The neighbours' floodlights, part 2

I posted a few weeks ago about Marine's new floodlights. Having a free Tuesday with no Prescot fixture, I thought another visit was in order now the nights are starting to draw in. It is also a good chance to watch some of the players who have stepped up a division from playing for Prescot.

Ryan McMahon - previously of Prescot Cables

As an aside, is it my imagination, or have the League fixtures this year been a bit floored by the earlier start to the FA Trophy? Prescot's game last week against Mossley was only arranged when someone noticed both clubs had byes in the Trophy; and most clubs in our division had fixtures last Tuesday, but we did not, even though our bye meant we would not be involved in a replay. Dulwich Hamlet were given a fixture on the weekend of the First Qualifying Round against opponents who had a bye in the Preliminary Round, and were therefore in no doubt they would be unable to play us.

I was not alone in the desire for midweek football, as I spotted a few Prescot supporters around the ground. James and Phil had taken up position under the cover at the side of the ground (James is a Marine supporter, but since he has been working with Phil, he has been to more Prescot games than Marine), so I joined them and took some pictures from this side.

I have posted on the best vantage point for different floodlight arrangements, and I found the pitch to be well lit in the areas I expected. I had not expected how deep a shadow would be cast by the lights near the corners - a problem with players running away from the lights. Here is an example, before I tried to adjust the lighting.

We can try to lighten the shadows, in the same way we do on a bright sunny day.

However, I was still not happy with the results, as the player's face is almost completely obscured, so I did not include this in the final collection.

The results when the players are partly facing the lights can be quite striking.

I then tried shooting from the end of the pitch, about half way between the goal and the corner. My suspicion that this would prove to be a better vantage point proved correct, making use of the lighter spots, and I was more likely to capture players running towards the lights.

Paul Lundon - previously of Prescot Cables

Marine's floodlights are designed for a luminance of 350 lux (and are new, so are giving a bit better than that), as opposed to 180 lux at Prescot. This made a big difference - using the f4.5-5.6 70-300mm lens under the 180 lux lights, I am slightly underexposing, even at a shutter speed of 1/200s and ISO 6400 equivalent, whereas I did not need to do this under these lights. Indeed, I was even keeping my thumb on the shutter speed wheel to alternate between 1/200s and 1/250s as players moved in and out of the lightest areas.

Marine very considerately score their first goal from the well lit edge of the penalty area

Marine's club shop has an impressive stock of programmes, and as James pointed out some from Dulwich Hamlet, a couple overheard, and introduced themselves as Merstham supporters, in the area on holiday. They pronounced the name as written - the local pronunciation, never extending much beyond the North Downs, adding an extra r (Merstrum), seems to be dying out. I worked with a friend in Manchester who had played for Merstham's Youth team (like me, he came north to University and stayed). He climbed the footballing ladder to appear on to Match of the Day last season - as the camera captured him on duty with Lancashire Constabulary. As he works in Blackburn, his potential appearances this season will be on the Football League Show.

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