From the sidelines

Local photographer Ed Thorpe and I got invited to photograph a sports fun day to help raise funds for the Football Association. We both got some excellent shots, though sometimes I found the spectators and off-the-ball action just as photogenic ...

totally unposed

The goalie - two seconds later his team was giving him a bollocking for not watching the ball

The ground at Francis Plain is pretty photogenic too

Like all sports photography - you gotta be at the right place at the right time with a fair bit of luck. That ball looked real big in the viewfinder when it whizzed past my ear

To be fair - we were also invited to the first round of competition for the new Saints Motocross Club. Which resulted in a different (and dustier!) type of photograph

My view, and Ed Thorpe taking his view of the same shot from the background

The first rule of sports photography: get in close. Photograph taken with a 17mm wide-angle lens at about 1.5 metres away and about to be showered in dust and gravel from the previous rider. You don't get much closer than that!!