Being There

Colin Heyburn is a sports photographer, fanatical Ulster supporter and part time Leinster admirer, and without his support and his plentiful supply of rugby pictures this website just wouldn’t be what it is today.

Not only does Colin allow us to use his match photos on The FRU but his work is also showcased on The UAFC and Leinsterfans.com and is a valuable resource for all these supporters sites, greatly enhancing their content.

We’ve been chasing Colin for a few months now to give us an insight into the work required to get such great shots and now he’s finally found the time in his hectic schedule to respond. It’s great reading for anyone wishing to start a career in sports photography. Enjoy his story below:

“At the Ravenhill again, the thought of how I arrived here came to my head. I suppose my parents had a bit of an input. My mother is as conformist as you could hope for and my father was the exact opposite. The must have been some modicum of opposite attraction for me to pop out. That aside the advent of high speed modern digital technology replaced the laboriousness of home print processing. The story runs a bit deeper though. In the Old days of Lansdowne Road before the Guinness Stand or even the Lower West Stand my father took me to see Ireland play France. We won and it was the day Tony Ensor kicked one from inside his own half. I can also recall the legendary Mike Gibson trail the French full back for what seemed like half way down the pitch. I was 14 walking straight from the train on to the pitch for we had touchline tickets. A French cockerel was running amok on the pitch terrified for its life. I was enthralled and mesmerised by the magic of it all: but more so by the photographers in how they operated and how the pictures could be in the paper at the station for us to read on the journey home. That did it for me.

Between then and now I went of the rails spectacularly and not without a little enthusiasm having infamously had a matadorial encounter with a Mercedes Benz, when I woke up with four delightful nurses with the most angelic splendid Dublin accents I honestly thought I had died and gone to heaven. Later on the evening I wished I had. Until finally many, many, many years later, in fact a decade for each many, I bought my first digital SLR camera and thought I was David Bailey. The first effort at rugby was in Galway on New Years Eve. I was introduced to life on the touch line in a most unceremonial manner. The Atlantic welcomed me with unbridled gusto and painful hail as it does. I felt a bit pathetic with my 70 – 200mm zoom. Everyone had a bigger one than me. My weatherproofing system consisted of a plastic bag bought in Sainsbury’s that morning and held together with an elastic band. That was the start and even though the pictures were at best poor I was smitten. From then it was off to any game anywhere with biblical zeal and intent. Mostly local stuff as of yet the Media Officers would not let me in to photograph the professional games. Your man Walter Mitty had arrived. Undeterred with foolish enthusiasm pictures were emailed around the local press until one day someone finally asked me to do a game for them. It was Malone v Old Belvedere at Gibson Park. I doubt if I shot a decent picture I was that nervous but I got enough to save the day including a try with the scorer diving in mid air. I hit him with the red dot, pressed the shutter and bingo there it was. Job done. That was really the start of the current adventure.

The sports editor of the publication then called me to have me accredited with the European Union which meant I could cover Heineken Cup games. And so it developed as I gained more credibility and confidence the applications rattled in and were accepted for the bigger games. My kit also grew in size and weight and now I finally have the following:

1 Canon EOS Mark 2 camera body

1 Canon EOS Mark 3 camera body

1 x Canon 70 – 200mm f2.8 zoom

1 x Canon 400mm f2.8

1 x Canon 16 – 35mm f2.8 zoom

1 x Canon 580EX 2 Speedlite.

Oh and a monopod to hold the 400mm lens. It is very heavy.

I dispensed with the plastic bag, which by then had grown to be a bin bag, and bought waterproof gear to help protect the kit. I also bought a big black box with wheels to put it all in. Dan Sheridan of Inpho reckoned he could live in the box. I was very glad I bought it as I used to carry it all around in a kit bag on my shoulder until towards the end of each season my arm would go permanently numb.

It is normal for me to arrive 2 hours before a Magners League or Heineken Cup game and three for an International. I would have my big black box stuffed with equipment including wet weather gear, normally used. Prior to leaving all kit would be checked for serviceability, batteries for durability, G3 mobile broadband for connectivity and lenses for cleanliness. Towels carried to dry rain sodden kit, laptop prepared for action to process the images pitchside. I normally create a number of folders to import and export images. I would prepare team lists on “Notepad” and insert a universal caption on software called “Lightroom.” This programme affords me the ability to workflow my images and export them for onward transmission to the ether. Then it is into my trusty steed and down the road in a leisurely manner, park up and have a shuffle around the place. It is best to arrive early not only to soak up the atmosphere but also to park conveniently as well as mark your spot on the ground as there can be many photographers trying to snap your picture from your spot. Having successfully entered the stadium it is off to the media room to assemble the array of camera bodies and lenses and organise the whole shebang. Suffice to say food is very high on the agenda which is left out fairly early on, yet another good reason for being there before everyone else. You can always tell the other guys there was no food.

Closer to kick off final team sheets are produced which are then checked off and the necessary changes made. Kit is loaded onto the camel i.e. me, and it is off to work for the game. First thing loaded is a laptop in gortex bag around my neck. Then I sling on a camera body (EOS 1D Mark2) with the 70 – 200mm f2.8 zoom also around my neck. In my right hand I have the other camera (EOS 1D Mark 3) with the 400mm f2.8 lens complete with monopod and finally in my other hand the lens box which I either sit on or rest the laptop. In the lens box there is the 16 – 35mm f2.8 zoom, the speedlite, a towel and a showerproof coat to rest kit on the ground which is invariably boggin. Nothing is ever easy.

As the teams warm up I like to shoot some off beat stuff and then just as they run out onto the pitch I try to snap some shots with the wide angle zoom and speedlite. Then rush back to my spot and pray that everything I have prepared is now going to gel together in a beautiful synergy epitomised by mass panic and hysteria for the next 90 minutes or so. With a bit of experience you can soon begin to see what pictures are the ones and which ones you should not even bother to press the button for. You also soon realise what zones you should be shooting in and when you should be editing. The ideal is to should a couple of bursts and then pop the memory card in your memory card reader then download onto the laptop. And so it goes on from memory card to laptop to software to selecting, to captioning, to editing to exporting to transmission. And so the sequence continues throughout the game and beyond.

You have to know your role in all of this. You are not there to make things happen but to record. You have to ensure you do not miss the money shot with your head buried in a laptop. It is like telling a story you have to be able to record the action. I am often asked about the settings of my camera. You set it up to suit the circumstances such as light and lens etc. Howver the key thing for rugby is shutter speed which needs to be at least 1000/sec Evening during a game I am tweaking various bits and pieces. I have learned that different parts of the pitch will record differently and require different settings. Sharp sunlight is the evil to end all evils for photographers. During the game I like to stay in roughly the one spot and let the mountain come to Mohamad. At the end you may get some good shots of players celebrating or even going to the fans. That’s the time to be able to move fast and get in quick in order to shoot players coming off the pitch etc. You should consider changing the angle of the shot and always be on the lookout for something that is different. The action shots are probably the easiest to do as they happens right in front of you. All you have to be able to do it press the button. The camera and lens will do the rest providing you are paying attention and your eye to finger coordination is not too subdued with a hangover. But to shoot something different you not only have to have your wits about you but also be able to see it. If you look for it you will find it. However in action photography it happens so quickly if you see it you have missed it. It is all about practise, practice practice and when you have done that practice some more. You need fast lenses and heavy duty camera systems to shoot in low light in the middle of winter and under floodlights and invariably in the rain.

If you were to ask me what the lows are that’s simple. Every time it rains. But once you are out on the pitch whether it is Ravenhill, RDS or Ballygomiddleofthebog once you are in position it does not really matter. You do not really care as the main aim is to shoot that picture. Mind you laptops do not seem to like rain and replacing equipment is very expensive so all of the wet weather gear helps as long as you do not mind sitting in a puddle the odd time. I have had some right royal soakings almost everywhere save Croke Park where the weather has always been dry. May be God is not an Ulsterman after all.

The highs, I have had a few. In fact every time I get to shoot a game is a high. I travel thousands of miles each year on the Holy Grail and that desire never changes. It is always good to see your name in print, even better when the cheque hits the bank. But that is not why I do it. The best in no order of preference were when Leinster won the Magners a season or so ago, the Heineken Cup semi final at Croke Park. Even the recent AIB Junior Cup Final between Armagh and City of Derry in the changing rooms at the end was a privilege to record the emotion: even though my home team Armagh had been robbed. However the best one was in Swansea the night Ulster won the League title. It was humbling to listen to Justin Harrison give his post match speech as Ulster Captain. Those are the things you never forget when you realise what the word greatness means. So where will this all end. To be honest I do not really care as long as it keeps on going. It is a hell of a ride. Hang on to my shirt tail this one still has a bit to run.”

Normally we’d showcase an article with some of Colin’s pictures but with so many to choose from our advice is to visit his site and browse around.

Click here to visit Rugby Picture.

If Colin has inspired any of you to take up the lens, remember to make The FRU your first port of call for showcasing your work!

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