Charles Bartolotta
November 2025 - Rugby match
About the Image(s)
I photographed this image at a local women’s rugby match last month (October). I’ve
photographed men’s rugby before, but this was the first time I photographed a women’s
rugby game. One of the nice things about photographing local rugby games is that you
have free access to the sidelines on all four sides of the field. Because the field is so
large a telephoto lens is necessary. There is a lot of contact in this sport so shooting on
continuous mode is a big help.
Camera: Nikon Z8
Lens: Sigma 150-600 mm at 560 mm.
Auto ISO at 560
f/6.3, 1/500 sec Shutter Priority
4 comments posted
(Groups 9 & 21)
Great action shot Charles. The foreground grass and all players are really sharp. Great background creating nice separation between the players and background. What makes this image pop for me is that I can see the front of most of the players along with their facial expressions. Great timing for this shot. Posted: 11/09/2025 15:28:30
Thanks, Jim. This was the first women's rugby match that I photographed. I did another one recently. You always get gret expressions in these. What I hope to get in theses shots is seeing the ball, otherwise a viewer might not know what the game is. I can't take much credit for the trimming; camera mode was Continuous at 15 fps. Posted: 11/11/2025 15:42:42
Hey Charles gosh your image is very action packed. I've never been to a ruby game before and it looks like it's a mixture between football and soccer. The colors are very vibrant and which stand out against your blurred background. And their facial expression tell the story along with the ball. Posted: 11/16/2025 14:32:20
Thanks, Sharlana. Rugby is kind of like football with very few rules. At least that's how it looks to me. And the game is very rough, as you an tell by the picture. That rugby field is located where two sides have trees in the background. That helps the image. That image is croppped to about half the size of the full image. Posted: 11/20/2025 16:52:04