Jul 24 2008
A Night at the Rugby
Anyone who knows me will be somewhat surprised that I went to a rugby game. I’m not much for watching sports - especially sports like rugby. I grew up in a football (that is soccer) household - my dad, my uncles, my cousins, they all play soccer - not one would even touch a game with that funny shaped ball!
But, when an opportunity was offered to me to go to a game, my inner photographer became interested.
So, a few weeks ago, I went to my first rugby game - Australia versus France. It wasn’t the most passionate game played by either side, and Australia won 40 to 10. Nevertheless, it was a new experience for me. One image I did want to photograph was where a player jumps in the air and is “lifted” by the other players. I pretty much spent the entire first half standing down near the field, camera poised, waiting for that photo. As the second half began, I went and chatted to some friends I’d bumped into, and bingo:
I rocked up with my Canon 350D, 28-90mm and 90-300mm lenses (the latter being an EF lens, so the ratio added 1.6x focal length). I didn’t have a tripod or monopod, so was relying on the bright stadium lights to be my friend.
Although the light on the field was bright, it didn’t really translate to anywhere else. It also meant that the light was very “cold”, so I warmed up the photos a little in Photoshop. Above is one of the few proper “tries” from the game. Most of the points were scored with penalty kicks (hopefully I have the right terminology, I still have no clue of the rules).
The photo above I like to call the friendly male bonding image. Not sure if it’s really called a scrum, or ruck, or something else entirely, but it made for a good photo. Rugby is certainly a physically demanding game.
Something I’d really wished I’d had (apart from a monopod), was a 50-400mm lens. I spent most of the night changing lenses around, as one was too short, the other too long. I ended up getting some shots I was happy with, but I could have taken some much better action shots if I’d had the one lens.
So, I’ll think about investing in sport photography gear down the track…
