Rugby Virgins

City-Exile

Paulw and I went along to Leinster v Llanelli in the Magners League, at the RDS tonight.
It was my first time ever bringing a camera to a rugby game, so it was a new challenge. All in all, I found the experience to be a very enjoyable one.

Here's a sample of what I got.

thebaz

Excellent stuff there for a virgin, though rugby is alot easier to photograph than soccer , slower and more predictable , and easier access.
After the world cup rubbissh, i'd say the crowd was tiny

3rd is my fav , but all good , particularly quality

City-Exile

I wouldn't say it was easier.
It's certainly different.
There are 8 players more than you'd have on a football pitch, so it's more bodies to get in the way of your shots.

There was over 9,000 people there.
Not bad for a Magner's League game.

Paulw

A very good crowd there tonight.

Shame about the result though.

Here's a sample of my photos.

Oriel

Paul, City's win I'm afraid!
City, 2 is the best in my opinion.

City-Exile

It's not really about who wins, but with Paulw being a Leinster man & me being from Munster, he really was up against it!

We take different approaches to the game & I have to say I like the greater sense of perspective in Paulw's shots.

Borderfox

I love Pauls shot of the try being scored, a moment in time frozen. Peadar's shots are excellent too. What lens are these with Paul? 70-200? I have tried the digital noise correction on the 40d but it kills the frame rate, what about yourselves?

Paulw

Most of the shots are with the 70-200mm. I was shooting at ISO 1000 and 1/200 or 1/400 (TV mode). I didn't use noise reduction, but shot in raw and increased the exposure in raw converter to give some more light.

Peadar is much more used to shooting in low light like this at sports events, so I'm not surprised he captured some excellent photos. For me, it was a learning experience, of camera settings. I think it will take me a few games to get used to the light (lack of) and camera settings, before I can more focus on the real action and what to capture. Overall, it was a very good night (except for the result of the game).

Valentia

I genuinely think they are all great shots lads. That 300 2.8 is just shaggin' wonderful though. Sob, I only wish..........

City-Exile

I don't think any single purchase has ever given me as much joy as the 300 f.2.8! It gives you such confidence & every so often, I get a picture I'm proud of.

Paul, we'll have plenty more games to learn & improve at. Only thing is, the weather & lighting can only get worse!

Paulw

That's what I'm afraid of. LOL.

Don't think the 300mm f/2.8 IS L would be within my budget either, unless I start making some serious money from photography, and I can't see that happening any time soon.

I must say, I enjoyed the experience last night, and I look forward to practising and learning more.

RuggieBear

i think i saw you guys at the game.

nice pictures.

Come for the H cup games and you will see a real atmosphere

jlang

If you were the two guys on the pitch who moved to the North end at half time, I saw you too! Great pictures but a dreadful match - I think someone must have told the players the best way to get called up to the Irish squad was to emulate the quality of performance at that level.

For me, I think Paul gets it for the shot of the try, but Peadar's processing is better at dealing with the floodlights. Well done both.

City-Exile

I encouraged Paulw to move for the second half.
Just shows how much I know about rugby!
I think I have a try shot somewhere too.
Haven't had a chance to look at anything off my second camera.

City-Exile

No joy with the try, I'm afraid.
This is a try, but it's not as "nice" as the action Paulw captured.

Valentia

jlang wrote:

For me, I think Paul gets it for the shot of the try

Because they are such a rarity in Irish rugby these days?? Sorry, couldn't resist.....

BTW do you hear them singing "The Fields of Athenry" in Cardiff tonight....so sad.

rymus

Oriel wrote:

City, 2 is the best in my opinion.

Very much so!

bovril

Great sets of shots lads.

Paulw

My photo of that try had too many bodies and legs in the way to make it useful. I'm looking forward to the next game. Shame it's Nov. But, I'll be better prepared for it now.

City-Exile

Back to the football for me tomorrow night.
I'd certainly look to a slightly different approach at the next rugby game, but I think I'll study the sport & photography from the sport, before I try it again.

GristlyEnd

Paulw wrote:

My photo of that try had too many bodies and legs in the way to make it useful. I'm looking forward to the next game. Shame it's Nov. But, I'll be better prepared for it now.

Let us know if you're heading to this as I wouldn't mind trying my hand at sports photography.

RoryW

what lenses are used for these type of photos

Paulw

I was mostly using 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L, but sometimes used the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L.

City-Exile was mostly using his 300mm f/2.8 IS L.

RoryW

thanks as it is interesting to see the quality of the shots without the fstop going too low (and expensive)

of course you will probably say using a Canon (which I think you do) rather than a nikon (which i do) helps as well - but this is a whole "other" argument:D

Paulw

LOL, yeah both Canon. I was mostly shooting using ISO 1000. Not sure what City-Exile was using but it was about ISO 640.

Next time I plan to try more with the 100-400mm lens and see what I get.

City-Exile

This is the EXIF data from one of the pictures above.

RoryW

City-Exile wrote:

This is the EXIF data from one of the pictures above.

not just one of but THE photo above (sorry paul)

leinsterman

thebaz wrote:

Excellent stuff there for a virgin, though rugby is alot easier to photograph than soccer , slower and more predictable , and easier access.
After the world cup rubbissh, i'd say the crowd was tiny

3rd is my fav , but all good , particularly quality

Rubbish ... you could not be more wrong ...

Each sport has its own challenges ... saying one is easier than another is completely silly.

Rugby can be very difficult picking out good shots from piles of bodies or keeping up with action that is moving backwards to go forwards with far more distractions crossing in your viewfinder ...

leinsterman

Nice work lads ... the 300 F2.8 is definitely the one for these occasions ... I've tried the 100-400 for evening games and it is just too slow ... it works Ok during daytime though ... and 70-200 F2.8 is OK when the action gets close ... but I'd not use it on my main body ...

You are better off shooting JPEG with the in camera sharpening turned up a bit ... RAW is too onerous process wise for sports ...

leinsterman

Forgot to add ... sorry I didn't make the game Paulw ... but to be honest, having seen it on TV ... glad I was not there ... Irish rugby has been nothing but a string of dissappointments lately ... was hoping the young lads Fitzgerald and Sexton may offer some hope for the future ... but not of that showing ...

Paulw

Ah if I could only afford a 300mm f/2.8 IS L. I'll just have to make do with what I have, and learn how to get the most from them.

Using the 40D, I didn't find shooting raw any problem. I'd seldom take a burst of more than 4-5 frames, and the 40D is well able for that.

It was a terrible game to be at, as a Leinster supporter, but a learning experience.

City-Exile

Great night for the Pot Noodle fan though!

Paul, once you've done one game under lights, you'll be much more prepared the next time. At first the poor lighting is a shock & you don't think it's possible to get anything decent. Before long, you realise that everyone has to contend with the same conditions & no one expects you to have daylight quality images. I was looking at pictures from France v NZ & they were quite grainy, but I doubt the average Joe even notices, nor cares.

bigeoino

Oriel wrote:

City, 2 is the best in my opinion.

Mine too, great series tho'
well done
(although may not be the best time to get into photographing rugby....)

City-Exile

Of course it's the best time to get into it, bigeoino.
No point diving in when the bandwagon is in full flow. We'll be experienced photographers by the time Irish rugby captures the imagination again.
That gives us about 10 years to practice!

bovril

as a matter of interest did you have press passes or did you just talk your way onto the sideline?

City-Exile

We have Magners League Photographer's bibs, which get us access to the sidelines.

Paulw

At least for next time, I have a much better idea of the lighting conditions and what settings to use on the camera. Once that is sorted, I can focus on the game and on getting some good shots.

Of course, I'll also keep my eye open for a nice 2nd hand 300mm f/2.8 lens.

City-Exile

There was another rugby cherry popped on Friday night.
Come on now, you know who you are. Don't be shy.

Paulw

You got lucky again. LOL. Brilliant photo though.

I just uploaded my few to FlickR.

City-Exile

If you tried moving around the pitch during the game, you might get "lucky" too.

GristlyEnd

City-Exile wrote: »

There was another rugby cherry popped on Friday night.
Come on now, you know who you are. Don't be shy.

Nothing great but I haven't gone through them all yet, so I live in hope!

These are all ISO 1600 on a Nikon D200 so fellow Nikonians will know the pain of such a high ISO

City-Exile

Good man, Darren & welcome to the club.

RuggieBear

Yhat's probably the only tackle MOK will make this season...:D

Paulw

Well, yesterday was a good day for Leinster rugby, with a good win.

Just a sample of images taken -








Feel free to C&C or leave FlickR comments.

City-Exile

They're not your best shots, Paul.
The first one has too much "empty" space on the left.
Both players faces are obscured, which doesn't make for a great shot.

I'd crop the second one tighter & rotate it slightly to the left.

The third one is fairly good, except for the fingers appearing from the right.

You've done well, considering you were so restricted with regard to your positioning.

RoryW

I think there are better ones on your flickr

was this the first sports outing with the new toy ?

RoryW

other properties in flickr for the photos list the Artist Name as "Simon Fitzpatrick" and not "Paul Walsh"

Paulw

Thanks guys. First day out with the new 300mm. It's some lens.

I uploaded a few photos to Flickr, and then had to remove them and upload them again (due to some metaflags).

City-Exile

roryw wrote: »

other properties in flickr for the photos list the Artist Name as "Simon Fitzpatrick" and not "Paul Walsh"

Paulw wrote: »

I uploaded a few photos to Flickr, and then had to remove them and upload them again (due to some metaflags).

How funny is that!

RoryW

Paulw wrote: »

First day out with the new 300mm. It's some lens.

well at that price it would want to be SOME lens

Paulw

roryw wrote: »

other properties in flickr for the photos list the Artist Name as "Simon Fitzpatrick" and not "Paul Walsh"

The disadvantage of using Simon's camera. :eek: Thought I replaced those, but guess I missed them. DOH.

At least I won't have that problem in future, as I'll be back to using my 40D for the next match.