Let the camera do the work

Last Saturday saw another rain related postponement for Prescot Cables, with our chairman reporting the surface water was the worst in 15 years with other games having similar problems. By lunchtime the choice was down to football at Burscough or rugby union at Waterloo. I chose the rugby, as it was easier to get to, the game was less likely to be abandoned, and Birkenhead Park, who have used my pictures, were the visitors. There had been no games for a couple of weeks, so the grass looked rested.

I have posted before about saving files in jpeg and raw. The difference is camera dependent, particularly in the internal processing to create a jpeg. Despite having new kit, I will not revisit the question for non sports photography, the advantages of raw outweigh the disadvantages. However for sports work, it is more finely balanced. The extra processing for raw files on the computer takes time - about 45 seconds per photo, an hour and a half for 120. The D5300 introduces a new issue: even with a high speed SDHC card (80MB/s), the size of the file, about 25MB, is enough to cause an issue with buffering with exposures in quick succession, enough to get a run, but not the goal at the end of it.

"Test the application" is a watchword of these pages, so I decided to shoot entirely in jpeg, to compare results from previous games. I started with the sports mode, on the auto ISO setting. The colours lacked saturation, which had as much to do with the teams' colours as anything else, and was easily sorted with a tweak in Photoshop.

The home side made a strong start.

The auto ISO setting, with its maximum of 3200 lasted me for most of the first half, after which I worked up the scale, to 6400...

... to 12800.

Noise levels were better than the equivalent on the D5000 (where such existed), on a par with what I could obtain on the computer. For the last few minutes, as floodlights were unavailable, I went to 25600, where the full range of noise reduction is not available. There was a lot of grain, which I would have been able to reduce on a raw image.

Switching sports has moments when you forget what is going on - at one point I was thinking, "He's just run the full width of the pitch to join in that pushing and shoving", before remembering it was a maul, and joining it was the idea.

The visitors played more strongly in the second half, clawing back some points, but not enough to prevent a home win.

The game finished just before the next wave of rain arrived, an advantage on this occasion of the kick off time: Paul from our Train Crew went to Burscough and reported a good game in atrocious conditions.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Final score: Firwood Waterloo 36 Birkenhead Park 21.

If you are not going to Yorkshire ...

... the next best thing is for Yorkshire to come to you.

Prescot Cables' scheduled game at Ossett Town saw Saturday morning scenes quite common at this time of year. Dewsbury and Ossett are good for beer and pubs, so a number of our train crew were waiting on the results of a 9.30 pitch inspection - the need for such an event does not usually bode well. The anticipated postponement found us all dressed up with nowhere to go.

I decided instead to attend Birkenhead Park's game at home to Sheffield. They have no FA strictures about turnstiles, so a table with a pile of programmes and a cash box is perfectly sufficient. However, they have moved it since my last daylight visit: had I arrived by bus, I would have seen it as I walked through the pedestrian gate; however, from the train in the opposite direction, it was hidden by the gate as I breezed through the vehicle entrance and wondered why nobody was taking money. Fortunately I stopped to look around, so the gate man attracted my attention and relieved me of £5 in return for a programme with one of my pictures on the cover.

The visitors' strip was blue and white with red socks.

These colours may have some civic connection, as Sheffield Corporation buses were white with blue trim and red wheels. That was until 1968 when the Conservatives won control of the Council, and the wheels started to be painted blue. When Labour regained control the following year, they went back to red. Another plausible version of the story is that a new general manager just preferred blue, but reckoned without the tyre maintenance contractors, who were notorious for not matching wheels, and changed his mind when buses started to appear with mixed wheels, like odd socks.

Followers of these pages will know the hosts' colours are also red, white and blue, which sounds like a clash (historically, the home side changed in such an event), but the different pattern meant the distinction was clear.

I took up position on the Park side. From the local weather, you would not have thought games were being rained off elsewhere, and the sun was behind me.

The visitors quickly opened the scoring, and had much of the play for the first few minutes.

We have looked before at the photographic potential of the line out. The principle is straightforward, the hooker throws the ball between the lines, and the players jump for it. Lifting was allowed in the nineties on the grounds everyone was doing it anyway. There is no requirement to throw the ball upwards, only for it to travel 5m horizontally, and we can see here that the ball has been thrown low, so the player at the front can catch it. I have never seen this, and was not expecting it twice more: it seems a tactic that relies on surprise.

The Park side is where the visitors' substitutes and coaching team are located, and on this occasion a photographer was with them. The jovial suggestion was made that I should buy some high vis and go the pitch side of the barrier, but I will stick to the spectator side, where there is no risk of interfering with the movement of the coaches. Having said that, with the gusty wind, players kicking penalties had to use a decent bit of force to make sure the ball went into touch, so I was relieved not to be fishing it out of the bushes.

Kicking off at 2.15 in the winter has become more or less universal at this level of the game, saving expenditure on floodlights. Naturally, the light fades towards the end, with the final whistle being around sunset, so I need to drop the shutter speed, giving the chance for another of those photos with the ball carrier reasonably frozen and everyone else slightly blurred.

This was an evenly matched game, with the hosts levelling twice, but unable to pull ahead, and finally falling to a converted try ten minutes from time.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Final score: Birkenhead Park 12 (T. Brown, Chidley, C. Hall) Sheffield 19.

Friday night lights

A number of rugby union clubs in England must have been disappointed when the hosts were knocked out of the World Cup, as they will have been hoping for increased bar revenue showing the games. Last Friday saw the third place playoff between South Africa and Argentina. I say Friday saw it, I had no intention of doing so, as I am not a fan of televised sport, and had no strong interest in the outcome. However, alternative entertainment was available at Birkenhead Park, in the Cheshire Cup semi-final against New Brighton. This was the first time I have photographed rugby under lights. Given that, in both codes, recovery time means it is only practical for a team to play once a week, midweek games, at least at the level I watch, are rare.

I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived, as they were not charging for admission. Unfortunately it also meant there was no-one to ask to point out a member of the committee, so my pint that has been on offer from the webmaster for use of my photos once again remained unclaimed.

I tried the light meter on my phone, not a precision instrument, and obtained a reading of 320 lux under a pylon. That suggests as a rough estimate the lights are set up for an average value of 250 lux across the field.

When play got under way, I quickly got some good results particularly in the fairly static parts of the game such as scrums.

I took up my normal position on the Park side, which, being even more lightly populated than usual, allows plenty of freedom of movement to follow play.

The line out is not everybody's favourite part of rugby union, and indeed it was the first part of the game with which rugby league dispensed in 1897, but it is useful to the photographer. In an evening game I could use the raw converter to lower the level of black to make the players appear in particular contrast against the sky.

Both teams were playing in a kit with a substantial amount of white, which is always helps with lighting.

I was alternating between 1/200s and  1/250s shutter speeds. The results from this when players are running across your field of view are always variable, but I got more than enough to make up a collection.

There was a difference of two steps between the teams: both played in the same division last year, the hosts having left through promotion and the visitors through relegation. A win for Birkenhead Park was not unexpected, but the final score, with the hosts being able to prevent New Brighton from scoring, was not necessarily a fair reflection of the balance of play.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Final score: Birkenhead Park 36 New Brighton 0.

Close cropping

During the first half of the Wales v England rugby union game a couple of weeks ago, my friend Dr Phil posted on Facebook that he thought the England players were all lads from Buckinghamshire, coerced into playing rugby at Eton, and they needed to strengthen the squad with some door staff from nightspots my student and postdoctoral friends go to long after my bedtime. There was one flaw in this analysis - none of the squad are from Buckinghamshire, and none went to Eton.

The sociological aspect of rugby union merits a few reams of academic literature, but the perception (never more than partly true) that the game in England was a public school preserve was a source of derision to our neighbours, particularly in Wales. In the professional era, whilst the majority of the starting XV against Wales (eight players to seven) was educated privately, this was mainly Millfield (on sports scholarships) and local independent grammar schools.

Of the comprehensive educated players, three came from a few miles away from where I grew up. My school offered football and rugby: the latter's players seemed more (but definitely not exclusively) drawn from those whose parents attended a state grammar school. Such schools when they existed in our area mainly played rugby. I avoided the conundrum by being hopeless at controlling a ball, but having a half way decent turn of speed up and down a 1 in 9 hill (for those in the know, Mossley is a mere bagatelle at 1 in 13). On the other side of the hill was Warlingham RFC, where a number of our school team played their club rugby, and current England captain Chris Robshaw played as a boy.

One group largely absent from the England squad, and I am not sure whether it was a significant group in the amateur era, was from the farming areas of the South West and East Midlands, where the game attracts support across the community, possibly because local games are a good excuse for a scrap with the next village.

The following morning, I found Prescot Cables' football game at home to Salford City was postponed due to a frozen pitch. It had been sunny the previous day, and not freezing overnight; however, there is an area in permanent shadow, which was still frozen from Thursday night. So, I headed off to table topping Birkenhead Park, who used my photos last season. I am not sure about the social makeup of the club, but being next to Birkenhead School and with a grammar school system in part of the Wirral, I suspect it is similar to that back home. The visitors, second placed  Kirkby Lonsdale, are from the solidly farming area of Westmorland.

I could have gone to a game a couple of weeks previously if Darlington had not been gung-ho about the state of their pitch, giving a wasted journey to County Durham. I would then have been able to join in their commemoration of Park and England captain Percy Kendall, killed in action in France 100 years ago.

One of my photos from the corresponding fixture last year was on the programme cover...

... a more closely cropped version of this one.

I generally regard including the ball as a minimum requirement, but the closer crop works quite well in the context of the cover.

The away side's colours always look bright on a grey day.

The away supporters seemed dissatisfied with some of the refereeing decisions, although not always being on top of the laws meant I was not able to offer an opinion. Here the ball carrier seems intent on letting everyone get on with their maul without him.

The hosts looked to be at a disadvantage with a man sent off just before half time, but maintained their lead with solid defence...

...driving forward when they had the ball...

...and a conversion accompanied by what sounded like a tile slipping on the changing room roof, the landing point for a fair few successful efforts.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Final score: Birkenhead Park 20, Kirkby Lonsdale 17.

Watching Liverpool FC ... no, not that one

The Prescot Cables Train Crew were approaching our trip to Radcliffe Borough last weekend with some anticipation. This would be our first away trip, indeed our first game, since New Year's Day. We even had a new leader in beer and pub choices, Richie having delegated duties for the day to Luke, one of our pharmacologists, who is from Prestwich, and who could therefore use local knowledge. This was despite his mainly drinking cider with ice, although he does have the real stuff when it is available. As an aside, why did ice in cider take off? From being unheard of when I was Luke's age, 20 years ago, it became ubiquitous, to the point that a few years ago, my friend Roger had to stop the barman reaching to the ice bucket for his pint of the local real stuff in Worcester, where you might expect them to be more traditionally minded.

What is becoming a rather monotonous pattern of weather, with heavy rain on Friday night, put paid to that, with the game at Radcliffe having been called off after an early pitch inspection. So, with Birkenhead Park having made use of my photos from my last visit, I made my way back. Having commented that one of the constituents of Liverpool St Helens FC was the original club to hold the name of Liverpool FC, I found they were the opposition this weekend.

Before I set out, there was a downpour that worked its way across the country, reaching the Midlands, Yorkshire and London during the time for football, causing some matches to be abandoned as five minutes' rain deposited pools of standing water on pitches.

At Birkenhead, most of the water seemed to have soaked in. The game started with the kit looking pristine.

We can see the roof of the changing rooms in this picture - I assume the slipped tiles are from successful conversions, although a couple out of the picture to the left must have come from some very wayward attempts - or successful ones from a very tight angle.

The state of the ground meant nobody stayed spotless for long ...

... even the scrum halves, whose duties involve staying on their feet more than many other players, were starting to look a bit muddy.

It was clear quite quickly that the home side were going to dominate this game, having gained the bonus point for scoring four tries within the first half hour.

When I was selecting the photographs for the slide show, I very quickly switched into "club" mode. Although I tend to follow my local side even when I am visiting a club I do not usually support, when I am planning to use the photographs just for my own audience, I will pick some individual shots of the visiting players. Once I know I am working for a club audience, I concentrate heavily on the home side.

Eric the webmaster asked me light heartedly to look out for his son, who was playing in the second row. Fortunately he had a good game, scoring a try ...

... and then giving a (much needed in view of the wind) hand in converting it.

As well as the wind, we had a short hailstorm, which always makes for a good photo effect, although less good for the players, or for the person of the photographer for that matter.

The sun came out for the last few minutes of the game, although that did not mean conditions were any easier, the wind was still gusting strongly, mainly to the disadvantage of the visiting team. Here is one of their players taking a kick from his own in goal area.

After a gust of wind caught it as it was in mid air over the 22 metre line, it ended back more or less where it started.

Heavily one sided games in any sport are never really the best, apart from for bragging rights for the players and supporters, The rest of the pictures from the sort of game at which I am glad to have something to do can be seen here.

Final score: Birkenhead Park 73 Liverpool St Helens 7

A trip to the park

A few years ago, I was visiting a friend from school and his young son. He was an intelligent chap (and still is, I hasten to add), and I was soon on my hands and knees showing him how to shunt the carriages on his train set. I was regaled with how, after I left they went to the local park and played football for a few hours, attracting a large group to join in by the end. Then, one visit, he had a video game. Everything seemed to have changed: "Morning Luke" "Mm", "How are you?" "Ug". I thought all was lost, until, half an hour later, he looked up and asked brightly, "When are we going to the park Daddy?".

Last weekend took me to a local park, or at least a ground in one, with the weather making finding a place to watch sport a fluid situation. The report from New Mills, where Prescot Cables had been due to play, was that much work had been put in to the pitch on Friday, but it was likely to be in vain if the forecast rain fell overnight.

When the game was called off before I needed to set out, the options were rugby at Caldy or Birkenhead Park. Caldy were advertising a 3pm kick off, which seemed odd, as I do not recall their having floodlights. So, I decided to get off the bus (it is the same route to both grounds for me) at Birkenhead Park for their 2.15 kick off against Kirkby Lonsdale, with its guarantee that we would still be able to see what was going on by the end.

Birkenhead Park are one of the oldest clubs in the area, with their socks proclaiming they were founded in 1871.

Note the initials over the clubhouse door.

Rugby was the first football code to take hold in the Liverpool area, with many older clubs in the area carrying the suffix "FC". Liverpool FC were less than amused when the exponents of the non handling game helped themselves to their name without so much as a by your leave, and the merged Liverpool St Helens club maintains the "FC" tradition.

The ground is on the edge of the park from which the club takes its name. The park side terrace has become covered with grass.

In football, FA requirements would insist this be fenced off, but rugby is more inclined to trust their spectators to make their own assessment of the state of the ground. I made my way round, as it was less populated than the street side, and gave me freedom to move up and down with the flow of the game.

As it was a cold, damp day, everyone could see their breath, which, when 16 blokes have been running and gather for a scrum, that means a certain amount of steam, all good for a photo.

The ground had floodlights. Although we could probably have managed without, they were turned on for the second half, which made the camera work easier, such as in this shot about half an hour in, so at about 3.30.

The sun made an appearance in the last few minutes of the game, so after the final whistle, I hopped on the bus to West Kirby to catch the sunset.

When I had uploaded the pictures, I sent a link to the club webmaster, who sent a nice note back saying he had enjoyed the photos, particularly as his son was playing, and that he would put them on the website. He also put the programme editor in touch - I am always pleased when a club has a use for my photos. The club have a Pitchero website, which used to be easy for photo sharing, you uploaded them yourself, and the webmaster then approved them for publication. I do not know if they were getting inundated with images, including spam, but you now need to declare yourself a player, parent or official club member (which of course I am not) in order to request permission to upload.

The rest of the pictures from an end to end game, with the teams never more than one score apart, can be seen here.

Final score: Birkenhead Park 17 Kirkby Lonsdale 15.