Thursday 20 September 2012

Lights, camera, er ...

A sports photo blog has a fairly straightforward modus operandi - take pictures of sports events, and write about them.

I arrived at Prescot Cables' game at home to Mossley at the weekend, set myself up in my usual position, got the camera out, turned it on, and nothing happened. I did not recall the battery being low when I last used it, but that is the fun of lithium ion batteries, three bars to no bars in 50 frames. A quick rummage in the bag ensued, only to find the spare missing

So, it was to be a match without pictures. At least we could answer the question posed a couple of weeks ago - the event did exist, and we lost 2-1, against a Mossley side who went top of the table as a result.

I usually refrain from general comment on the day's play, as I do not see everything when looking through a small window. Whilst that serves to cover the fact I am fairly clueless about describing play most of the time, there may be some truth in my assessment. Most (not all) of the best photos are to be found tracking the ball, so concentrating solely on that, it is easy to miss players moving off the ball to provide a destination for passes, or blocking the opposition's options in defence.

I was asked, before our current press officer came forward, whether I would consider writing some of the reports that the club sends in to the Non League Paper. I was a bit dubious, given my admitted shortcomings in the tactical department, but with only 200 words, they only cover the main points of the game. I saw a report of similar length in a local paper recently that, on closer inspection, was created entirely from putting the result and scorers from the League website into sentences.

However, I tried taking notes, and found it did not interfere with taking pictures, although the resultant report would have been somewhat disjointed, along the lines of "X had a shot saved on 10 minutes. Their no 4 was booked after 20." I think it is easier to do both reports and photos if your main concern is the report, and getting pictures to illustrate it: combining putting together a slide show, trying to get everyone in, and writing a report is less likely to be a success.

Despite not having the camera, I still spotted what would have made a good photo - I was particularly frustrated when Glyn Barker scored Prescot's goal just after half time, it was a good example of getting round the goalkeeper, and took place quite slowly, so I should have got a shot.

The good news is that the spare battery has been found and restored to its place in the bag, so normal service should be resumed next week.

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