Lookout! Four days in Chattanooga

Minnesota Twins team photographer Brace Hemmelgarn took a break from shooting Major Leaguers at Target Field this month and was assigned by the Twins to spend four days in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the new home of the Twins' Double-A affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts. Minnesota has loaded their Southern League affiliate with top prospects like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Jose Berrios, Adam Brett Walker III and Max Kepler. Below, we go behind the scenes with Hemmelgarn, from the dugout tunnel to the pressbox, to take a peak into life with the Lookouts. He explains some of the photos in his own words:

Within my first few hours in Chattanooga, I had potentially shot one of my favorite frames of the trip. After noticing that the sunset light shines into the Lookouts' clubhouse down the right field line at AT&T Park, I knew the atmosphere had the potential to be something unique. I waited in the hallway as players walked out one-by-one to the field prior to the game. Max Kepler took a nice, wide turn towards the field and allowed the light to do the rest.

I began my first game in the "photo well" inside the Lookouts dugout shooting through the protective netting. It can be kind of a pain to shoot through the netting, especially using a wide angle lens. With a right-handed hitter up early in the game, I focused on third baseman Miguel Sano for a potential play. Ended up with a chopper as Sano drop-stepped towards the outfield for a nice, athletic photo.

As Byron Buxton initially celebrated his two-run triple with his back to me, I thought I missed capturing the heavy emotion of the play. I lucked out as he continued to celebrate when he turned toward his teammates in the dugout.

With Buxton on the bases as the sun was setting, I wanted to capture a sense of the Minor League atmosphere with this photo: advertisements, party decks and the smaller lights. To get around the net, I leaned around to the opening of the dugout in front of the steps and waited until the pitch was thrown as Buxton got into his secondary lead. 

The sun setting at AT&T Field in Chattanooga brought new possibilities for shots -- in contrast, back in Minneapolis, the sun almost sets directly behind home plate at Target Field. The bonus of this particular Minor League stadium is that the sun sets longer on the field, giving some nice light from third base since the sun is low enough for a nice fill light, without shadows, on the faces of pitchers and hitters for a few quick innings. Not only was I asked to cover the players in action but also the team itself. With Chattanooga as a new affiliate with the Minnesota Twins, it was a good time to load up on photos of their beautiful ballpark. 

Late in the game, I was able to shoot off a few frames of Sano taking in the game from the steps before he noticed me. As with many photos from spring training, he is never shy around the camera.

Get up! One game down, one victory for the Lookouts in the books. 

Besides shooting the game action, I wanted to capture some behind-the-scenes moments while on my Minor League assignment. Before batting practice, I noticed Kepler listening to some music and it made for a cool frame when he adjusted his hat before heading out to the field.

For more behind-the-scenes type shots, I followed the guys through their pre-batting practice stretch and agility drills in the outfield. It was a tiring workout, but Buxton and Sano still had some energy left in the tank. It's a kid's game after all, right? 

While waiting in the dugout for the game to start, Sano grabbed Kepler and Jorge Polanco for a quick shot before they took the field. 'Deuces' up, of course. 

Besides the typical field-level shooting locations, I try to find different spots at every stadium I work in to capture the action from a different perspective. On Friday night, I discovered the party deck in right-center field.

Baseball parks are the best, every single one of them. Each park has a unique character and no one park is ever the same. The largest crowd of my trip to Chattanooga attended Friday's game, which coincided with great weather and a beautiful sunset.

Catcher Stuart Turner gave me the opportunity to shoot only my second career walk-off home run. As he rounded the bases, I followed the team out of the dugout and sprinted towards home plate to cover the celebration. Unlike in the big leagues, I didn't have to work around a couple television cameras, so that was a plus.

It's not a walk-off without emptying the coolers. Buxton poured some fresh blue Powerade and ice on Turner before his postgame interview. 

It was an early start on Saturday morning as I met Byron Buxton at AT&T Field to follow him throughout his morning workout with strength coach Dax Fiore.  

The back-end of the Lookouts bullpen features Jake Reed, Nick Burdi and Zack Jones, all of whom rank in MLB.com's Top 30 prospects in the Twins organization.

Saturday night, I headed back to the outfield to shoot from the party deck in right. Action-wise, it was uneventful but I was able to capture Buxton tracking a fly ball early in the game. It's a simple but effective image as I am a fan of the negative space in the frame.  

Another game, another win for the Lookouts.

Prior to Sunday's matinee, the position players went through an agility drill with a football. Sano eventually gained possession with both feet in bounds for the touchdown.

As I was chatting with Lookouts general manager Rich Mozingo near the dugout, I heard a few guys yelling my name in the outfield. Turns out Jorge Polanco wore the wrong hat and the guys wanted photo proof. As Polanco realized this, he tossed his hat away. Outfielder Travis Harrison went to retrieve it as teammates grabbed a hold of Polanco. This photo also sums up the overall vibe of this team as well. Fun group, easy to work with, and they enjoy the game with a smile.

After shooting Nick Burdi earlier in the week, I decided to try out some multiple exposure shots with my Canon 1Dx. The camera body can get up to nine exposures in a single image, but I kept it to three to capture a small portion of his throwing motion.

Four games, four wins and plenty of photos for the Lookouts.

Following the game on Sunday, I rented a bike from a Bike Chattanooga station near my downtown hotel and set out on a self-guided tour of the city where I enjoyed the sunset on the Walnut Street Bridge.

Before heading back to Minneapolis on Monday, I made the trip up Lookout Mountain to check out Rock City.

The baseball was good and the city of Chattanooga could not have been better -- a great area with good food (and ice cream), an awesome aquarium and plenty of sights to see.

Want to see a game in Chattanooga yourself? Check it out!