Shooting position for rugby: following the action

When shooting rugby or soccer, sometimes I stay behind a goal line instead of following the action along the sideline. Besides laziness, there is actually a couple of legitimately good reasons for doing so. The action of these sports looks good from the goal line position – the players face the camera as they run towards the goal. Being stationary also allows me to find a comfortable, low-angle position to shoot from.

On the other hand, following the action along a sideline (when it is allowed, which is not the case at MLS soccer games, for example) provides more opportunities to shoot close-ups of the players and also offers more variety of the action.

This past Saturday was unusually cold for Victoria. In fact, it snowed the night before. Although I dressed for the weather for our university’s rugby game, moving around instead of sitting in one place seemed like a good idea. I wrote before that I usually carry my Canon EOS-1D X with a 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens on a Black Rapid Y-strap, but this time, I attached the lens to a monopod, which was extended to a height that allowed me to shoot from a standing position. Normally, a lower shooting position, such as standing on one knee, is preferable for sports, but I was willing to sacrifice it for extra mobility (no need to fiddle with the monopod – just set it on the ground, point and shoot). I attached the lens collar directly to the monopod, without a ball head. To frame the shots, I simply tilted the entire monopod. I kept the collar loosely closed around the lens, which allows me to quickly rotate the camera to a vertical shot position.

My associate Armando was shooting the same game from the goal-line, low position using a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens on a Canon EOS 7D Mark II body. With the crop sensor, this combination gave him a very long effective focal lens, allowing to shoot closeups of the action from the opposite side of the pitch. Also, low camera position was excellent for capturing the flying pieces of mud being kicked up by the players.

Between our two shooting positions and different focal lengths used, we captured a good variety of shots from the game.