Thursday, September 25, 2008

Premier League

I have gained the utmost respect for Sports Photographers. There is no way I could totally follow the action of a football game while being glued to the camera's eye-piece, hoping to get that shot. The shot that depicted the intensity, the drama and the excitement of the game. I failed miserably.

The Digicel Premier Football League showcased Arnett Gardens FC versus Portmore United FC. It was hosted at the AGFC stadium, smack in the middle of the 'inner city'. A vast number of the patrons came from that community, and I have never experienced such hostility being vented. Threats and profanities flew at the referee and linesman whenever the whistle was blown for an offense committed by the host side, Arnett Gardens.

I kid you not... between watching the game and trying to catch a good shot, I was very cognizant of my surroundings, ensuring I had a good escape route, just in case 'bokkle start to fly'

Chairman of the Arnett Gardens Football Club, Dr. Omar Davis, MP



My main purpose there was to shoot photos of the event for the AGFC website, currently under construction, but as much as I tried to get flattering photos of AGFC in action, the ball was dominated by the guest team for most of the match, and AGFC subsequently went down 1-0.




I shot with my Nikon D300 with the battery pack, ensuring a higher fps rate as I hoped to capture much action. I used my Nikon 80 - 200mm f/2.8 lens as the evening quickly turned to night and the stadium lights weren't all that great. My huge problem was white balance, which I just could not get right with the flood lamps. I also shot at ISO800 at the beginning of the match then had moved up to ISO1600 by the end. The wide shots were done with a Sigma 10 - 20 f/4 lens.




1 comment:

D.Go said...

interesting stuff...certainly looked like you could be one of those sports photographers because you've managed to take a drab scene and bring it colourfully to life. I wish you could have gotten some more widescale action but I know the boys weren't playing. Good stuff anyway.