My 2007 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 3)- The other parts will be published over the next week or so.

This is a diary of how my year went in photographic terms. This will either hopefully be an interesting read for those who pass through and/or a personal account to look back on.

A little background first of all. I began shooting sports back in October 2005 so in professional terms I am still serving my apprenticeship. This has meant learning from mistakes, reading lots of experiences of other photographers, looking at photos for inspiration and more importantly not being scared to try something new. I always believe experience (good or bad) will always equip me next time I try something new.

The other thing is I work part-time as a photographer (1 or 2 days a week). The rest of the time is taken up with my 'day' job which is teaching.

Equipment wise, the end of last year was a big turning point. Up until November my main kit was a old Canon D60 combined with a 75-300 (f4-f5.6) - the phrase 'pissing in the wind' comes to mind when thinking back to trying to produce decent images either indoors or in the winter months. In November I purchased a Canon 20D and 70-200(f2.8) both second hand but I suddenly felt much better equiped to tackle anything.

The new year arrived and I was determined to put this equipment and experience to good use!

January

I had two objectives for January. One was to try out this new equipment I had bought indoors, so I covered a Junior Basketball game (Perth Phoenix v Boroughmuir) and the other was to return to shooting at McDiarmid Park home of St Johnstone who play in the First Division to see how my images compared to other pros shooting football. I shot two games in January which were against Airdrie and Gretna and was pleased with what I produced. I had always felt a little ackward shooting pro football with my old equipment so hadn't bothered before. The rest of January was taken up with Junior football and a youth Judo competition. Here are some images from the first month.

February

February started with news I had been accepted to Sportsshooter. This was a big deal for me as it was a realisation that I had started to produce decent sports images. This was the second time I had applied and looking back I knew I was not ready the first time. For those who are still scratching their head, Sportsshooter is a website where professional sports photographers and photojournalists from around the world meet to show and talk. I may be toward the bottom of the ladder but at least I had made it to the first rung and the membership would prove to be one of the best things I had done in terms of improving my images and professional outlook.

Also in February I shot rugby, Perthshire v Aberdeen GSFP in a National cup game and Scotland 'A' v Italy 'A' at McDiarmid, with the regular Junior football for the local papers.

March

March was again was a significant month as I began to get more work from the local paper (Evening Telegraph) This meant covering several different matches on a Saturday combined with team photos, presentations and other Amateur and Junior football events. This was again a boost to the confidence with the realisation the paper was putting trust in me to come up with the goods on a regular basis - a real boost to the confidence as well as the bank account!

Some images from March

April

April was about two things really - it was the start of all the finals in rugby and football and also I had decided I wanted to tackle a larger project so I had approached Perth Racecourse with the view to cover the races throughout the season. In rugby the Caledonian cup finals took place in Perth, this is a national youth knockout tournament held through the season and ending with a finals day. Also holding finals were the youth football so plenty memory was used covering these events over the three Sundays they were held.

Perth Races were held over three days 24th-27th and I was determined to make the most of this opportunity covering everything from the horseracing to behind the scenes. This project simply made me a more adaptable photographer throughout the season (more later)

Some images from April including some Ice Hockey I had found the time to shoot.