Rory Rhodes - 2011-12 Brisbane Bandits

Rhodes is another one of the Aussie natives who has made it into the Minnesota Twins farm system. In 2012 he is playing with the Beloit Snappers in the Class A Midwest League. He has spent both ABL seasons with the Brisbane Bandits, with this card from the 2011-12 season.

2011-12 Brisbane Bandits Rory Rhodes card front © Adam East 2012

Corey Adamson - 2011-12 Perth Heat

I remember watching Corey Adamson's father - Tony Adamson playing for the Perth Heat back in the original ABL in the late 80s, early 90s. He's following in his father's footsteps making a name for himself as a Perth Heat player and playing minor league with the San Diego Padres. MLB for Life have an interesting interview with Corey on their site from April 2012.

I didn't realise Corey's relationship to Tony when I took this photo - I almost asked him about it later on if he was related to him.

2011-12 Perth Heat Corey Adamson card front © Adam East 2012

Sung-Woo Jang (장 성 우) - 2010-11 Canberra Cavalry

Sung-Woo Jang (장 성 우) was a catcher from the Lotte Giants who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2010-11 season. He has spent 3 years in the Korean majors to date. I quite like this photo - I'm fond of capturing pictures of the catchers in full gear.

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Sung-Woo Jang card front  © Adam East  2010

Norihito Kaneto (金刃憲人) - 2010-11 Melbourne Aces

I've struggled to get many photos of Melbourne Aces in either of the first two ABL seasons so far, so have had very limited choice for potential cards. This card design is for Norihito Kaneto (金刃憲人), one of the Japanese imports from the Yomiuri Giants who played with the Aces during the inaugural 2010-11 season. Not a great photo by any means, but one of the few Melbourne players from 2010-11 that I was able to capture.

2010-11 Melbourne Aces Norihito Kaneto card front © Adam East 2010

Kenny Wilson - 2011-12 Canberra Cavalry

Toronto Blue Jays prospect Kenny Wilson was another of the American imports on the Cavalry roster for the 2011-12 season. Kenny is currently playing for their A level affiliate, the Lansing Lugnuts in the Midwestern League.

2011-12 Canberra Cavalry Kenny Wilson card front © Adam East  2012

Chin-lung Hu (胡金龍) - 2011-12 Adelaide Bite

Chin-lung Hu (胡金龍) is a former MLB player from Taiwan who joined up with the Adelaide  Bite for the 2011-12 season. Hu played 118 MLB games between 2007-2011 between the Dodgers and the Mets. His stint with Adelaide was an attempt to reestablish interest amongst MLB teams in his career.

I managed to get a number of photos of Hu, but none of them I was particularly happy with. When it came to a decision as to which one should be on his card, I just couldn't decide, so here are the 4 versions I came up with:

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Chin-lung Hu card front © Adam East 2012

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Chin-lung Hu alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Chin-lung Hu alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Chin-lung Hu alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

Allan de San Miguel - "D-Grunge" Concept Card

Playing around with some more card design concepts. I'm rather fond of the "Dragan" faux-HDR portrait style. This is an attempt at a neo-Dragan / Grunge style of card design. It features Allan de San Miguel from the Perth Heat, an Australian prospect for the Baltimore Orioles.

D-Grunge Concept Card (Front) - Allan de San Miguel - © Adam East 2012 

D-Grunge Concept Card (Back) - Allan de San Miguel - © Adam East 2012 

Doanld Lutz - 2010-11 Canberra Cavalry

Donald Lutz was born in America, but has dual American and German citizenship. He lives in Germany and became a member of the German National Team, despite not taking to baseball until his teenage years, It was there that he caught the eye of the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. He's still with them in 2012, playing at A+ for the Bakersfield Blaze in the California League.

He was also a member of the Canberra Cavalry's roster in the intial 2010-11 season, and proved to be a crowd favourite. One of his card designs was also the second ever ABL card that I created, hence the rather bad image on that one :)

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Donald Lutz card front © Adam East 2010

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Donald Lutz alternate card front © Adam East 2010 

Nic Ungs - 2011-12 Melbourne Aces

Nic Ungs  is an American import who played with the Melbourne Aces during the 2011-12 season. Although now playing Independent baseball with the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, he was originally drafted by the Florida Marlins. He spent 8 years in the Minor Leagues, making his way up to AAA. The 2011 roster for the Patriots includes two Australians - fellow Aces player Justin Huber, and Blue Sox pitcher Chris Oxspring.

2011-12 Melbourne Aces Nic Ungs card front © 2012 Adam East 

2011-12 Melbourne Aces Nic Ungs alternate card front © 2012 Adam East

Matt Benson - 2011-12 Canberra Cavalry

Whilst action shots or portraits are the norm for most card photos, you do see the odd candid shot of something out of the ordinary. One shot that I particularly liked from last season was Canberra Cavalry player Matt Benson. I had several shots of this Aussie player on the field, however the one I liked most was him playing with several rubber chickens - used as a part of the Cavalry on-field promotions - that were hanging from the roof of the dugout.

2011-12 Canberra Cavalry Matt Benson card front © Adam East 2012

Ayatsugu Yamashita 山下斐紹 - 2011-12 Brisbane Bandits

A Japanese Import from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Ayatsugu Yamashita (山下斐紹) played for the Brisbane Bandits in 2011-12. As catcher he hit a respectable .340 over 16 games for the Bandits. His return back to the Hawks pre-season training was inauspicious, when he reportedly was late for practice having slept in, earning him a demotion.

2011-12 Brisbane Bandits Ayatsugu Yamashita card front  © Adam East 2012

Aaron Sookee - 2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox

The mlbblogger site has a good article and interview with Aussie youngster Aaron Sookee, who is seen as a prospect by the LA Angels organisation. Sookee plays for the Blue Sox back in the ABL. Rather humorous that Sydney has a player with the surname Sookee given that one of the nicknames given by Canberra fans to Sydney players and fans is the Blue Sooks, following a history of bad blood between supporters of these two teams.

2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox Aaron Sookee card front © Adam East 2012

Mychal Givens - 2011-12 Perth Heat

Mychal Givens was an American import from the Baltimore Orioles organisation who played for the Perth Heat at Second base during the 2011-12 season, managing to hit .352 across 41 games. Givens is currently playing for the Delmarva Shorebrids in the Class A South Atlantic League.

2011-12 Perth Heat Mychal Givens cared front © Adam East 2012

Scott Gladstone - 2011-12 Adelaide Bite

What I particularly like about South Australian local Scott Gladstone's cards for the 2011-12 Adelaide Bite was the choice between the 2 photos I had for him. They are taken only several seconds apart, but the body language couldn't be more different. He was pretty close to taking that pitch on the body :)

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Scott Gladstone card front © Adam East 2012

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Scott Gladstone alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

Didi Gregorius - 2010-11 Canberra Cavalry

The 2010-11 Canberra Cavalry roster was a real melting pot of different nationalities. Didi Gregorius added to that, as a native from the Netherlands. Didi is a Cincinnati Reds prospect, currently playing at AA level back in the USA. He was a part of Canberra's inaugural roster and one of the fan's favourites.

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Didi Gregorius card front © Adam East 2011

Boss Moanaroa - 2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox

An Aussie of Maori heritage, Boss (a nickname, his actual name is Crew) is currently playing for the Boston Red Sox's A level affiliate in 2012. Here are the two possible designs I'm contemplating for the 2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox card set.

2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox Boss Moanaroa card front © Adam East 2012

2011-12 Sydney Blue Sox Boss Moanaroa alternate card front © Adam East 2012

Brian Burgamy - "Circles" Concept Card

Another concept card I'm working on. Many modern card designs seem to have a white background with abstract designs behind the cutout of the relevant player. Here are several versions of a "Circles" design I'm toying with that try to fit that design theme. The cards feature American import Brian Burgamy - the ABL's 2011-12 Sam Bat Silver Slugger Award winner from the Canberra Cavalry.

Not sure how I feel about these designs yet.

"Circles" concept card 1 - Brian Burgamy - © Adam East 2012 

"Circles" concept card 2 - Brian Burgamy - © Adam East 2012 

Phil Stockman - 2010-11 Brisbane Bandits

Designed, but never printed, this card design was for the 2010-11 Brisbane Bandits. This card features Aussie MLB player Phil Stockman who was a member of the Bandits inaugural roster.

2010-11 Brisbane Bandits Phil Stockman card front © Adam East 2011

James Jones - 2011-12 Adelaide Bite

Seattle Mariners prospect James Jones was sent down to play "winterball" in the Australian Baseball League with the Adelaide Bite for the 2011-12 season. Here's the card for him. In reflection, I don't like the card design I did for the Bite last season. This colour scheme is too much like the Sydney Blue Sox's light blue. I should have gone with a darker blue similar to the Bite uniform colour.

2011-12 Adelaide Bite James Jones card front © Adam East 2012

Fumikazu Kimura 木村文紀 - 2011-12 Melbourne Aces

Normally my photos aren't posed, however I made an exception for this one for the Melbourne Aces Japanese pitching import Fumikazu Kimura (木村文紀) of the Seibu Lions. He seemed to be enjoying the pre-game atmosphere.

2011-12 Melbourne Aces Fumikazu Kimura card front © Adam East 2011

Matthew Williams - 2010-11 Sydney Blue Sox

Another one of the action shots I like. Although Sydney Blue Sox player Matthew Williams looks like he's posing for the camera, this is actually taken with a telephoto lens from a distance during a pre-game warm up session. I was fortunate enough to not only capture him looking towards the camera, but with the ball about to go into his glove.

2010-11 Sydney Blue Sox Matthew Williams card front © Adam East 2011

Mitch Nilsson - 2011-12 Brisbane Bandits

Sometimes it's hard to decide which picture you want to use on a card. One such example is my 2011-12 design for Mitch Nilsson (son of ex-Bandits pitcher Gary Nilsson and nephew of Aussie baseball legend David Nilsson) of the Brisbane Bandits.

I like being able to see the face of the player in the card's photo - I always ask myself - "Could I recognise this player in real life based on simply owning his cards?" This gives me a feel for what type of pictures to include. However, sometimes a nice action shot is good, even when a player's face is obscured. I quite liked the shot of Nilsson in the alternate photo where he has just caught the ball, despite not being able to see his face.

2011-12 Brisbane Bandits Mitch Nilsson card front © Adam East 2012 

2011-12 Brisbane Bandits Mitch Nilsson alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

Phil Brassington - "Flashbacks" Concept Card

Following some "How To" instructions on the web, I developed the following concept card. The player on the card is Phil Brassington of the Canberra Cavalry. The photo it was based on was taken during the 2010-11 season. Toying with developing the concept a bit further, maybe as part of a "flashback" card set, or even the basis for the 2012-13 season cards.

"Flashbacks" concept card - Phil Brassington - © Adam East 2012

Luke Hughes - 2011-12 Perth Heat

This design was for the Perth Heat for the 2011-12 ABL season. Several different photo options for the card front for Aussie Major Leaguer Luke Hughes. I decided to not include a box for autographs on the design of the card backs this season.

2011-12 Perth Heat Luke Hughes card front © Adam East 2012

2011-12 Perth Heat Luke Hughes alternate card front © Adam East 2012 

2011-12 Perth Heat Luke Hughes card back © Adam East 2012 

Jun Hyeok Heo 허준혁 - 2010-11 Canberra Cavalry

Seeing as this is the first time I'm displaying this card design, I'll show both the card front and card back. This is the design used for the 2010-11 Season Canberra Cavalry cards. This was my first attempt back at card design, and the really basic design kind of shows that :) The colour scheme and logo on each card were changed to match the respective team the player belonged to.

This card in particular is for Jun Hyeok Heo (허준혁) - a pitcher from the Lotte Giants in the Korean Baseball Organisation who played for the Canberra Cavalry during the 2010-11 season. I quite liked this photo - an action shot just as he's about to pitch. From memory it was one of the first I took after (finally) getting a telephoto lens to be able to capture action shots during games.

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Jun Hyeok Heo Card Front © Adam East 2011

2010-11 Canberra Cavalry Jun Hyeok Heo Card Back © Adam East 2011 

Joe Quinn - Southern Cross Aussie Legends

This was my first ever attempt at a custom baseball card, and was made back in 2008. I was toying with the idea of trying to make a set of cards featuring every Australian MLB, NBA and NFL player. The card features Joseph (Joe) Quinn, the first Australian to ever play in the Major Leagues. Being the first ever Aussie in any of those leagues, Quinn had the honour of being the subject of the original concept card for this idea. He migrated to the USA at age 11 and ended up playing 1768 Major League games over 17 seasons.

Obviously, unlike most of my cards, this wasn't a photo that I had taken. The image of Quinn was taken from a historical team photo from the 1890's (hence the other player head in the shot.) I did a lot of trawling of online archives to find photos of Quinn.

Joe Quinn - Concept card for the "Southern Cross" Aussie Legends series of cards - © Adam East 2008

In the end I only had two concept cards printed up from this set - this card, and one of Colin Ridgway - the first ever Aussie to play in the NFL.

Starting Up

I'm a middle-aged Aussie male living in the Australian capital city of Canberra. I enjoy collecting trading cards, and have a particular fondness for sports cards. I have a rather substantial collection of sports cards featuring Australians who have made it to the top of their profession in the USA, in sports such as Baseball, Basketball and American Football.

As well, as collecting cards, I also enjoy taking photos, including when I'm out at sporting events.

This has recently lead to a pasttime of mine of creating my own custom sports cards. I take the photos, create up a card design in Photoshop, and then get a copy of the card printed up for my collection. It's a novel way to keep copies of my photos.

I've started to see other blogs that have also contained custom made cards, so I thought that I would add another blog to my collection, to highlight the custom cards that I have made. It's a way for me to express my creativeness :)

Most of these cards will be baseball cards. I'm a regular attendee at Australian Baseball League games in Canberra with my camera. This means there will be a bias towards Canberran players, but I try and get as many photos as I can of players from visiting teams too.

I do also take a lot of Australian Rules Football photos, but have yet to create any custom cards using these photos. So, sit back, and hopefully enjoy my offerings.

Canberra Cavalry player Kenny Wilson - January 2012 - © Adam East 2012