I played hooky on Wednesday afternoon. Can you call it hooky if you tell your boss in advance that you’ll be out of the office, and you use 1/2 of a vacation day to do it?

Well, even though I did it all by-the-book, it still felt decadent.  I had a blast. I was ITCHING to take in a San Francisco Giants game and shoot some photos — especially of Tim Lincecum since he seemed back on track after the All-Star break.

Yes, I have a soft spot for the guy.  He’s so much fun to photograph. Nobody has a pitching motion like his — certainly not cute, chubby-chubster bullpen guy Brad Penny, who I had never photographed before. Ditto for reliever George Kontos, who is not chubby.  He’s just relatively new to the team… so we were not yet acquainted with one another.

While the game was rather lackluster, and Timmy struggled despite his eight strikeouts, the weather was stunning and my seat was very good for photo taking.  It was my first time in section 125, thanks to StubHub.

It wasn’t Larry Baer territory, where I’ve taken so many photos I’m proud of.  At times I wanted to thump the third base coach on the back of his big head for obstructing my view of the mound, but I restrained myself. (That would be the PADRES third-base coach — not sweet Tim Flannery, who can stand wherever he likes as far as I am concerned.)

I’ll be back at AT&T Park on Sunday, when the Giants take on the Dodgers. Ryan Vogelsong is pitching, and I’m hoping to get some great shots of him too.  I’ll be sitting near the visitors’ dugout — another brand-new vantage point for me.

Where is your favorite place to take photos at the ballpark?