Harlequins v Bath 31/11/08

[Tobers]

This was the most challenging photographic experience I've had so far.

Firstly, it was freezing and raining. Add to that the fact that the light was really poor with side-lighting from floodlights. Then to make it worse the players refused to run towards me at full tilt with ball in-hand, and failed to perform gut-wrenching tackles head-on to the camera, and worse still failed to do all of the above with a nice clean background with no other players in front or behind them. Bloody poor form if you ask me. Lastly it was my first pressure shoot with my 300 2.8.

So, preparation is key. Following my last outing in the rain at Saracens, this time I had gore-tex ski salopettes on, with thermals underneath, and a thermal top, another sweatshirt layer and a ski jacket with hood. Plus gore-tex trainers, a wooly hat, neck-tube thing, and gloves. I was sweating a lot in the media room and had to remove several layers to get comfortable.

I also ensure I had my laptop sorted and latched onto the WiFi connection in the stadium, and my FTP software was sorted ready to upload the pics. Memory cards formatted & ready to go. Camera cleaned. All kit double-checked. Sorted. Face stuffed with massive bacon roll and diet coke from the excellent media catering facilities! Went to the loo beforehand just in case (Coke being a great diuretic).

Luckily the rain had relaxed to a more gentle drizzle for the start of the match before dying away completely. This meant I didn't need my advanced rain protection system composed of a plastic carrier bag and an elastic band (works like a dream though, and dead cheap!!). We had strict instructions to sit between the advertising hoardings and not block them, so the togs were spread out nice and evenly.

It was pretty dark when the match kicked off, so I was at ISO 2500 straight away shooting with my old/new 300 2.8 at 1/800th - 1/1000th to freeze the action. As it got darker I was up at ISO 3200 to keep at around 1/800th, but sometimes dropped down to 1/640th or 1/500th in order to drop the ISO. Talking to the Getty tog afterwards (very friendly and with some annoyingly superb shots) he was at ISO 1600 all night and dropped to 1/500th for most of his pics. Interesting. He was using a pair of 1Dmk3s as well. He was the guy who took that shot of Ricky Hatton smashing that American guy in the jaw last week - amazing shot. I'll try 1/500th next time as, though the ISO3200 pics look OK smallish, they are noisier than I'd like before any noise reduction is applied. This is the sort of time a D3 would come in handy!

I was shooting from a Bath point of view, so was at the end they were attacking to start with. Soon it became obvious that the light from the floodlights on either side of the pitch above the grandstands was really poor when shooting from the ends, as the players were poorly lit when running front on. I moved to the side and shot from the 22 line instead, my little stool gently sinking into the quagmire.

I also tried out manual mode for a while as well. This was really tricky as Bath were in white so were either blowing out or the Harlequins team were too dark. Darn - bloody tricky juggling exposure especially as the light strength varied across the length & width of the pitch. I think I'll revert to Av next time.

Anyway, enough blabbing - here's a few pics.

#1

#2 Kinda sums up Bath's day - they lost 21-14 but should have won

#3

#4 Ha! Got the Bath try that the Getty guy didn't get.

#5 Winner! Got to say Gomarsall was awesome, and set up the winning Harlequins try (annoyingly at the wrong end!) with a fantastic disguised reverse pass.

#6 Loser! Stuart Hooper of Bath tries to figure out where it all went wrong

#7 Silly shot of the night - Bath teammates console each other after the game

Cheers!

Tobers

[DenzilTK421]

Nice photos - i was stuck outside in the traffic!
Are you a side-line pro or am from the stands?

[onefivenine]

30 days hath November...

Sounds like a nightmare... freezing cold, wet - not my idea of fun at all.
You couldn't pay me enough money to shoot outdoor sports in UK winter.

Some very nice shots though! Well done

[Tobers]

Originally Posted by DenzilTK421

Are you a side-line pro or am from the stands?

Side-line "pro" in the loosest possible terms and getting more & more experience in week on week.

[Biscuit761]

Nice shots Tobers

How did you get in the position to be able to do this sort of thing, is it from the Snap-It days or are you with an agency ?

Bill

[booyaka]

good stuff and nice description to go with it

[Bristol Pete]

Tobers,

Nice work and glad it is working out and you enjoy it. Nice making contact with Getty too, most are decent. I bet he was under exposing by a stop at 1600 to bring his speed up and then managing his levels or wiring straight to a picture desk.

For me, three is a great shot and I tell you why. Good solid action, clean, faces, and guinness logos evident. Everything you want.

Pete.

[Holowlegs]

Very nice set Andy

Good to see you doing well at this and a very good read.

I do like the action shots but #6 is the pick for me, think you have caught his emotions well here.


Cheers Holo

[Tobers]

Ta muchly everyone. To be honest I didn't get any shots I was really pleased with. I got a bunch of OK ones and a load of crap. I think I took 400 shots in total before, during and after the game. It's really bloody hard doing this stuff - you dont realise until you actually try it. Following jinking players running at full pelt when using centre point focus only, and juggling the ISO/exposure etc, sorting out a decent background, positioning yourself in the right place, not missing the post-try celebrations bla bla bla. Plus you've got to concentrate so hard otherwise you miss the moment - always look through the viewfinder, and if you have to think about pressing the shutter you're too late.

There's a huge amount to think about. I guess that the more you do, the easier it gets, but its like any learning process when you've got something very complex to master - it takes time. The guys who turn out stunning quality beautifully composed pics day after day (Mark Aspland in the Times is a great example) really know their stuff. Also it really pushes the camera to the limit in terms of how fast it can shoot, get the exposure right, handle low light etc. Shows why the 1D and D3 are kings in this area.

Still, not complaining though! I love it.

[Bristol Pete]

Originally Posted by Tobers

Ta muchly everyone. To be honest I didn't get any shots I was really pleased with. I got a bunch of OK ones and a load of crap. I think I took 400 shots in total before, during and after the game. It's really bloody hard doing this stuff - you dont realise until you actually try it. Following jinking players running at full pelt when using centre point focus only, and juggling the ISO/exposure etc, sorting out a decent background, positioning yourself in the right place, not missing the post-try celebrations bla bla bla. Plus you've got to concentrate so hard otherwise you miss the moment - always look through the viewfinder, and if you have to think about pressing the shutter you're too late.

There's a huge amount to think about. I guess that the more you do, the easier it gets, but its like any learning process when you've got something very complex to master - it takes time. The guys who turn out stunning quality beautifully composed pics day after day (Mark Aspland in the Times is a great example) really know their stuff. Also it really pushes the camera to the limit in terms of how fast it can shoot, get the exposure right, handle low light etc. Shows why the 1D and D3 are kings in this area.

Still, not complaining though! I love it.

Watching sport through a lens is totally different to watching it in the stands. It will come as you start watching the backs, the ball, the scrum half and stop chasing photos but knowing when to nail them in 1 maybe 2 frames. As I always say it is not about 10 fps, but the speed at which you get the first or second.

The difference in my rugby stock now from three years back is massive and you will find the same.

[ryanyboy]

GREAT stuff Tobers

Love #3 in particular.



Ryan

[paulwIre]

Some really nice shots there.

I can totally understand what you say, especially about the cold and the wet. It makes for nasty conditions for photographers. The players can run around to keep warm.

You did a good job and captured some good images there.

[Tobers]

Originally Posted by Bristol Pete

Watching sport through a lens is totally different to watching it in the stands. It will come as you start watching the backs, the ball, the scrum half and stop chasing photos but knowing when to nail them in 1 maybe 2 frames. As I always say it is not about 10 fps, but the speed at which you get the first or second.

This is so true. I'm not bad at anticipating the action, and you quickly get used to the sort of plays that the teams are using. I tend to do 2-3 shot bursts and only leave the full 10-15 shot splurges when I've got a guy hurtling towards me.

I did find using the 300mm 2.8 prime quite tricky though. I'm used to zooming out to see the overall shape of the action, then zooming in again to get the shot I need. Cant do that with a prime, so I ended up shooting with both eyes open and watching the big picture with my left eye whilst trying to get my brain to also watch the viewfinder. Needs more practice! As soon as you take your eye off the viewfinder to have a shuftie about, that's when the big tackle/try/streaker happens.

Practice & hard work required.....

[ryanyboy]

Originally Posted by Tobers

Practice & hard work required.....

Yeah but based on what I've seen so far you'll crack it