I shoot a lot of motorsport but I have always had a desire to explore the challenges of photographing other sports.
Such an opportunity arose last weekend when a friend invited me to attend the finals of the Cricket Twenty20 World Cup Finals at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados (16th May 2010).
I am a huge fan of cricket…Fortunately, as a West Indian, I can still enjoy the sport and the wonderful memories of the game from my early years by separating my passion for the sport from any emotional attachment to the present West Indies cricket team. That way I no longer make myself endure the angst which accompanies the support of what has now become one of the most unprofessional sports teams to play a professional sport…but I digress, that is another topic for another blog!!!
I noted that I was a fan of the sport only because doing a photo shoot at any sport requires timing and anticipation which can only come with knowledge of the sport and familiarity with the movement and flow of the game.
The Media Centre at the Oval
Loaded with the longest lenses in my collection, a standard grade 70-300mm (f4.5-5.6) and a high grade 50-200mm (f2.8-3.5), along with a wide lens 11-22mm (f2.8-3.5) and a 1.4 teleconverter, I set out to Kensington Oval to enjoy two World Cup T20 finals to do my first serious photographic effort at an international cricket game; that is, as serious as you can get while sitting in an elevated stand beyond the boundary.
Having taken my camera to Kensington Oval before, I knew that the extra reach of the 300mm lens was required to get anything decent from the stands. I knew however that this lens was quite slow and would only serve me well during bright sunlight. I therefore had the 200mm as insurance to take me into the evening and the night when the women’s final was due to finish.
Make no mistake, cricket is a fast paced action sport from a photographer’s view point and the quickened rhythm of the T20 version just adds to the equation.
Whether you are trying to capture the poetry or power of a fast bowler’s delivery, the grace or elegance of a batsman’s shot, a spectacular catch by a fielder or the bails flying as a batsman is bowled, there is constant action which helps to pique your interest as you try to anticipate the next great photo opportunity.
Bowlers…
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Batsmen…
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Fielding…
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Clean bowled…
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While I did not have the equipment or the location to match the accredited photographers who produce the wonderful images which can be found on cricinfo, I was generally pleased with the captures that I made. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of fall-of-wicket opportunities which I captured but was disappointed in the amount of shots were not up to scratch due to camera shake. As the day went on I became more intrigued with capturing great fielding rather than the actual fall of wickets.
Predictably, light became a bit more challenging during the women’s final as we entered late evening and the lights came during the night. Olympus cameras are not known to be low-light demons like their Canon and Nikon counterparts and it really became an issue as natural light faded and the game continued under the stadium lights. The other big issue arose from hand holding the camera at long focal lengths; a monopod is necessary if I intend to improve my keep rate on similar shoots. All in all it was a fantastic learning experience and a good day at cricket.
Couldn’t finish this post without including a sequence which, though not related to the actual games, turned out to be the play of the day…
In the midst of the English team’s celebration after scoring the winning runs to capture their first world title in decades, a fan (fool) ran on to the field. ..a police officer quickly took up the chase…
...the pursuit begins
The man compounded his stupidity by taking one of the stumps…
the stump grab...
What followed was a tackle to make any NFL linebacker proud; executed with cop’s hat staying firmly in place!!!
...the takedown
The man was then escorted from the field
...the cop has got his man
I am now really motivated to do some more local and regional cricket when I find the time!!!
As usual you can find the full set post on Flickr
Later
Ian
Note: All images appearing in this post are owned and copyrighted by Ian Nicholls, unless otherwise credited. Images may not be reproduced (including on a website or in print) without specific consent from Ian Nicholls. Please use the Contact Form to email your request for permission.
