FA Vase: All photographs © Al Macphee/MiraclePR
The FA Vase challenge
Working with the local press in the 21st Century is very different to how it used to be. Things have changed a lot even in the last ten years. Many local newspapers now come under the umbrella of large commercial publishers and editors have responsibility for more than one local title.
On 23rd October, I was hired by the local sports editor to cover some of the weekend’s FA Vase games. But since he now has responsibility for Reach titles across the whole of the south west, my brief was to provide a set of pictures that catered for all of these.
The process
In most local sports photography, It doesn’t really matter which team I focus on. I can just stay at a game until I have a good selection of action shots. Check out my other blog posts for tips on how to photograph sports.
Now, since one of the games I was covering (Buckland Athletic v Camelford) would need to be relevant to both Devon and Cornwall titles, I was under more pressure to provide pictures of both teams in possession.
Capturing goal celebrations would be vital because these would make the story for the relevant newspapers. This meant being aware of the ebb and flow of the game so that I could be in the best place to capture the shot.
To make things a little more complicated, I would be coming from Bicton College in East Devon where I was covering the Devon Trail 10K. To make sure I had enough time at the Buckland game to get the shots I needed, I decided to head for the first match (Newton Abbot Spurs v Brixham AFC), which was closer, in plenty of time for kick off.
The results
After getting a selection of decent images at Newton Abbot Spurs, I got to Buckland Athletic’s Homers Heath with plenty of time to give both teams the coverage expected.
In this particular case, Buckland Athletic won the game quite comfortably so I managed to get some great celebration shots. These made for some nice full page print images in the local south Devon newspapers and these were shared on social media by the club (who sang the praises of the newspapers). I also supplied the editor with some quality images of Camelford in possession which would be ideal for Reach’s Cornwall titles. Had the Camels found the net, they would have had some celebration shots of their own – but that’s something no sports photographer can control!
Have a burning photography question you would like Al to write about in his next blog post? Email info@miraclepr.com with your request.