Critique Welcomed Rugby Union

[Milan Vjestica]

I got to have a media pass to a Shute Shield rugby game yesterday accompanying a semi-professional sports photographer. Much harder than I thought it was. Here are a few of my relatively mediocre attempts;


_MVJ3441.jpg by Milan Vjestica, on Flickr


_MVJ4063.jpg by Milan Vjestica, on Flickr


Try! by Milan Vjestica, on Flickr

 

[Pete Askew]

What a great opportunity! I must admit though that sports photography / photographs are really not my thing at all (but then neither is sport), but I can imagine it must be difficult to get something that captures both the action and the atmosphere. I think my favourite here is the scrum, but I like the timing of the second to last too. The one thing that I always find missing from sports images is a sense of movement. I suppose the stakes are quite high when one is a professional and you want to capture the moment and so high shutter speed and short intervals give the best chance of a achieving that rather than waiting for just the right moment and using a slower speed. My favourite recent shots of sports are probably the ones taken at the London Olympics with a Speed Graphic!

http://www.davidburnett.com/photos/London 2012 --slash-- Olympics/1/36/

 

[Milan Vjestica]

It certainly was a challenge and something I had not really attempted before. I have the opportunity to do it again this weekend so may do so to try and improve. Camera settings are so critical too. Apparently editors want sharp images and the only thing that can show movement is the ball, well that applies to the local ones the guy deals with. He also does the Wallabies, A League Football and V8 Supercars so I am inclined to trust what he says. A very good afternoon and learned a lot from him.

Thank you Pete.

 

[Milan Vjestica]

Those images are very interesting Pete. Some I really like some I don't. B&W gives it a sense of focusing on the athlete while colour brings in more of the event.

 

[Pete Askew]

I think he over-did the narrow depth of field bit but he used it to good effect on the finishing line.

 

[Dave Farnes]

They look good to me. Like the 3rd and 4th ones, have a real sense of action in progress.

Must be a tough job for a professional these days. With so much sport available on TV, must be hard to capture the feel of the event in still pics.

 

[Beth Carter]

nicely captured images for a sport that's relatively insane. love the last image of the scrum and the second image of the ball being passed. rugby is one of the few sports i follow, but they don't show it often on american tv..

 

[Milan Vjestica]

Thanks Beth.

It is a very complicated game, especially for the referee. Saying that it is fantastic that the players are totally respectful of the officials and rarely if ever backchat them. Fun to watch a 6'6" monster back away from a 5'6" ref saying "yes sir". If only other sports were so respectful.

A great definition is "A thugs game played by gentlemen".

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

I only see the first two images.

 

[Milan Vjestica]

I may have deleted a couple Ivar. I have been thinning out my Flickr page.

 

[Milan Vjestica]

I have added one back for you Ivar.

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

Thank you Milan, at least I got a bit of the action. Well laddie. Nice ones indeed. Which reminds me of the winter olympics in Lillehammer Norway in 1994. I was lying down in the snow, waiting for the obvious winner of the 50 km cross country skiing. He was coming round a curve at a speed I could easily cope with, My canon RS1 at the time ( film days ) and myself were prepared in minus 17 degrees celcius, well or so I thought. Camera went dead on me, no batteries could stand that coldness. I threw the canon in the snow, retrieved my trusted nikon FM2 with a 35mm from my bag, I was so close but alas I just got the back of him.

 

[Roshni Patel]

You had an amazing opportunity where you did really well. I liked the shots you shared

 

[Milan Vjestica]

Thank you Roshni.