Aussie Rules Football - try again!

[AceCo55]

The last time I posted footy photos (Aussie Rules style) I got zero replies!! Probably because no-one could figure out what was going on. :lmao: So, this time I'm giving a bit of info with each one ... maybe I'll get some brave soul to give some feedback .

Our town has a population of 1400 people. Each town in our football league has a football club. (eleven teams).
On our "away" matches the closest town is 50km (30miles) but all the rest are 100-150km (60-90miles). There are 4 grades (levels). A-Grade / B-Grade for the adults and Senior Colts (Under 17years old) and Junior Colts (Under 14years old).
Everyone plays just because they love to - they are just regular people with normal jobs during the week. We are definitely at the grass roots of football. Footy leagues, like ours, are where all players start playing the game.

Our players are the ones in red/black and white with white shorts. The opposition are in red and white with red shorts.

#1: Matt is taking a mark (catch) whilst the opponent was doing everything he could to knock the ball away (called a "spoil"). When a player takes a mark - no-one can tackle him and he gets to have a free kick.


#2: Jamie is our A-Grade captain. Very courageous player. Often puts himself in "harms way" to get possession of the ball ... and he is only a little guy. Players are not allow to throw the ball. They can only kick the ball or handball. Jamie is handballing here. The ball rests on the palm of one hand and the other hand must be a clenched fist and is used to hit the ball off the hand.


#3: The opponent is trying to take a mark but Jacob has timed his run to perfection and has punched the ball away ("spoil") to stop him from doing it. The ball is now in dispute. Kevin (on the left) is ready and waiting to pick up the ball - he was anticipating that Jacob would be successful in his spoiling.
Jacobs head is bandaged up that way because earlier in the match he got a knock that opened up a fair sized gash. Players must leave the ground for treatment if they have flowing blood (the game stops whilst he leaves and gets replaced by another player). In order to get Jacob back onto the field as soon as possible, the medical staff do "quick and dirty" fixes just to stop the blood flowing. This is the end result! Much prettier than some I can tell you! After the match he went to the hospital to get some stitches.


#4: Our player, Matt was attempting to mark the ball (catch it). However the opponent came running it and crashed into Matt's back as he jumped up to take the mark over him ... he juggled it a few times. Not many more nervous feeling in footy as waiting for the ball to come down when you know there is one or more players bearing down on you to take the mark themselves. You are just a "sitting duck" and you know you are going to get hit hard.


#5: These guys are "Senior Colts" players - 15/16 year olds. Our player had gained possession of the ball and then was run down by the opposition player who drove him into the ground - causing the ball to spill loose. A free kick should be given to a player if he has been pushed in the back. Can't remember if this happened here. I know it's usually better to have show player's faces, but I like the unusual angle of this one and knowing how much pain/violence is happening to the player underneath.

 

[jfrabat]

I like them. I would say they are as good as the local newspaper football (soccer for those of you in the US) pics. They seem very sharp (at least they do in my tablet) and not bad composition at all...

 

[AceCo55]

Whoohoo!!! My first reply for Australian Football photos. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment ... and from Costa Rica! Just goes to show you don't need to have had first hand experience to comment. Really do appreciate your feedback.

 

[imagemaker46]

Second image is pretty much a perfect image, nice clean background, sharp, good exposure, keep after these ones.

 

[AceCo55]

Second image is pretty much a perfect image, nice clean background, sharp, good exposure, keep after these ones.

Thanks for the encouragement - I really do appreciate it ... means a lot to me.

Don't know if it happens in the States, but for country football here, people drive their cars into the grounds and park around the fence line. So not many backgrounds with crowds of people like you see at the top level matches! Basically its a traveling community each Saturday ... good get together for many people (especially farmers or fisherman who might only see a few people during the working work). Part of the social fabric in a small country community.
Mind you, some of those farmers and fisherman etc are needed to make up the numbers in the B-grade matches on some days!!!. The skill level of most the players may not be star-like, but they play with the same passion and determination and pride as the pros. The crowds still get fired up and can join in the celebrations ... and the commiserations.
Thanks for looking and commenting.

 

[brianroe]

They are all very good.
I really like #2 and #4. #3 is also a good shot. Kevin is not really in action and that is the only negative on that one. #1 is ok, its biggest fault would be the lighting. It seems wrong. I agree with you on #5, it is a different perspective, and makes for a neat shot. Not the first-or only-shot but it works good in a series...

 

[AceCo55]

They are all very good.
I really like #2 and #4. #3 is also a good shot. Kevin is not really in action and that is the only negative on that one. #1 is ok, its biggest fault would be the lighting. It seems wrong. I agree with you on #5, it is a different perspective, and makes for a neat shot. Not the first-or only-shot but it works good in a series...

Again - thank you for taking the time to post about a sport you may have little experience with. You make some good points and I really appreciate the feedback. :thumbup:

re #1 lighting: yes. the light is coming from left and because they are moving in that direction, the light is only half falling on them from my shooting position.

The playing field covers about four times the area of an NFL field. Over 200m long (220yards) and 100m (110yds) wide. It is an oval shape rather than a rectangle. So I position myself so I can cover about a third of the field. I get the forwards (attacking players) in one quarter (play 4 x 25min quarters) and the defenders the next.

re #3 Kevin: yes, I can see your point of view here. I will tell you my thinking on this crop. The action is entirely with the other two players but if I were to crop Keven out completely, I felt the ball and the player on the left would have been too close to the edge. If I cropped to be a comfortable distance from the ball, then Kevin's hand would have been poking in on the left edge. So I took the decision to include all of him. But your observation has me questioning that decision - so thank you very much. I would now look at three crop options: as is with Kevin entierly in the frame / partially include Kevin so that it's obvious that a player is there but can't be identified / crop Kevin out completely

re #5 angle: yes, definitely not a stock standard shot ... in fact I don't think I have ever caught and kept a shot from this angle before!