(All images copyright Michael Berkeley Photography - no reproduction without permission)
I originally wrote this blog just after I had set out my thoughts on How to Photograph Polo, which is a particularly fast and furious sport. Bowls is almost diametrically opposite in terms of pace, but my experience of photographing at my local Bowls Club was that it is equally – if not more – social than polo. It also proved to be one of the most competitive sports that I have ever witnessed!
As is often the case when I photograph a new sport, I had no idea how I was going to approach bowls. In such situations, I have a look on the internet to see what others have done and see if there is a ‘How to Photograph [Sport]’ article – maybe you are doing this right now by reading this blog! There wasn’t a huge amount of information on bowls, so it was a voyage of discovery …
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 200mm; f/2.8; 1/2000th sec; ISO 100)
In this case, I actually went along for a recce. Some of the Club members were having a practice during the week, in advance of the men’s match the following Saturday. There were only a few people practising and, in the very informal atmosphere, I was able to walk on the green itself (which – understandably – was strictly forbidden on match day) and take close ups of the players.
(Nikon D700; 24-70mm at 38mm; f/7.1; 1/320th sec; ISO 250)
During the recce, I used both of my camera bodies, so that I could try a number of different ideas. The photo above was taken with the full frame Nikon D700, providing opportunities for a wider angle than the crop sensor Nikon D500, which - at the time - I used to use most of the time for my sport photography (I now use a Sony A9II).
While invaluable in preparing for the main event, the light was different in each case. The practice session was in the early evening, which meant that there were long shadows on the green. The sun was much higher for the match and the players’ hats cast a strong shadow, making it difficult to get a good shot of their face. Moreover, the players on the Saturday were wearing their match kit, which was bright white, leading to high contrast.
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 160mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 250)
I set out my ‘standard’ camera settings in my blog 'Getting into Sport and Music Photography'. In the case of the bowls match, I kept the lens wide open to achieve a shallow depth of field and blur the background, as usual. But as it was such a bright day, I had to set the shutter speed to up to 1/5000th second to compensate for the wide open aperture. With the ISO set on ‘Auto’, the ISO readings that I was getting were in the 100 to 1000 band, which was fine.
Although I do often shoot JPEG files, on this occasion I did shoot RAW, because I knew that the lighting condition were particularly challenging and that I would therefore want to recover as much detail as possible from the shadows.
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 185mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 200)
I was anxious that the sound of my camera – and my presence itself – did not become a distraction for the players who were concentrating hard. With this in mind, I had offered to take photographs of both the teams before the match started, so that they were all aware that I was there, knew what I would be doing, and had got used to my presence. Of course, if I had had my current Sony A9II with me, I would have been able to set it to silent shooting and I would have been less conspicuous!
(Nikon D500; 24-70mm at 31 mm; f/8; 1/1250th sec; ISO 160)
On match day, I used 3 different lenses on the Nikon D500 – a 24-70mm f/2.8; a 70-200mm f/2.8; and a 200-500mm f/5.6. As the Nikon D500 has a crop sensor, this last lens is equivalent to 300-750mm. This variety of lenses allowed me to get very different perspectives on the action. The 70-200mm was probably the most useful for ‘straight’ player shots (as above), but the wide-angle lens and long lens allowed me to take more imaginative shots.
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm at 240mm; f/5.6; 1/5000th sec; ISO 500)
I took the photo above from the far end of the lawn with the long lens (note the heavy shadows over the faces – recovered as far as possible in post-production). A quite different perspective is achieved in the image below, taken from right behind the players.
(Nikon D500; 24-70mm at 48mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 250)
As a general rule, I try to get as low to the ground as possible as this makes the players appear ‘heroic’ and you also feel as though you are there in the middle of the action with them - see below.
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 200mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 320)
I tried to get as many shots of individual players as possible, so that they would each have a good image of themselves, but also tried to capture some of the atmosphere of the game. This included the total concentration shown by the players, as well as the occasional messages being passed to teammates through sign language …
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm at 320mm; f/8.0; 1/1250th sec; ISO 250)
(Nikon D500; 24-70mm at 52mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 200)
As well as the hugely competitive nature of the match, the players were having a hugely enjoyable time. The contest may have been intense, but it was also sociable, both with teammates and the other team.
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 160mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 360)
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm at 200mm; f/2.8; 1/5000th sec; ISO 110)
Special thanks go to Downton Bowling Club, Wiltshire. They were immensely hospitable, and I was made to feel extremely welcome. Despite repeated invitations, I politely declined the offers to have a go myself - I left that to the experts!
If you have enjoyed this blog or if you have any questions/comments, please leave a message in the comments box below.