I was about to go for a run, the weather was good and it looked like it was going to be a cracker of a sunset. I gave my mate Greg a call to join me, but he was heading off to the UCT jump track to ride his BMX, so I canned the run and went along to take some shots. We bumped into a cool kid Nathan who had just started out riding, but was getting the hang of it pretty quickly!
Last weekend we went up to Elands Bay with a whole bunch of Kids. The weather was rainy, so the kids got all dressed up and headed out into the mud!
I’ve been interested in Tilt Shift lenses for a while, but only until seeing the work of Keith Loutit have I decided to rent one and play around with it. The thing with these lenses is that you have to manual focus them, so using them for sport gets tricky. I went out to watch the Oneil Cold Water Classic in Kommetjie and gave it a whirl.
After being in Joburg for most of the WC, we decided to make a mission to Durban for the semi-final of Germany vs Spain. We drove down to Durban with a day to spare, so were able to spend a day on the beach which was awesome! There was great anticipation for the game, it could have gone either way, but on the night in the new Moses Mabida Stadium, Spain were definitely the better team. Germany looked tired and just couldn’t get the ball off Spain. The new stadium is awesome, the weather was warm, and for the first time of the world cup I could wear a T-shirt instead of loads of layers co’s of the cold!
Most of Africa was behind Ghana for this game. Africa’s last hope at the world cup, Ghana came out playing good football and were looking at a win when they were awarded a penalty in the dying moments of the game! The pressure was too much , and three missed penalties from Ghana after the shoot out, and Uruguay were through to the Semi Finals to face Holland.
There are know to be two soccer supporting nations that give their all on the international stage, one is England, and the other Argentina. I found this out from soccer journalist Gabrielle Marcotti who pointed out some Argentine soccer hooligans on the way to the game. With Maradonna as coach, and a team that is playing electric football, there is lots to support, and the fans didn’t dissappoint. Sporting rolls and rolls of toilet paper that were flung onto the pitch, they cheared and sang their team to an exciting and convincing 3-1 win!
Italy were never supposed to loose this game, but then again, that is what is great about the WC, anything goes, and the World champs are out!
We had some time before the game btw Italy and Slovakia, so decided to head out into the streets and have a look around.
Bill at the USA vs ALG game.
This was a do or die match for the USA, they had to win to advance! The second half was electric, lots of shots on goal but none in the back of the net….until extra time. It was a huge win for the USA and the fans went wild. Probably the biggest post match celebration yet.
After Portugal’s 7-0 win over Korea, counterparts Spain were looking for a similar victory! The goal difference didn’t show, but Spain played a great game to dominate Honduras. We had a great day solving problems with our remote cameras using extra pocket wizards to relay the signal and got some great shots. Remote camera shots will follow after WC is done.
These are some of the Police that were called in to do the job of the stewards who have been striking. They told me that they weren’t allowed to have their photo’s taken!
Media were allowed to go and see the factory where the Makarapa is made. Mr Baloyi is the originator and insists that they are all made by hand. Other have copied his idea and machine mass produce them, but his hand made Makarapa’s are all original and providing jobs for locals. They sell for between R250 and R450 depending on the intricacy of the design.
The Makarapa idea came about at local soccer games when supporters would throw bottles into the crowds and head protection became necessary!
It was great to watch Argentina, but even more entertaining to watch Maradonna! The Argentinian fans love him, regardless of his antics.
The atmosphere at Loftus was awesome, probably the best of all the games I have been to so far…….until the first goal against Bafana was scored. Unfortunately the soccer was shocking! Even though, what was more shocking was that the RSA fans started to leave half way through the second half, lame! I took some portraits co’s there wasn’t much soccer to shoot.
Brazil live! Kudos to Korea, they played well.
Today I got very schooled trying to shoot on the pitch squashed in like a sardine with 4 cameras, one on a monopod, one around my neck and 2 remote camera’s behind the goal!! It was super stressful to say the least, but I managed to get one or two shots off while chasing the ball around the pitch. Respect to all the pro football shooters!!
