It seems an age since that glorious evening in Twickenham when the Saints won the European Challenge Cup. Yesterday was a chance to dust off the photographic cobwebs and get some practice in before the main events start next week. A very young Saints side took on Nottingham. Yes there were some wise old heads out on that pitch but for much of the game the Saints Academy were to be seen learning their trade against an experienced Nottingham side. In the end Nottingham were the deserved winners – 22-27. However, I was pleased to see the likes of James Cannon, Alex Waller and Grant Pointer have accomplished run outs. The triallists Matt Cairns, Tom Foden and Michael Moore all did well too. Moore was particularly impressive.
On the photography front, we have some new arrangements at the Gardens to get used to. Whilst we’ve been asked to not to sit in front of the Church’s Stand, we now have space in front of the Sturtridge which gave me three tries worth of photos. The D3 with its buffer upgrade is a joy to use – the sweeping moves across the pitch can now be caught without fear of filling the buffer! It was also a first proper run out for the 80-400mm lens post its visit to Fixation. The lens is working beautifully and it felt like the return of long lost friend after the difficulties I had last season.
I am pleased with the results – I have some photos of the Academy in action and the quality of the photos is pretty good for this time of year. More practice and I could yet get that LRPS set of photos sorted soon! The rest of the photos can be found in this gallery ‘ere…
See you all next week when the Guinness Premiership gets going!
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