I probably won’t write a post for every rugby game I shoot, but the OMBAC at Santa Monica RFC on Saturday is definitely deserving of its own space.
From the rugby side of things, both of my favorite players got to start (go Team Turori!). John’s first fifteens game in two years was for OMBAC’s D1 team, who picked up solid win. Then, it was time for OMBAC’s first Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) game. The play and score were tight the whole game. In the second half, OMBAC fell behind. The possibility of walking out with a win began to look grim, but the team rallied to score a try in the final minute of play. A successful conversion kick gave OMBAC the victory by one point!
On the photography side, this game served as a confidence booster. I was not happy with the images I took at last weekend’s game. I made sure to carve out some time during the week to refresh on ISO, shutter speed, and exposure. When Saturday rolled around, I was ready for full manual mode.
For me, sports photography is all about capturing the emotion of the game. I was an athlete up until college, I remember the way the adrenaline flows through the blood as you chase an opponent down the field. The elation in a hard earned victory. The bitter sting of a near miss. The goal is to bring out the athlete’s experience in the frame. Saturday’s match ranks as one of the most exciting rugby games I’ve ever attended, giving me plenty of emotion to work with.
The full gallery is available on Flickr under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (basically, you’re free to use the photos for noncommercial purposes as long as you give me credit).