AFL Playoffs: Rampage at Rattlers
The Rattlers made an interesting promise earlier this year: If they didn’t make the playoffs, season ticket holders would get a refund. The Rattlers lived up to the expectation, finishing 8-8, with a 4 game winning streak towards the end of the season in order to lock up a playoff spot.
Playoff games tend to be fun, for many reasons. Players understand the gravity of the game, that if they lose, their season is over until next year. The fans tend to get louder, crowds fill the arena (hopefully), and the event takes on a larger than usual feel.
The Rampage led all night, but the Rattlers were down only seven points with a first down and only a few yards away from the goal. Four consecutive runs, four consecutive stops, and like that, season over.
A few more images and a link to the gallery after the jump
I’ve always had a thing for introductions. Whether it’s a boxer entering the ring, or a team huddling as a spotlight hits them ever so perfectly, or in the case of the Rattlers, a pyrotechnics display, team introductions can make for some interesting images.
This season, the Rattlers changed access areas for photographers. In this image, the usual photographer area is pictured on the left of the image, behind the leftmost pillar of fire. It’s not a bad spot for shooting game action, but for the team introduction, it can be bland. I figured there was nothing I could get from that vantage point. I took a small gamble, ran to the other side of the stadium, went upstairs, and tried to get a wider overview shot of the team intro. In retrospect, I would have wanted to go further to the right, having the team on the bottom right featured better. In the future, this is something I would scope out and try over a period of a few games.
I tend to overpack for games, but especially for playoff games. An AFL field is only 50 yards from end zone to end zone, with 10 yard endzones, for a total of 70 yards. This can often be covered well with a 300 2.8 on a 1 series camera. A 70-200 on another camera, and that’s a pretty decent setup. Now even during the regular season, I’d carry the 400 2.8, but for the playoffs, I made it a point to carry a 400 and 300 2.8, along with a 70-200 2.8 and 15mm fisheye, two 1D III cameras, and a 40D. This gave me tight coverage from end zone to end, and a fisheye for a “who knows what could happen” lens.
This endzone touchdown shot was about 70 yards away, but with the 400 on a 1D III, it might as well have happened right next to me. By using the 400 instead of the 300, you also get better seperation of subject from the background (though it’s still not great). Having the 300 gave me the opportunity for wide shots on the field, to encompass multiple players, and between all the lenses and camera’s, I could cover any part of the field tight, wide, or anywhere in between.
More images may be seen in the gallery: