I’ve already posted my top ten personal favourite photos of the season, but here’s my fifteen personal favourite monochrome photos from the world of non-league football from the 2012/13 season. They’re in no particular order. The only criteria I had when selecting these pictures were that I processed these as black and white at the time of publishing… no photos have been converted for this article. Enjoy.

A Corinthian-Casuals fan cheers on his team with passion and enthusiasm.

Shildon’s Sam Garvie is mobbed by fans after his hat-trick condemmed Ascot to an FA Vase quarter final defeat. Shildon won 4-1.

Moody Skies: Ebbsfleet’s main stand was named in honour of their manager, Liam Daish. Unfortunately for them, Ebbsfleet were relegated and Liam was to leave the club in the close season.

Nerves! Maidstone United fans anxiously watch their team take on Dulwich Hamlet in what was deemed a title decider in the Ryman League Division One South. The spoils were shared on the night (1-1) and Dulwich went on to be crowned Champions. All was not lost for the Stones though as they were also promoted via the play-offs.

These two pictures featured in my top ten of the season and both depict Tunbridge Wells marching on through the FA Vase. The brutal winter left Tunbridge Wells’ pitch a little worse for wear, not that it bothered the fans who celebrated their quarter final and semi final victories.

As documented elsewhere, Tunbridge Wells reached the final of the Vase at Wembley. Here, a Wells defender is left gutted after Spennymoor Town take the lead.

But the agony wasn’t only reserved for Tunbridge Wells. A Spennymoor forward rues a glorious chance to score at Wembley… every footballer’s dream.

A Spennymoor supporter vents his frustration and anger towards the opposition.

A cold night at Casuals. Corinthian-Casuals’ forward, Steve Goddard looks a little cold on a below freezing evening at King George’s Arena in a county match versus Sutton United. Of all the games to go to extra-time and penalties, this wouldn’t be the one I would have chosen. I wore several layers of clothing, but to sit on the touchline for over two hours in such brutal cold tested my resolve to the full.

A lonely game. Raynes Park Vale vs Colliers Wood United in the Combined Counties League.

Met Police duo Chris Bourne and Ty Smith figure out how to best use their free kick against League One opposition Crawley Town in the FA Cup 1st Round. Met sit four leagues lower than their League opponents, but took the fight to the Sussex side and were unlucky in not forcing a replay. Crawley ran out 2-1 winners.

A young chap awaits the upcoming FA Vase semi-final between AFC Shildon and Tunbridge Wells. A calm figure before the storm.

After the storm passed, A Tunbridge Wells player cannot believe he’s about to live his boyhood dream – to play at Wembley… a result of their victory over AFC Shildon in the FA Vase semi final.

Spennymoor Town Manager Jason Ainsley salutes the fans with the FA Vase at Wembley.

I hope you enjoyed my own personal favourites from this past season. More of my football photography articles can be seen here.

Author – Stuart Tree

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Tell us a little about yourself and describe your photography and style.

I’ve always been interested in both art and science. For me, photography, especially macro, is a perfect combination of the two. I try to capture images that are aesthetically pleasing while at the same time scientifically captivating. While I mainly photograph insects, I also shoot water, snowflakes, and really any part of nature which looks interesting up close.

Why macro photography?

For me, macro photography is all about exposing the unseen. It brings to light a whole new world that is often overlooked and, in some cases, is entirely invisible to the human eye.

Can you remember what first inspired you to pick up a camera and get into photography?

My first genuine experience with photography was in 2009, at the age of thirteen. My uncle, a photographer himself, took me into New York City for a day of street photography. As the year progressed, I became increasingly interested in macro photography and, not long after, I learned that I could construct a makeshift macro lens simply by reversing a short prime lens in front of a long telephoto lens. From there, my passion for macro really took off and, at the age of fourteen, I started becoming more serious about my new hobby.

Talk us through your kit and why you chose it. What’s on your equipment wish list?

For my work in the field, I typically use a Canon 60D with the MP-E65 Macro Lens. My lighting setup changes frequently but I currently use a Canon 430ex flash with a homemade diffuser which I built from a plastic milk carton, cardboard, and duct tape. Getting the lighting just right is especially important when photographing insects, as many of the subjects are highly reflective and can cause harsh highlights if the flash is not diffused properly. I almost never use a tripod as I like to be able to move around quickly and with ease.

The equipment I use for my studio shots (only about ⅓ of all my photos) is mostly homemade, as the type of rig I use can’t be bought off the shelf and I’ve always been into DIY projects. Here’s what my current studio rig looks like:

Are there any other areas of photography which interest you?

Yes! I’m very interested in the technical/scientific areas of photography, including high-speed photography, and astrophotography (especially star trail photography). I’d also like to get into infra-red photography and maybe even X-ray photography, if I have the opportunity.

You’re self-taught. How do you educate yourself to take better photos?

Over the past three or so years, I have refined my technique by reading a variety of online guides, looking at other photographers’ work for inspiration, browsing online photography forums, and, most importantly, getting outside and shooting.

What is your most satisfying achievement?

As someone who is always looking for ways to peer even closer, I just last month finished building a camera rig that allows me to shoot at even higher magnifications than before. I pieced together over sixty individually acquired components which I found by scavenging on eBay and at local junkyards. To get these high magnifications, I use an assortment of microscope objective lenses attached to my camera via a bellows.

I took this photo of a butterfly wing (shown below) with my new high-mag rig. Each scale is about half the width of a human hair.

The quality of your photography would suggest you’re much older and experienced than you are. What do you feel has been a greater influence – natural talent or hard work?

My time spent in the field observing insects has taught me that they are creatures of habit. The more familiar I am with each insect’s behavior, the easier it is for me to capture its story through photography.

What are the biggest challenges you face with being a photographer? (ie, making time to take photos, photographing something new each time, getting the photos noticed, making money from it etc.)

Almost all of my photos were taken in my garden here in Connecticut and while there are certainly many types of insects here, I often wish I had access to a more diverse selection.

Something worth mentioning is that I’m colorblind (technically “color-deficient”). While this can be problematic when adjusting the curves or levels in post processing, it also gives me an advantage. Apparently, in WWII, the US military used colorblind soldiers to spot camouflaged enemies because of their ability to focus on shape and not get distracted by color. In this way, my color-blindness allows me to more easily spot movement and find insects that other people might not notice.

Getting my photos noticed is something I’ve definitely been working towards. I’ve had my website (nmacro.com) up for almost two years and, just last month, I started a blog (blog.nmacro.com).

What advice would you give other photographers looking to get into macro photography?

While macro photography is an exciting field, be prepared for a bunch of hurdles that you wouldn’t necessarily encounter in other areas of photography. These include razor thin depth of field as well as diffraction blur. Also, once you delve into higher magnifications (larger than life-size), auto-focus is usually not an option and almost always impractical. Be sure to try out low-mag macro lenses (ex: Canon 100mm Macro, Nikon 105mm, etc.) before investing in any higher-end equipment.

Noah’s portfolio website can be viewed here.

Noah’s photography blog can be viewed here.

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Here’s my top ten personal favourite pictures that I took this season and a little bit of background behind them. They may not be technically the best pictures or you might feel I have stronger photos in my collection, but as with all photography, it’s a matter of personal taste. I hope you like my selection. Enjoy.

The 1872 FA Cup Final Replay

I suppose I should start with this one. A friend helped organise a replay of the very first FA Cup final and invited me along to photograph it. The match was held at the original venue – the Oval. I couldn’t resist getting the magnificent pavillion into a shot… what a backdrop! This photo was voted as Non-League photo of the year by fellow peers… a very proud and humble moment for me.

FA Vase 1st Round – Swanage

A free train ticket took us to Dorset to witness Swanage Town and Herston play Newport IOW in the FA Vase… a competition I’d follow right through to the Final. A glorious ground on a glorious day helped me produce on of my most favourite sets of photos this season. I chose this picture not because it really stands out from the rest, but as a fond memory of the day. I do like the sweat coming off the players’ heads as the ball heads towards me.

Happy Chap – Redhill

Nothing more than just a geniune happy chap. Redhill played Corinthian-Casuals in the FA Cup and he was defending at the near post for a corner. I pointed the camera his way and he responded.

 Muddy Marvels – Tunbridge Wells versus Shildon AFC

These next three pictures comes from Tunbridge Wells’ exploits in the FA Vase. The semi-final saw them face Durham-based Shildon AFC. Weather had caused a large number of postponements across the country, but under pressure to avoid any more fixture backlog, the game went ahead in what can only be described as a bog.

The first picture cried out “Monotone”. In colour, I probably wouldn’t have kept the image. Player’s back to me, action heading the wrong direction… it doesn’t tick many of the boxes for a good football shot. However, why stick to rules. Turning this black and white almost thrusts this photo back to the 60′s and 70′s when a muddy pitch was a permanent sight… especially at Derby’s old Baseball Ground.

The second shot is of Wells’ striker Andy Irivne celebrating their first goal. He ran straight towards me. This picture made the front cover of the Non-League Paper.

Emotion. I love this game!

Tunbridge Wells had more work to do in the semi-final… it was to be played over two legs, home and away. A 580 mile round trip took us to Durham to witness the second leg. Here, Shildon’s Jamie Lee Owens rues a missed opportunity. I love the stand in the background!

I love good goalmouth action. Here, Leatherhead took on Three Bridges in a game I covered for the Non League Paper.

In Agony. A Met Police player goes down injured under the challenge of a South Park defender in the FA CUp 4th Qualifying Round. For me, this one is about expressions.

It would be rude not to finish with one of my pictures from the FA Vase final at Wembley. Here, Spennymoor’s Keith Graydon celebrates scoring the winner versus Tunbridge Wells. More on this game can be seen here.

I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my work. More of my football articles can be seen here.

Author – Stuart Tree

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Here the girl’s eye (the main focal point in the image) falls directly on the intersection of two lines. This is the ideal composition when adhering to the ‘rule of thirds’.

The ‘rule of thirds’ relates to composition i.e. where objects are placed within your photo or other visual image. Followers of this rule argue that an image should be divided into nine equal-sized sections by means of two horizontal and two vertical lines. These four lines will naturally divide the image in to horizontal and vertical thirds. It is claimed that the key zones within your image should be aligned with one or more of these four lines and that the key focal point in your shot should be positioned where two of these lines intersect. Adhering to these guidelines theoretically adds more drama, impact and visual appeal to your images compared to if these objects were placed centrally, for example.

The main object in the image (the guitarist) is positioned on the right-hand ‘third’. Furthermore, his eye falls directly on the intersection of two lines. Again, this is the ideal composition when adhering to the ‘rule of thirds’.

Adopting the ‘rule of thirds’ with moving objects, such the racing bike in the following image, proves successful as it places space in front of the direction of travel. Placing the bike in the centre of the image (or incorrectly over on the right-hand third) would simply spoil the theatre of the shot.

With moving objects, ensure there is space in front of the object in the direction of travel. Note that it’s not always vital to have the intersecting lines align with a specific point on the image.

The rule is based upon a theory by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1797 which discusses the balance between light and dark in a painting. Later adapted by John Thomas Smith in 1783 and named ‘the rule of thirds’, Smith refers to proportioning an image in to one third and two thirds sections, thus creating “more harmonizing proportions”.

There are exceptions to this rule, however. There will likely be times when your image simply cannot implement this rule, at least without adversely altering its composition. Furthermore, many artists believe that adopting this rule as a general law will lead to monotonous results.

Here, the boat’s number (FE269) happens to fall directly on the intersection of two lines. This was unintentional. My goal with this image was simply to ensure the boat was positioned off-centre.

The ‘rule of thirds’ dictates that the horizon should lie directly on one of the horizontal guidelines. Similarly, it’s suggested that objects should always face inwards, towards the empty space created by the ‘rule of thirds’ composition. Neither of these are true for this image. But, does that make this a bad photo? Is it always important to follow these rules to the letter? Not in my opinion it isn’t. Deviating from these rules adds individuality and creativity. Who wants every photo to look the same anyway?

For this reason it’s best not to think of it as a rule, but more of a guide. I’ve never felt pressured in aligning eyes and focal points directly on to the intersecting points of these imaginary lines. When people talk photography to me and refer to the ‘rule of thirds’, I always shrug it off. Not because I don’t follow it, but because I’ve always used my own eye to judge composition. As luck would have it, upon laying the ‘rule of thirds’ grid over my images above for the purpose of this article, it appears my photos adopt this composition fairly accurately. Albeit by pure chance.

And that right there is my point. Don’t always follow these ‘rules’ when developing your skills as a photographer. Doing so will suppress the artist in you. Instead, learn what works and what doesn’t by using your eyes and your own judgement. If your images end up adhering to some 200 year old rule, good for you! If they don’t…. well, you know the rest.

Author – Oliver Pohlmann

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]]> http://wearesophoto.com/the-rule-of-thirds/feed/ 0 http://wearesophoto.com/wembley-photographers-perspective/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wembley-photographers-perspective http://wearesophoto.com/wembley-photographers-perspective/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 19:52:32 +0000 We Are SO Photo http://wearesophoto.com/?p=2009 Saturday 4^th May was the day that just two teams from a total of 514 participants battled it out to become FA Vase winners 2013. Kent Hurlimann league representatives Tunbridge Wells faced Northern League side Spennymoor Town at Wembley – the home of football.

As I’ve previously documented elsewhere, I covered Tunbridge Well’s previous rounds, so it was with great privilege that I was accepted to be their ‘official’ photographer for the big occasion.

Gaining accreditation to cover the final is fairly straightforward. A few weeks before the Final itself, details are published announcing the application process for getting pitchside. You can apply as part of the press, an agency or even as a freelancer. It’s expected that you have experience in football photography and have public liability insurance, but other than that, there’s not too much else required.

And so the day came. As an avid fan of football, I’d been to Wembley plenty of times before. However, I’d never graced the hallowed turf or even anywhere close to it. The one time I went to a concert, we only had seats in the top tier and so never got that same feeling of being down on the pitch.

I entered via the photographers official entrance at 1pm – a couple of hours before kickoff, to savour some of the atmosphere, build-up and to get some photos of the most important thing in my opinion… the fans. After a slight mix-up in the security screening process, I headed to the reception to pickup my pass (which annoyingly, I left behind after the match), official photographer bib and complimentary matchday programme (which also featured one of my images from the Quarter Final between the Wells and Hadleigh).

I then proceeded to the photographers lounge, where I met up with other ‘togs, many of which I knew from my time around football. The lounge features rows of desks, each with the facility to use laptops wired to the internet for uploading of photos to the agnecies, press, etc. Complimentary bacon rolls and cups of tea and coffee were on offer too. However, I was itching to get outside.

Walking through the old tunnel entrance, as used in the old Wembley, 90,000 seats adorned my eyes. A few were filled, but the turnstiles had only just opened. The National Stadium is an impressive piece of architecture and vast too. In order to fit the majority of it into a shot, I used a fisheye lens. I also found this was good fun to capture some of the younger fans who were over-excited with what may have been their first trip to Wembley.

As kickoff came around, another issue came to light… the distance between where photographers can sit and the pitch. It’s unlike non-league, where you’re practically on the touchline. At Wembley, you’re a good 7 or 8 metres further away. This is tough if you predominantly use a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I didn’t want to have shots where I was cropping to a small size. However, my good friend and fellow photographer, Andy, had a spare 100-400mm f/5.6 which I used. A cracking lens which, although doesn’t give the same depth of field as the 70-200, is fantastic over a large distance. I toyed with a combination of the two lenses and my two bodies (one a full frame 5D Mk III and the cropped bodied 60D). In fact, by fitting the long lens to the 60D, it in effect gave me 600mm focal range.

A problem all of the photographers were also facing was the harsh, harsh sunlight. Wembley has a vast roof covering with just a small opening in the middle. With the sun directly overhead, half the pitch was bathed in dazzling sunlight and the other half in dark shade. Snapping the action from differing lighting at speed causes no end of headaches. Many of the photographer’s solutions were to move behind the goal, as the lighting was less of an issue from this spot.

Half-time came and Tunbridge Wells found themselves 1-0 down. Spennymoor were the favourites and nothing in the first 45 minutes gave me reason to believe the bookies were wrong. A few of us headed into the photographer’s lounge where packed lunches were ready made for us hungry snappers. A meal consisting of sandwiches, muffin, crisps, chocolate bar and orange juice were gratefully received. As it turned out, there were leftovers at full time so I, and a few others, grabbed the remains to take home.

The second half commenced and the brutal sunlight had made way for more overcast conditions… a very welcome sight for all of us behind the touchline. The game continued much the same as the first half, but with Spennymoor wasting opportunities and Chris Oladogba, the Tunbridge keeper in fine form, it only took a cracking volley from Josh Stanford set the scores level. It didn’t last long… two minutes actually. Keith Graydon scored the winner in the 80^th minute to hand the Vase to the team from Durham and yet another Northern victory.

After the final whistle, all the photographers headed to a marked area where the Spennymoor players and officials gathered for photo opportunities. In what could be an outright scrum for a match like the Champions League final or FA Cup, the Vase is a little more relaxed and everyone was in good spirits. I had a good chat with a fair few other snappers throughout the day.

By 6pm, we were leaving. A fabulous day was certainly had by all. Players and fans at this level are just happy to spend a day watching or playing in on occasion as grand as this. It’s every young footballer’s dream to play on the hallowed turf of Wembley and for that reason alone, the result seems to be an after-thought.

You can see all of my pictures from the day here, or read more football articles here.

Author – Stuart Tree

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to become complacent when it comes to backing up and storing your precious files securely. The thought of keeping all my images in just one location, quite honestly, scares me. And by ‘just one location’ I’m not referring to one laptop or one hard-drive, I’m including ‘one house’ in that too.

Think of that photo album you have, full of pictures of you as a child. If you’re anything like me, it’s most probably the size of a desk drawer. If something was to happen to that album, I’d be losing a significant part of my life and my childhood memories. If I could click my fingers and have digital copies of all those photographs to keep somewhere safe, I would. Instead, I’ve had to make do with physically scanning them individually in to my PC – a pretty brutal undertaking.

The same fear applies today with my current catalogue of digital photos. If I was to lose my laptop and with it my tens of thousands of images from years of professional photography, I’d be devastated. For that reason I’m rather pedantic about backing up my images securely and on a regular basis.

So what’s my procedure? Firstly, at least once a month I back up the contents of my laptop’s hard drives (including my documents and my music) to an external hard drive. This drive is then kept at the opposite end of my apartment, well away from my laptop.

In addition to this, I have a 3tb Network Attached Storage (NAS) device attached to my router. This essentially creates personal cloud storage within my apartment. My laptop is synced to this through my WiFi network meaning all files, plus any changes I make, are automatically backed up in real time. These files can then be accessed by any device connected to the same network, with the bonus of secure remote access from anywhere in the world where there’s an internet connection.

In addition to this, I back up all my most important edited images on to my 50gb Dropbox cloud storage account as soon as I’ve something new to add. Backing up to Dropbox (or most cloud storage accounts for that matter) is so simple. The icon resides in my taskbar, and it’s as easy as copying and pasting my latest folder in to it.

Put simply, there’s no excuse not to back up your images on to an external hard drive and keeping this updated – even if it’s once a month. A 250gb usb drive can be acquired for under £40. A 1tb Network Attached Storage device can be found for under £100. Plus, seeing as you can get up to 5gb of cloud storage for free (see Dropbox, Google Drive, plus hundreds more), there’s also no reason not to play it extra safe with your most prized images.

One additional alternative regarding online storage is to set up a Flickr account. A recent overhaul to Flickr means you can now upload 1 terabyte of images (approximately 200,000 high resolution jpegs) for free. You can even choose to keep your photos private, away from public view, essentially using it as a form of cloud storage.

The best thing about web-based storage such as NAS, Dropbox and Flickr is that you can access your collection where ever there is an internet connection. Plus, you can send hyperlinks for albums and slideshows to friends and family.

How often you back up is a personal choice. Obviously the more frequent, the better. The important thing is to actually back up.

Think of the five minutes of effort (if you can even call it that) once a week/month compared to the gut wrenching feeling when you realise your sole storage drive has failed and you’ve just lost the lot.

Author – Oliver Pohlmann

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We give a demonstration of the revised Spot Removal tool, the new Radial Filter and the impressive Upright tool.

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Click the logo below to subscribe to the We Are SO Photo YouTube channel.

Click here to view more of our editing videos