#cotchme

Useful Articles

https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/how-to-make-it-in-sports-photographer-dave-rogers-70971

https://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/interviews/marc_aspland_on_sports_photography.do

I really like this shot by photographer Marc Aspland. It was taken during a England V New Zealand game and captures really well the intensity and physicality of the game. He has captured the snow falling around the players which creates a strong atmosphere in the photograph. He has also captured on player in particular’s facial expression which is one of pain and determination which again helps to show the intensity and physicality of the game.

This shot was taken during a Wales v England six nations game and shows a players face and expression during the collapse of a scrum. The scrum is a very complex part of the modern game so knowing the sport well is a big advantage when trying to shoot it as it puts you in the best position to get shots like this one. In the shot we see, despite the scrum collapsing on top of him the English player continuing to focus and keep his eyes on the ball which helps show the mindset the players are in during the games.

As the sport I want to photograph is rugby Dave Rogers is a good choice of photographers to research. He has photographed every single rugby world cup since the first tournament in 1987. In sports photography it really helps to understand the sport you are photographing as it means you know best where and when action is going to happen and therefore where and when you can get the best shots. This is why I have chosen Rugby as it is a sport I play myself and one I know well. The shot above is good as it captures the facial expressions of all three players involved, the determination on the tacklers face, the reaction to the tackle on the idle players face, and the pain of being tackled on the guy with the balls face.

This is arguably on of the most famous rugby photographs ever taken. It shows Johnny Wilkinson, the English fly-half, kicking his team to victory against Australia in the 2003 world cup final. The depth of field is effective in this shot, the foreground players are out of focus, the crowd is out of focus and even the player on his team is out of focus which is a good representation of the mindset Wilkinson would need to be in to make the kick successfully. There was an element of luck to this photograph as well. Wilkinson normally kicked with his left foot so any other day this picture would not have turned out so well. Rogers says that luck plays a big part in sports photography.