tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2012:/shotselection//204 2012-01-28T11:24:25Z Movable Type 3.34 tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2012:/shotselection//204.27181 2012-01-28T09:10:25Z 2012-01-28T11:24:25Z

Hamish Blair © Getty Images
I thought given Australia's recent success and my last photo was of Australia losing, that today's photo should be of an Aussie looking happy! This photo was taken during the Third Test between Australia and India a couple of weeks ago. As is probably still fresh in most cricket fans memories, David Warner made a blazing century off only 69 balls. Warner is the sort of cricketer that is a photographer's dream. Big hitting, fast scoring and it is always obvious how much he enjoys playing. I wasn't covering the Test in Hobart against New Zealand, where he scored his maiden Test century, but was watching it on TV and saw my colleagues’ photos of his amazing leap when he reached three figures. I was covering T20 Big Bash League match at the MCG a few days later when he scored another century, also celebrated with a big leap. I wasn't quite on the right angle for that one, so when he neared his century in Perth I wanted to make sure I got it right. ]]> Century celebrations can be a bit of a lottery for photographers. Obviously the head-on shot of the celebration is usually what make the best photo. I can never know which way a batsman is going to be running to score the run or runs that bring up the century. So often they're on 99 not out facing the direction I'm shooting from, then block the last ball of the over only to score the final run the next over running away from me. Or even worse run towards me for their 100th run, only to turn and scramble a second run, and so begin their celebrations in the opposite direction! The safest option is to be positioned in front of the team's dressing rooms or viewing area. Whichever way the initial celebration goes, at some point they will always turn to acknowledge their team mates. The position of the dressing rooms varies from ground to ground. In Perth they are at a wide fine leg/long-off to a left hand batsman. I was shooting from my usual position on the other side of the wicket, so when Warner neared his century I moved around to position myself under the Australians rooms. In photography, as with most aspects of life, sometimes things go wrong and sometimes they go right. Fortunately for me, they all went right on this occasion. Warner was batting facing in my direction. He brought up his century with a six, which meant there was no issue of running his runs. Even so, he took an almighty run up, down the wicket to start with, before turning towards the dressing rooms and leaping in the air in celebration. This meant I had plenty of time track him as he ran and then as he leapt he was facing pretty much straight towards me. The leap looks even bigger, given he isn't the world's tallest man! The hundred happened late in the day, when the sun was low and the light nice and golden, which also adds to the image, but again something I had no control over, as I said sometimes things go right! This photo was shot on a Canon 1D Mark IV, using a 500mm f4 lens. It was shot at 1/1600th of a second at f5.6 and 500 ISO. tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2012:/shotselection//204.27009 2012-01-17T07:46:12Z 2012-01-28T11:25:28Z

Hamish Blair © Getty Images
It's been too long since my last blog - not as much cricket in my working life for a while - but I'm back again. For my first blog in a long time, I've picked a photo from the end of the 2010-11 Ashes. As an Aussie photographer, particularly during the final Ashes Test in Sydney, I had a lot of time to think about the fact that Andrew Strauss and the England team would, during the post-series presentation, be celebrating on the podium as the Australians looked on. I wanted to try and sum that up in one photo. Video, as opposed to a still photo, can change focus or pan from one subject to another to show two different subjects over a few seconds of footage. There is always the opportunity to show winners and losers in two separate photos, but I was hoping for one photo that told the whole story. Normally, for these presentations, the standard position to shoot from is head on, looking straight at the winning team to capture the celebrations straight down the barrel of the lens. The losing team normally stands to one side. I was fortunate as I had a few Getty Images colleagues with me, a couple of them were shooting the 'straight' shot, giving me the freedom to try something different.]]> My first thought was a photo that had England celebrating, with some glum Aussie cricketers’ faces looking on. I quickly went off this idea. To see Aussie faces, it would mean looking across the England players, with the Aussies in the background. Because of the distance between the teams, focussing on England would mean the Aussies would be a long way out of focus in the background, and not recognisable. Focussing on the Aussies would most likely leave the England team a blurry mess in the foreground. The baggy green is an iconic symbol of the Australian team, so I thought if I shot from behind them, looking across to England, that even if they were a little out of focus, the players in the baggy greens would clearly be the Aussie team. I also figured, given the England players would be celebrating, arms in the air and cheering, and the Aussies would be standing and just watching, even from behind, that there would be enough contrast between the teams to tell the story. Of course, all this planning is great in theory, but until the teams are out there and in position, I couldn't be sure of all the angles and distances to see if it would work. As the presentations started, the first problem I came across was that the platform the England players were going to be on wasn't very high. I was going to be completely blocked by the Aussie heads. Luckily there was a drinks cooler on the field near by, so I grabbed that and dragged it over to stand on and get a slightly higher angle. The other issue was that the Aussie players weren't standing still. I wanted a few baggy greens to look across from, so it required a bit of fine-tuning of my drinks-cooler position as they moved about. As the actual presentation took place some officials on the field moved right into the way, but luckily, after a yelped plea from me, they moved to one side and I was able to shoot my picture. This was shot on a Canon 1D Mark IV with a 2.8, 70-200mm lens. The shutter speed was 1/800th of a second at an aperture of f5.6. I closed the aperture a little in order to prevent the Aussies in the foreground from being too far out of focus. tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2010:/shotselection//204.15459 2010-02-14T18:22:09Z 2012-01-28T11:26:15Z

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

Hi again everyone, Today’s picture is of Harbhajan Singh from the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, during an Indian training session at Centurion, ahead of their pool match against Australia. Covering a cricket tour involves photographing a lot of training sessions. Newspapers and websites are always looking for fresh photos and with games not being played every day, training sessions provide opportunities to get some new photos. Also, something newsworthy, such as player getting injured, may happen during a training session, so it is important to be there whenever possible. The photos I take at training sessions vary enormously depending on the ground where it takes place and what the team actually does during the session. A light session might only involve a few fielding drills and bit of running around, sometimes with only a few of the players in the team’s squad present. However, a heavier session might go for four hours or more, with time spent on warm-ups, fitness, fielding, batting and bowling. Warm-ups, fitness and fielding usually happen out on the field, but the practice nets for batting and bowling may be on the outfield or sometimes in a separate area outside the ground. All of this impacts greatly on the photos I am able to take. If a training session is a bit of running around and throwing a few balls, obviously that’s all I can photograph, which may not produce very exciting pictures! However longer sessions can also be tricky, as depending on the setup at the ground, access can be very limited. Practice net areas can be small and difficult to get around. It is important not to get in the players way, but I also have to watch out for stray cricket balls. During a match there is only one ball to look out for, but at training session there can be a number of things going on at once and speaking from experience, it hurts when you get hit! In short, getting a good photo from a training session can be quite difficult. The practice area at Centurion during the World Cup was just outside the ground. A temporary grand stand had been erected between the ground and this area, to allow for the extra fans the World Cup brought in. By climbing to the top of this stand, I could look over the back and down to the practice nets below. This provided the unusual angle for this photo, looking almost straight down at the players practising instead of the usual ground level, side on view. The angle of the sun also helped, with the players shadows stretched over the grass. This photo was taken with a wide angle 35mm lens. As it was a sunny day the ISO was low at 200. The shutter speed was 1/1250th of a second to freeze the action. The aperture is f7.1, which gave enough depth of field to have everything in focus. I like this photo as Harbhajan Singh’s flowing, animated bowling approach is exaggerated by his shadow. The high wide angle also shows the worn pitch, broken up with the paint of creases as well as the shadow from the nets.]]> tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2010:/shotselection//204.15104 2010-01-29T13:24:15Z 2012-01-28T11:24:25Z

Justin Langer looks more natural, just relaxing, rather than posing for a photo

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

Hi everyone, Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I managed to escape the cold in London for a few weeks of sunshine! This photo was taken after the first Test of Australia's 2003 tour of the West Indies. Australia had a good match, winning by nine wickets inside four days. Justin Langer was Man of the Match, scoring 146 in the first innings and finishing 78 not out in the second. When travelling with the Australian team I often try to get some photos in the changing rooms at the end of the match, particularly after a win. This can produce some different photos from the action out the field such as the players relaxing or celebrating after the match. I usually try and get a photo of the entire team celebrating together. Also, depending on what has happened during the match, I will try and get photos of the player or players who have performed well. Sometimes, it is a matter of getting in, quickly getting the photos and the getting out to transmit them to meet deadlines. Other times the players and in particular the captain (Steve Waugh in the case of this photo) are happy for me to stay for a bit longer which can lead to more interesting photos. When time is rushed the photos are often over posed and don't always look as good.]]> In the case of this photo, as Man of the Match, Langer was an obvious choice to photograph. He was sitting in the chair with ice packs strapped all over his body. I was trying to get a photo with him, Ricky Ponting (who also made a century) and Jason Gillespie (who took five wickets in the second innings). I did manage to get that photo as well, but it involved Ponting and Gillespie moving to Langer as with all the ice, he wasn't really too mobile! While waiting to do the photo of the three of them, I took some photos of Langer. Unfortunately I don't have the exact settings I used. However, I can say I used a wide angle lens and flash as the rooms were quite dark. My exposure setting would most likely have been somewhere around a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second at an aperture of f4.0 and an ISO setting of 320. This was the best of these photos as someone out of camera shot said something to him causing him to glance away and smile. He looks more natural, just relaxing, rather than posing for a photo. The ice strapped all over really shows how much the match took out of him. I also like the bats, shoes and clothes strewn around and the gloves sitting on the fan, clearly showing the photo is in the dressing rooms. The final touch to the photo, is despite having taken off all his whites he has put his baggy green cap back on. tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2009:/shotselection//204.14268 2009-12-16T11:16:25Z 2012-01-28T11:24:25Z

A photo’s exposure is determined by three variable settings; shutter speed, aperture and ISO rating

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read my last post and thanks again for all the comments. I’ll start by answering a few of the questions I’ve received from the previous posts. Firstly, someone said they’d heard on radio I always wear a pink shirt when I’m working at the cricket. Not quite sure where this comes from! The only thing I can think of is the bright vests Cricket Australia give the photographers to wear at the matches to identify them. Most photographers wear yellow, but Getty photographers wear orange to identify them as Cricket Australia’s official photographers. I know orange isn’t pink, but that’s the only thing I can think of! Even so, I’m not in Australia at the moment, so I’m missing out on wearing shirts and vests of any colour to the cricket for the time being! On to another question, there have been a couple of requests for more technical details of the shots such as shutter speed and aperture etc. Where I still have this information I will try and include it in the future. For those who do not know a lot about the technical side of cameras and exposure, I’ll try and give a quick crash course. A photo’s exposure is determined by three variable settings; shutter speed, aperture and ISO rating.]]> David Shepherd signalling the Nelson. This one is from a one-day international between England and Australia at The Oval on July 12th 2005, David Shepherd’s final international match as an umpire. Batting second, Australia needed 229 for victory, which they reached very comfortably. A few balls before reaching the target, Damien Martyn took a single that took the score from 221-2 to 222-2 and for the last time David Shepherd did his Nelson skip. From a technical view point, this was not a very difficult photo. The only issue would have been if Martyn had taken a second run, so the score had never stopped on 222! Aside from that it was a matter of being aware when the moment came and focussing on Shepherd and taking the photo. The shutter-speed used was 1000th of a second, as mentioned this high speed stops the action, although there wasn’t a great deal of movement and it certainly wasn’t happening quickly! The aperture was f5.6 which is quite large, meaning the crowd in the background is completely out of focus, bringing the attention of the photo on to Shepherd. As it was a sunny day I was able to use a relatively low 320 ISO which allowed for good image quality.]]> tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2009:/shotselection//204.13860 2009-11-24T02:32:48Z 2012-01-28T11:24:26Z

The position I was in helps for this photo. Pietersen was attempting to play the ball in my direction, so after he was struck, his momentum turned his body to face me. The pain on his face as the ball bounces out tells the story. It is never nice to see someone being hurt, but as the injury meant the end of Pietersen’s tour, it was the photo that told the story of the day.

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

Hi everyone, thanks again for all your feedback. Today’s photo was taken during the first ODI of the 2006-07 Australian summer between Australia and England. Kevin Pietersen was batting in his usual aggressive way, making runs at a good rate. Glenn McGrath was bowling and Pietersen had been walking down the wicket to a number of deliveries, hitting through midwicket. On this particular delivery, Pietersen again attempted to walk down the pitch and pull a shorter ball. He mistimed his effort and was struck a painful blow in the midriff. The result was cracked ribs and while he managed to bat on until being dismissed a few overs later, it was the end of his tour. This photo was taken from a different angle from the last couple of photos I have posted. As I mentioned previously, the very fine leg or the straight long-off position is the usual position to shoot cricket from, but it isn’t compulsory. Depending on the state of play, particularly if the batsmen are dominating, it can be good to move to a different position to get a new angle. Batting photos often look better when taken from a position more square of the wicket. For this photo I was working from deep midwicket. It is a position I often like to work from during ODIs. Due to the nature of limited-overs games, with the batting team often dominating, it can work well. If the bowling team does well, the angle can still work or I can move to a straighter position if needed. Also, working for Getty Images, we often have one or two other photographers at a match, as we did at this one, so it is necessary to find a few different angles for us all to work from. The position I was in helps for this photo. Pietersen was attempting to play the ball in my direction, so after he was struck, his momentum turned his body to face me. The pain on his face as the ball bounces out tells the story. It is never nice to see someone being hurt, but as the injury meant the end of Pietersen’s tour, it was the photo that told the story of the day.]]> tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2009:/shotselection//204.13713 2009-11-15T05:39:01Z 2012-01-28T11:24:26Z

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

  Hi everyone, thanks again for all the feedback from the last update! Firstly, to answer the question I had about the model of camera I work with, I currently use is the Canon EOS 1D Mark III. For anyone looking to buy a good SLR camera, I would recommend a Canon or Nikon, which is what most sports photographers use. Both brands come in a range of models with varying features and prices, not surprisingly, the more features the higher the price! However with both Canon and Nikon the cheaper models use a lot of the same technology that goes into their high end cameras, so you still get a very serviceable camera. Another point to consider is that most of the expense in building up a good kit of camera equipment is in the lenses rather than the actual camera body. Lenses are interchangeable between the various models of a particular brand, so if you decide to upgrade the camera body at some point, as long as you stay with the same brand, the lenses won’t need to be replaced. On to the photo for today. Given that Sachin Tendulkar is celebrating 20 years in the game, I have selected a photo of him. I have been lucky enough to see some very memorable innings from the Little Master. His century in Melbourne during the 1999 Boxing Day Test and his double hundred in Steve Waugh’s final Test, at the SCG in 2004, are two that immediately come to mind. Another of his brilliant innings I’ve been fortunate enough to see is the innings that where I took this photo; his first innings century in the third Test in Chennai in 2001. ]]> This series was one of the best I have seen. It was my first trip to India and I’ve been lucky enough to return to a number of times since, it’s a place I really love visiting. With the series tied at one all going into the final Test, the match had a number of twists and turns along the way to India’s thrilling two wicket victory. Tendulkar’s century was one of many highlights and also helped India to what would prove to be a crucial first innings lead. This is an unusual photo, at first glance it looks like a fairly ordinary straight drive, until you notice that the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist is standing in front of the batsman! Shane Warne was bowling at the time and was consistently bowling outside leg stump. This often leads to a bit of a stalemate, as the batsman can use his pads to protect his wicket, with no worry of lbw. However, Tendulkar came up with a far more rewarding tactic, turning his back to the bowler, waiting for the ball and then playing what I think is best described as a straight drive behind the wicket. He played this shot a few times, each time for four. It is one of the things that makes cricket great, when you can watch two masters battle it out and it doesn’t get much better the Warne against Tendulkar. On this occasion Tendulkar came out on top and it was amazing to watch his inventiveness to counter Warne. The timing to play such a shot, waiting for the ball to come from behind rather than having the ball coming head on is remarkable. I’d never seen a shot played like that before and haven’t seen it since. This photo is shot from a similar angle as the photo from my last post of Dwayne Bravo, quite straight, at a very fine leg with the batsman at the near end. As I mentioned last time, I generally start each ball focused on the batsman, which in this case worked well, as Tendulkar turned in my direction to play the shot. I like the way it almost looks like he is playing a conventional drive, but then with Gilchrist facing the other way in front of Tendulkar, puts the shot into context. Cheers, Hamish tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2009:/shotselection//204.13563 2009-11-08T11:04:58Z 2012-01-28T11:24:26Z

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

  Adelaide, Australia, Australia v West Indies, 3rd Test, 3rd day, November 27, 2005 Firstly, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my opening blog and an even bigger thanks to those who have also posted a comment. It’s great to hear everyone’s thoughts! The photo I have chosen for this post was taken in November 2005, at the Adelaide Test during West Indies’ tour of Australia. Despite already being two Tests down and going on to eventually lose the third and final Test, Dwayne Bravo had a very good match, contributing almost 100 runs and taking six first-innings wickets. This photo was the fifth and from my view of things, the most spectacular of those wickets. Having dismissed Adam Gilchrist earlier in the same over, Bravo was bowling to Shane Warne, who pushed the ball back on the up, but well to Bravo’s left. Looking at replays I think it probably would have landed about another pitch width left of the playing strip. Bravo took a couple of quick steps to change direction and then dived full length to pull off a remarkable caught and bowled. This photo is a good example of the most common way to photograph cricket action, sitting quite straight of the wicket, slightly to the left. To put it into fielding terms, sitting at a straight long-off or very fine leg (depending which end the bowler is coming from), watching a right-handed batsman. I use Canon cameras and for cricket I generally use a 500mm lens for the action out in the middle. This photo was actually taken using a 600mm lens, as the Adelaide Oval is an unusual shape. It has quite short boundaries square of the wicket and very long ones straight. This means a slightly bigger lens is needed when sitting straight. I shoot most deliveries, by staying focused on the batsman. The advantage of the working from this fairly straight position is that a right-arm bowler bowling over the wicket will run into frame on their follow through. This makes it easier to switch focus to them for a reaction to the batsman, whether that’s an appeal, a celebration of a wicket, a catch or something else. That’s the idea, but in practice it doesn’t always work out as planned! There are so many variables that can change. A left-handed batsman facing at the near end means the slip fielders can obscure the view. Bowlers coming around the wicket (or left-handers coming over) will change the angles and not run as nicely into frame on their follow through. A spin bowler’s follow through is not as far as a fast bowler’s. The list goes on! So when it does all come together, it is all the more satisfying! For this photo, I started focusing on Warne. As he played the shot, Bravo ran into the left of my frame on his follow through. As the ball was headed in his direction I switched focus to him, just in time to photograph the dive and catch. What I like about it is that not only can you see Bravo taking the catch, you can also see Warne to the right. The photo tells the whole story of the moment; Shane Warne caught and bowled by Dwayne Bravo. It is also nice to take a photo like this because, as mentioned, there are so many variables that could have gone wrong. ]]> tag:blogs.espncricinfo.com,2009:/shotselection//204.13467 2009-11-02T06:16:34Z 2012-01-28T11:24:26Z

Hamish Blair

© Getty Images

  Nagpur, India. 29th of October 2004. India v Australia, third Test, day four. This is one of my favourite cricket photographs. Australia had just won the Nagpur Test which gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. Ricky Ponting had missed the first three Tests with an injured thumb, leaving Adam Gilchrist to captain the team at a short notice. And India was the 'final frontier' for the Australian team: this was their first Test series win there in 35 years. This photograph was taken with a wide angle lens as the team celebrated their victory on the field. Gilchrist was a natural subject to focus on, and I shot him while he was gesturing towards a small group of Australian supporters in the crowd. I love the emotion on Gilchrist's face. It adds to the picture that he is still wearing his sweaty whites, his baggy green and his inner gloves. It was late in the afternoon, which meant despite being a clear sunny day this part of the field was in shadow. To keep the blue of the sky it was necessary to balance the photo with flash. Camera flash, particularly outdoors, can often be more trouble than it's worth. It can take a long time for the flash to recharge after firing. From memory, I took about 10 - 15 pictures of this moment and the flash only fired twice. Luckily for me, one of them was this photo. My other option, would have been to shoot without flash for which I would have had to set my exposure for the shadows and leave the sky all washed out. I could have got some usable photos that way, but it would not have been as nice. ]]>