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.