Second Shoot - Training Session

Turned up this evening to photograph a training session - potentially a technical shoot as light was poor and flash would be pretty pointless. Having said that, the floodlights are on so there is some good available light. Spoke to the coach - who seems quite interested and supportive - and was all set to go when I discovered that I had to memory card in my camera - yes, I am a twat!

Evening wasted but lesson learnt - perfect planning prevents piss poor performance!!!! Never mind, they train again on Thursday, so plenty of chances to get training done. Scheduled to shoot first match in first week of April - first home game that I can get to. Did think about going to an away game, but I won't get the same levels of clearance or access.

Need to discuss research areas with tutors next chance I get, and get a swanky black paged sketch book.

First Shoot - the location

First shoot today.

Went down to the rugby pitch in the morning to find it pretty much empty of human life - only the odd one or two people wandering around, walking dogs etc. The location is a large greenfield site, the size of about four rugby pitches - even though one of them is in fact a football pitch! Its surrounded on two sides by trees and a river, a wall and an open field area which then leads to the local swimming pool. The sun shone (a little too brightly) so I soon got to work.

I looked for general scene setting shots, such as wide views of the main pitch including the rugby posts, the field markings and the barrier going around the edge of the pitch. I then looked for detail - the rust of the floodlight stands, the graffiti, the stud marks in the grass and other things such as the pavilion, trees, freight containers (a novel way of providing storage for equipments thats relatively in expensive and secure).

Having seen and photographed most things I then popped in a mate to drink coffee and talk about possible photography business opportunities. I may still be a student but I have to think about the time when I will need to start earning some money. Still plenty of studying to be done in the meantime!

Begun, The FMP has....

Well, after two years of college it pretty much comes down to a Final Major Project, or FMP, if you will. The FMP is designed to be a collation of everything learnt during said two years - a bit like an assignment, except you pretty much set it yourself. For this I've picked Rugby - a sport that's close to my heart (even though I never played it).

The idea is this - in South Wales, there are many amateur rugby clubs that are generally quite close the heart of the community, where the game is played by office workers, brickies, doctors, accountants and similar. Everyday folk who play for pleasure and give up their free time for nothing except maybe a few post match beer tokens.

I want to look at a match day situation - the build up (training), the match itself and the immediate aftermath. Essentially, the whole project is a documentary, but it will obviously feature sports photography, as well as a typical documentary element. However, these elements will underpin a large area which will be portraiture. Initially, my FMP was just going to be portraits of rugby players taken before a match and immediately after. I wanted to explore the changes in a person after they've been through a competitive and physical confrontation. I was sure that, aside from the mud and sweat, that there would be things like stress, triumph, defeat or similar etched into these faces - these weekend warriors fresh from the fight. I wanted to emulate Richard Avedon's In The American West series - both in general style and execution. Blending this with David Bailey composition and Karsh's eye for dignity I was sure that I could unfold the drama in the human moments of a match's aftermath.

But it seemed to me then that these portraits required context - would about the build up, what about the personalities involved off the pitch? What about the physical structure of the club - the pavilion, the inner sanctum of the coaches, the ref's room and so forth. How do the players and coaches prepare - training etc. Then there's the location - the field, the railings, the floodlights etc. Generally, rugby matches are played at council owned fields - what are they like when no one is around - what are they used for and how (apart from the crowds) different to they feel on match day?

A lot to cover!