox

27. oxide

28. tad

29. tame

30. tamed

31. tax

32. taxi

33. team

34. tide

35. toad

36. toxic

Tomorrow it May Rain

In 1912, the American League team from Washington had a 24-year old stud pitcher on their hands. He was arguably the best pitcher in the AL, or even in all of baseball. He had pitched 1350 innings for them already in his five years with the team. That included an incredible 370 in 1910 as a 22-year old. Did Washington coddle their young pitcher in 1912? Doesn’t look that way. Walter Johnson pitched 369 innings for them that year, winning 33 games. Did it ruin the rest of his career? Well, he pitched another 15 seasons after 1912, winning an additional 302 games. Sounds pretty good to me. Looks like there wasn’t any need to limit his innings, or rest him for next year.

But, people could say, Johnson was a rare pitcher. One of the few who could handle that sort of workload. You can’t assume that everyone could thrive under those conditions. And, that’s a true statement. So, let’s look at another extreme. In 1912, the Red Sox had a stud 22-year old pitcher who might have been the best pitcher in the AL, if Johnson wasn’t. He had pitched 650 innings for the Sox the previous four years. That year, he pitched an amazing 344 innings. He promptly blew out his shoulder. (Probably tore his rotator cuff, but they didn’t know about such things back then.) Never reached 150 innings again in his career after 1912. But, in 1912? He went 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA. One of the best seasons ever. He had three of the four Boston wins in the World Series. The Sox walked away with the championship over a NY Giants team that won 103 games in 1912. What if the Sox had rested Smoky Joe Wood during the 1912 season? What if they had shut him down? What if they scaled him back to 75% when he started showing signs of shoulder trouble? What if they saved him for 1913? No way do the Sox win the World Series that year.

Was it worth it? I think so. Ask Dodgers fans if it was worth it to them to get only a short burst of Sandy Koufax, along with his three World Series rings, as opposed to ten yeas of 75%. Is it even a question?

What does any of this matter in 2012? Well, the obvious correlation is to Washington’s current young stud, Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals plan to limit his innings, for the future. But, I have to wonder. How would a worst case of Smoky Joe Wood sound? Let it fly, see the greatest pitching year you’re likely to see, win a championship. Sounds pretty good to me. Maybe you luck out, and he can do it again. Maybe you don’t.

A more relevant example for this blog, though, is Carl Crawford. He was recently shut down by the Red Sox so he could be ready for next season and beyond. It’s not a perfect example, since Crawford has an injury. But, it’s a similar problem. They need to sacrifice the present for the future. Right now, the Sox are 7 games out of the playoffs. With Crawford, the Sox have a much better chance of closing the gap. He’s going to miss a month of a season either way. The choice is having him miss September of 2012, or April of 2013. Why not take the chance this year with a healthy Ortiz, Lester coming around, Gonzalez remembering how to play, and Beckett showing good signs? Why save Crawford for the unknown?

Since it’s an actual injury, I do have to give the Sox a little slack. They say his injury is getting worse by playing. I’m not sure what the problem is. Getting worse to the point that he may need Tommy John? He’s getting that anyway. Getting worse to the point that his recovery time is longer? That’s could be a factor. Getting worse to the point where it may cause other issues with other body parts? That’s problematic. So, it’s possible that shutting down Crawford is, in fact, the right move. I just can’t be sure.

What I can be sure of is that teams, especially the Sox, spend way too much time worrying about next year.

If we assume that every player has a fixed number of bullets in his gun, whether it’s pitches, or at-bats, or whatever, why are we saving them? Don’t we want as many of those used up when the player is young? In his prime? Why are we sacrificing 25-year old games in exchange for 35-year old games?

Why did the Sox protect Pedro so he’d be able to pitch for the Mets?

Red Sox 1-36: 12 is for…

12 consecutive games with an RBI by Ted Williams in 1942

I’m not a fan of streaks. I couldn’t care less about them. Well, that’s not entirely true. I think they’re cool from a statistical anomaly sort of thing. But, they’re not a sign of great athletic achievement. Nothing bugs me more than to see a hitting streak listed as the greatest feat of all time. It’s not an accomplishment. It’s a fluke of chance.

Streaks do have some merit as an example or description of a greater accomplishment. For instance, in 1942 Ted Williams played in 150 games, and drove in 137 runs. So, if you wanted to say, “Ted had so many RBI that year, he even had one in 12 straight games.” That would be fine. What you can’t say is, “Ted had a great RBI year, because he got one in 12 straight games.”

But, let’s look at this streak. It’s pretty amazing, really. I don’t know the breakdown of the RBI. Were they all home runs? RBI groundouts? Suicide squeezes? Assuming they weren’t all home runs, that’s quite a streak. In 12 straight games, Ted came up to the plate with an RBI chance. That seems like a lot, right there. Naturally, Ted took advantage of those opportunities. To drive in 137 runs, I’m guessing he took advantage of a lot of opportunities that year.

It’s a streak that nobody on the Red Sox has matched since. That’s actually a little surprising. When you consider the number of runs the teams of the recent past have scored, you’d think there’d be a chance. Manny got to ten games once, but that’s as close as anyone’s gotten. Cool.

12 is for twelve consecutive games with an RBI by Ted Williams in 1942

Two Weeks Left to Enter

This is your two-week notice for August’s contest. If you want to win The First Fall Classic, you only have two weeks to enter.

Print out, or call up the logo on your favorite tablet. Take a picture in a parking lot, or a museum, or a rodeo, or wherever. Send it to me to enter. Make it a good picture, so you can get plenty of votes.

Don’t let someone else win just because you didn’t enter!

Keep those pictures coming.

I’m Torn

I have a problem. Basically, I have no interest in reading anything the media writes about the 2012 Red Sox. I have no interest in listening to anything the media says about the 2012 Red Sox. I don’t need to hear them manufacturing craziness every day. I don’t need their constant sky is falling blubbering. I wish I could just read their game recaps. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to write those anymore.

But, how can I effectively discount them if I don’t read what they say? They write an article about a team meeting. I can tell you before I read it that the only honest to goodness fact in the whole article will probably be that the meeting was held. Everything else will be “unnamed source” or “a player.” But, I’m forced to read the article if I want to be sure.

I don’t want to be sure that much. It’s not worth it.

It’s tiring. The Sox had a team meeting. Yup. Every team has team meetings. Some of the Sox players don’t like their managers. Yup. Every team has players who don’t like their managers. The Sox are sending funny pictures to each other. Yup. So does everyone else.

Any chance we could hear anything about the game? The Sox got their closer back. Did you hear? Did you know David Ortiz was still on the DL? There’s a playoff chase in the works.

Remember?

Why Don’t Painted Cards Have New Pictures?

I’ve said before that I can almost understand why card companies reuse pictures. For the older players, there are simply a limited number of pictures to go around. Can’t really argue that they should have more pictures of Smoky Joe Wood on cards when there are probably only a handful of pictures out there. I also suggested that it was possible photographer’s rights would actually limit the number of pictures available for current players too. I don’t know that for a fact, but it’s certainly possible. But, how does that affect art cards?

Shouldn’t cards like Allen & Ginter or Gypsy Queen be able to produce an endless supply of pictures for any player? I assume the real answer is that they’re not actually painted cards. They’re actual pictures digitally converted to look like paintings. But, what if they weren’t?

I can’t paint. I can’t draw. I have no intention of suggesting it would be easy. But, can’t an artist paint a picture of a player however he sees fit? If a Disney animator can draw a picture of a character in any possible position, shouldn’t that apply to a player? Why can’t they paint a picture of Tris Speaker sliding into third? Why not a picture of Reggie Jackson in an Orioles uniform? Why not Bobby Doerr tossing the ball to Adrian Gonzalez, for that matter?

The cards from the fifties used to be actual paintings, right? They had some guy sit at his easel and paint out the exact card. Sounds good to me.

Is it laziness? Is it not cost effective to hire an artist? Is it not actually something that can be done? Is that talent too rare?

I can only assume the card companies want new options. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t bother doing what they can to change it up. They wouldn’t crop it differently. They wouldn’t zoom in. They’d just put the same picture of Tris Speaker squatting with his bat on every card as is. But, they don’t. Obviously, they want to mix it up a bit.

Why don’t they use real paintings?

List of 36: Things I Don’t Care About…No Matter What the Media Thinks

1. If Bobby Valentine says “hi” to his pitching coach

2. If Clay Buchholz goes to a charity event

3. If Curt Schilling has an opinion

4. If Adrian Gonzalez storms off the field

5. If Jon Lester has something to drink in the clubhouse

6. If Carl Crawford wants to bat second

7. If Josh Beckett plays golf on his off day

8. If Bobby Valentine invented the wrap

9. If Dustin Pedroia opens his mouth

10. If Jon Lester eats in the clubhouse

11. If Bobby Valentine knows where Jacoby Ellsbury is every second

12. If Josh Beckett talks to the media

13. What Buster Olny “thinks.”

14. If a player talks to management

15. If Ben Cherington wanted to hire Bobby Valentine

16. If they think the sellout streak is “real”

17. If John Henry owns a soccer team

18. If Terry Francona talks to Cody Ross in the clubhouse

19. If John Henry wanted Carl Crawford

20. If John Henry wanted Bobby Valentine

21. If Josh Beckett eats in the clubhouse

22. If injured players sit in the dugout

23. If Terry Francona talks to Kelly Shoppach in the clubhouse

24. If John Henry owns a NASCAR team

25. If Dustin Pedroia goes all out

26. If Terry Francona talks to Dustin Pedroia in the clubhouse

27. If Bobby Valentine was mean three months ago

28. If Bobby Valentine was mean a year ago

29. If John Henry goes to the Olympics

30. If Adrian Gonzalez makes a lot of money

31. If Bobby Valentine likes Kelly Shoppach

32. If Larry Lucchino goes to London

33. If Carl Crawford makes a lot of money

34. If Jacoby Ellsbury makes a rehab start

35. If Youkilis was a grinder

36. If John Henry owns a television network

Three Weeks Left!

There are only three weeks left in August’s contest. That’s means only three weeks to enter to win a fabulous book.

Print out that logo! Take a great picture! Send it to me! Enter to win!

Summer is a great time to be out and about. Take it on a hike. Take it to the mall. Take it camping. Wherever you go!

Keep those pictures coming.

Why All The Angst?

Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? That’s an easy one. Because from your angle and distance, you can’t see all the holes. Or, it’s because it’s artificial turf.

That’s what’s happening to Red Sox fans this season. Up close, you see the dead patches in your lawn. Looking at your neighbors, it all blends together to look much better than it really is. That’s why last season a 5 game lead in the Wild Card wasn’t enough in September, but this season a 5 game deficit in August is insurmountable. Isn’t it obvious how crazy it is?

I’ve heard all the complaints. For the most part, they’re ridiculous. “They’re in fourth place in the division!” So? Somebody has to be in fourth. Check out the Olympics. Every event has a fourth place. Does that mean those athletes are crap? Nope. Even if they finished fourth out of five, they’re still pretty good. The ranking is irrelevant, unless there are numbers to go along with it.

That’s when the other complaint gets tossed about. “They’re below .500!” That’s, obviously, true. They’re playing .491 ball right now. How are the wild card leaders doing? They’re playing .540 ball. Yup. It’s better. 5.5 games better, in fact. But, and it’s an important “but,” they’re not playing well. Remember that “terrible” 2011 Red Sox team that missed the playoffs? Remember their winning percentage? .556. How about the 2010 team that finished out of the running? .549. So, why on earth would we be worried about chasing down a WC leader that’s not even playing well enough to have made the playoffs the last two years? Shouldn’t they be the ones who are worried? Shouldn’t the Tigers be looking behind them? After all, as I’ve mentioned, the Sox finally have health on their side. Bailey and Ortiz are days away. Shouldn’t the Detroit papers be killing the team for not taking advantage of the Sox injuries? They had their chance. Now it’s over. The Sox are healthy, and only need to beat a team on pace for 88 wins. The Sox are better than that.

Then, people thrown in the other crazy problem. “There are more than just the Tigers!” There are three other teams between the Sox and the WC lead. Plus, they tend to play each other a lot. Strangely, this is seen as a bad thing. “The math doesn’t work. Somebody has to win!” they shout. True. But, and it’s another important “but,” somebody also has to lose. Isn’t it a great thing that they all play each other? Doesn’t it mean that nobody can break away? Doesn’t it mean that all the Sox need to do is take care of themselves, and the other teams will cancel each other out? Especially since the Sox, too, play mostly teams in front of them for the rest of the season?

The other teams have been plodding along all season. They took too long. The last time the Sox were healthy was the middle of last season. That’s when they were the best team in baseball.

The rest of the AL better listen to Satchel Paige. 

Of Course

Why didn’t we all see it? Of course it’s the way it happened.

Going back two weeks, the Red Sox were looking at a dreadful stretch of games. They have Texas, NY on the road. Not fun. Then they came home, but had to face Detroit. That’s no fun. They had a brief break against the pathetic Twins, but then it was right back against the Rangers. So, naturally, they won the series against NY, Texas, and Detroit. Then, lost 3 of 4 against the Twins, before jumping all over Texas in the first game of their series. As they say, that’s why they play the games.

What a fun game last night. Exactly how we all thought it would go when the season started. Ellsbury and Crawford tore it up at the top of the order. Gonzalez drove them in, and the ruins piled up. They got a dominant start from their fifth starter. It was just textbook. That’s been happening a lot more since Ells and Crawford returned. This last month and a half is going to be a lot of fun. (Not to mention the month after that.)

Big start tonight for Jon Lester. He’s been pitching better lately. Not stellar. Better. If he can pitch better against the Rangers, that will go a long way towards turning it all around. If he can just remind himself that he knows how to get people out, he can start simply pitching again.

Lots of big games coming up too. The Sox play just about everyone in playoff contention over the rest of the season. They can start putting some teams behind them.

If my math is right…

Magic Number for Wild Card = 57.

Magic Number for Division = 63

Sounds good to me.

I Scored!

May 7, 2000

The first thing I thought when I look at this scorecard was “bleh.” I know that every time I look at one of these old teams, I think goodness that the current Red Sox roster looks like it does. This game was especially so.

Look down at that pitchers spot. Was this team “Pedro and some other pitchers” or what? Fassero? Garces? Cormier? Lowe? This was even early in Lowe’s all-star closer season. So, it’s not like he was a focal point.

And that line-up. Nomar wasn’t in the starting line-up. Carl Everett as the main draw? Unbelievable.

But, it didn’t matter. The Sox took it to the Devil Rays, and pulled out the victory. They got people on base, and knew what to do with them when they got there. The pitchers were just effective enough. The game had plenty of action, which is a good thing.

Player of the game? I’ll go with Crazy Carl Everett. His three-run home run gave the Sox the last run that they needed. Plus, the fact that he was the DH, but ended up in the field gave the game a little twist of strategy. I could have said Trot Nixon. His homerun tied the game early, and was part of their first big inning. Really, plenty of players had great games. That’s what happens when you score nine runs.

The goat? Andy Sheets. Nomar’s replacement was no replacement at all. Heck, Nomar had a better game in his one pinch-hitting opportunity that Sheets did in his four at-bats. He did advance a runner with a flyball. But, if that’s your highlight, it says quite a bit about your game.

The Sox got the win, though, which is all that really matters. The offense had a good day to cover for the fact that it wasn’t a Pedro start. The game was close until the end. Derek Lowe went more than an inning for the save. A fantastic finish.

And the scorecard shows how it happened.

What is the Purpose of Dugout Interviews?

They keep doing it. During national broadcasts, they love to interview people during the game. Right from the dugout. Managers. Pitching coaches. Players. It doesn’t seem to matter. They’ll talk to anyone who will strap on a headset. Why?

The main problem with the custom is that it takes the place of game footage. The longer the camera stays on David Price talking in the dugout, the less it’s on the action on the field. Why does the network assume this is ok? Why do they think we’ll want to miss game action to see a goofy guy wearing a headset? Personally, I tune into the games so that I can, I don’t know, actually watch the games. And, I don’t mean having the game in a little window while most of the screen it taken up by a manager. Even with that in mind, I could probably convince myself that the interviews were ok, if they were any good.

Has anyone ever said anything useful during an in-game interview? No. Every great once in a while the networks luck out and an injury or something happens just before the manager interview. Then, they get to have the manager say, right on camera, that the player came out of the game because he was hurt. What amazing insight. Otherwise, the questions are garbage.

The manager may talk about the pitcher. “He’s really throwing it well tonight.” Of course, I’m watching the game and can see he’s only given up one hit. I could assume he was throwing the ball pretty well without needing the “inside information” from the manager interview.

Lots of the time, the questions aren’t ever specific to the game. “How great is it to watch him get ready for his start?” “What influence does a star like him have on your clubhouse?” They couldn’t have asked those questions before the game? In fact, they probably did ask them before the game.

Are they hoping for something juicy? If they asked Bobby Valentine abut a poor Kevin Youkilis at-bat, are they hoping that Bobby will answer, “Yeah, he’s just awful. Isn’t he? I didn’t want to play him tonight, but my coaches wrote his name on the line-up card without telling me. I guess he needs to be in there because Ben’s trading him to the Phillies, but they need to see if he can steal a base first. If the dumbass ever gets to first, they’re making me tell him to steal. Friggin front office.” Because, I have a scoop for them. Even Bobby V isn’t going to say that.

So, we’re left with mindless chatter. It’s fluff, when there’s no need for fluff. Besides, isn’t that what the sideline guy is for? Isn’t he supposed to be gathering insight about the performances in the game?

Why do we need the dugout interviews?

August Contest!

As we start another month, I’m giving you another chance to win! Once again, the prize will be a copy of Mike Vaccaro’s fabulous book, The First Fall Classic, which chronicles the 1912 Red Sox World Series win 100 years ago. What do you need to do to win? This month I’m making it really easy so that anyone can participate.

To enter, all you need to do is send me a picture of you and the Section 36 logo in a public place. So, print out the logo, and take your picture with it at the park, the zoo, the beach, your grocery store, or anyplace you can imagine. Then, send it in to me. If you have one of those fancy smartphones or tablets that allow you to display the logo electronically without printing it out first, you can do that too.

The winner will be the person who sends me the best picture. What defines “best?” I’ll let people vote on their favorite picture once all the entries are in. The picture that gets the most votes wins the contest! Depending on the number of entries, I may take it upon myself to select the ones I like the best as “finalists” and only open those up to voting. So, this time quality counts. Get creative! You can also feel free to submit multiple pictures. Only one would make it to the voting, but it would increase your chances of being selected as a finalist if I need to make cuts.

I’ll accept entries until 12:36 PM on August 31, 2012. As usual, I’ll remind you as we go along.

So get out there and take some pictures.

Good Luck!