Ottawa’s Rapid Football Club is having a good year and, prior to this game, stood one point out of first place in the Northern Super League (NSL), with Montreal holding first place. So, this game was important in that if they won, Ottawa would move into first place having gained three points but, more importantly, denying three points to Montreal that couldn’t be made up against other teams.
To see pictures from the Ottawa vs Montreal soccer game, CLICK HERE
This is my first time covering the Rapid FC so I went early to get a feel for how they host a match. And it’s a lot of fun for the family. They have a fun zone at the west end zone with lots of games such as a small miniature golf area, tic-tac-toe on the grass, bean bag throws, and other assorted activities aimed at the family. Also, some of the cheerleaders are there doing some formations for picture taking.
Speaking of cheerleaders, can there ever be too many? There were three squads on Sunday from the Rapid FC, the Carleton Ravens, and the Ottawa JR Riders. All three squads were practicing formations prior to game time so lots of picture opportunities, including the Carleton Ravens throwing one of their ladies into the air off a pyramid (granted, she was small). Closer to game time, the teams came out for warm up drills and that brought us up to game time.
The game started badly for the Rapid FC as Montreal scored their first goal around the 3:45 and that took the wind out of the sails for a bit. But the Rapid played on hard until scored upon again, about 16:45, giving Montreal a little breathing room at 0-2 Montreal. The Rapid weren’t done yet and came back at 27:15 to close the score 1-2 which is how the first half ended after five extra minutes of stoppage play.
After halftime, the teams played pretty evenly until 60:45 when the Rapid scored the tying goal and the crowd dug in now as they could feel the win coming on. Both teams rallied and played physically but at 86:16, Montreal scored what would be the go-ahead and winning goal. After regulation time plus four minutes stoppage, the game ended with Montreal leading 3-2. Disappointing for Ottawa for sure but the loss was not due to lack of effort on behalf of the Rapid FC ladies.
Now, I’ve been told that the next home game is a Veterans Appreciation Night but I can’t find anything about it on the web. I’ll contact Rapid FC and see if I can confirm and see if there are any special activities with a military theme. The next home game is 1900 hours, September 20th.
PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES
Now, I don’t usually add photographic notes but a lot of people take pictures at these game and I thought I’d put some notes here to help out. All these comments need to be adjusted for time of day as the sun position is very important as it’s much different with a 1200 game than a 1900 game and in between. I realize that not everyone has access to field level but everyone does have access to the fun zone at the west end which is field level and gives good vantage to players attacking that end.
To start with, the field is oriented north-east to south-west but for the purposes of this discussion let’s assume east-west (Bank Street) with the stands on the north and south sides, the south side being where the teams are situated at field level. What that means, in a general sense, is that the sun is usually behind the south stands moving towards Bank Street in the afternoon/evening. So, ideally you want to be taking shots from the south sideline towards the north stands.
Well, that isn’t going to happen as the south sideline is off-limits for non-affiliated photographers. For daytime shooting, shooting from the north sideline towards the south stands is a waste of time as the players are all in deep shadow and the field looks like a silver pool due to specular highlights from the artificial turf. So, don’t waste your time shooting from the north sideline. That leaves the end zones.
At least in the end zones you have a chance to get a good picture. If you stay on the south side of the end zones and shoot towards the north stands, the players are front lit so you can up your shutter speed and get good pictures. However, if you are on the south side of the end zone and you are trying to get pictures of players running up the south sideline, the pictures will be garbage because the players are all backlit and in shadow. In this case, you’re better off on the north side of the end zone and getting pictures of players running up that sideline. Now, given the time of day for games, this generally means placing yourself in the west end zone, north side and shooting the north sideline as the players are generally facing into the pitch which, on the south sideline, puts their faces into shadow.
As the day moves from noon to afternoon and the sun becomes more westerly the field lighting changes so that the players defending the east, if you’re shooting from the east end-zone, are now in shadow meaning slower shutter speed, more iso, and shadowy pictures. However, the players coming towards the west end zone (Bank Street), are more fully lit in any position. So noontime games, the best starting position is either end zone shooting to the north of the field whereas mid-afternoon, the best position is from the west end zone shooting the western half of the field with the north side of the western half being preferable.
If you’re at a night game, it really doesn’t matter where you are as the light is consistent all over the field. The problem now is getting close enough for a shot and having lenses that lend themselves to low light shooting (f2.8 or better).
