Enter the Ultras
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV; f/2.8; 1/1000 sec.; ISO-8000; 160mm
3 Feb 2024
Tooting & Mitcham United at home.
They are a great club who came down into this league this year. Well supported, by a good natured crowd. Take a look at their flags (Around the 35th photo). We covered the match costs on Saturday, which is a first for a league match. Ten directors. Who quietly took it upon themselves to wash the half time cups while we were bustling around trying to cover the match admin.
Knowing they would have support, we made a special effort to get friends and family along. Including these fine fellows who enlivened the proceedings with a constant stream of good natured banter.
The chaps were quite pleased when Andre Cruz Rosa scored the winner, hitting a perfectly judged through ball (courtesy of Luke Hedges) on the first touch to loft it over the keeper.
An overcast afternoon. I’m shooting almost wide open even when we start. By the end it’s f2.8 and ISO 12800. So I missed focus on about half the shots, and had to make some tricky calls on where to focus.
In deciding what to keep, I try to weight the importance of the event, the quality of the picture and the technical quality of the shot. For example, the shot of the T&MU goal is completely out of focus. But it’s their goal. I have to keep it, if only as an example of one that got away.
I must remember to slow the exposure when the match is over. Though Lightroom makes a pretty good guess at removing the high ISO noise. If you shoot RAW. Which means you don’t get many shots before the buffer fills up. Still, this isn’t meant to be cinema.
I got a request for shots of the crowd. Which I think I delivered. Annoyingly, I didn’t get to one of the mums to request permission to use pictures of her tot. Which of course came out rather well. But the world will never know.
I’m beginning to get sequences showing little tussles. In the past I selected the best shot to represent the whole. But I’m not too proud to string a few together now.
