A Day at the Cricket

A day at the cricket was on the agenda for the start of the year. The Ashes, unfortunately lost by this point but never the less hopes of a great game of cricket. Day 4 at the SCG is usually a cracker… where games are won/lost and players step up to the occasion. Unfortunately at the moment it is generally the opposition standing up or the Australians falling over.. but ill leave the topic of cricket there. It was with this trip to the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground that I saw an opportunity to capture something I have enjoyed since I was little.

I dont play anymore, but I played cricket for 13 years from around age 8/9. Over the years I have many great memories of hitting the pitch on a Saturday.. even a touch of representative cricket and even a hundred in there somewhere. One of my most memorable memories of cricket though is watching it with my folks. Being taken for my first game at the SCG and seeing some of the greats of the game play… I certainly have been lucky to grow up with the quality of players that have been around for the last 20 years.

So in the Clive Churchill stand we were, I even got to spend a few overs downstairs in an empty corporate box. Highlights of the day was watching Michael Clarke get out, but to be honest there was a high chance of this happening. Low lights was getting sleepy and nodding off because of the slow overs, after drinking too much crappy mid strength VB.

My aim of taking my Nikon EM along with the 50mm was to capture a few snaps from the day, I have more undeveloped at the moment in my camera (as the roll is not done) but I also attempted by first film panorama from our seats. I am very chuffed with the result.

Here is the panorama in a small form

However CLICK HERE for the 2560 px wide version of the Sydney Cricket Ground Panorama.

The panorama is 5 shots stitched with CS5.

And well I think I have spoken enough about the golden age of cricket. I would really love to do more shots around the SCG (and other grounds for that matter) All in film, looking at some of the people that have been attending for years, the crowds, the statues and the memorabilia. They are running retro days with 1971 prices for the cricket at the moment,  I think it would be classic to shoot with my 1972 Olympus OM-1 with everyone dressed up and the game played as if it were 1971. If only… maybe one day.

Gear Used:

Nikon EM (1979)
Nikon 50mm f1.8 (1979)
Fujicolor 100 35mm

Till next time..