Continuing our sports photo project of the year, Armando and I went to Vancouver on Saturday to shoot a much anticipated soccer match of the Vancouver Whitecaps against the Seattle Sounders. Because we are located on the Island, an event like this requires full-day commitment.
Having made this kind of trip several times before, the logistics are almost routine at this point. Taking the 11 o’clock ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen, we arrived at the BC Place a couple of hours before the start of the match – enough time for a stroll through the streets of Vancouver and a cup of macchiato at Cafe Artigiano by the Art Gallery for a taste of a big city after our sleepy Victoria.
Inside the stadium, we were greeted many familiar faces: the players (I have an illusion that we know each other, even though this is clearly a one-way relationship), the die-hard fans, the fellow photographers.
Shooting a game of this level is always incredibly exciting. Time flew, and the match was over almost too quickly. Armando stayed in Vancouver, and I took sky train and bus to catch a 9 o’clock ferry back to Victoria. I spent the 1.5-hour-long journey sorting through the 2,500 images on my laptop.
It turned out that Svetlana and Anya had an exciting day of their own and a very late nap (Anya did, anyway), so they were able to pick me up when I arrived on the Island.
. The camera focussed a bit too close because I forgot that re-framing doesn’t work at f1.4, but it’s not really noticeable unless you zoom in to 1:1 (and you can’t do it here, can you 🙂 ) Still, pretty amazing sharpness, clarity and bokeh, in my opinion. 
