Springboks vs New Zealand – 20 August 2011

In the mid 90’s I had the privilege  to have met Hoffie Hofmeister, head photographer for the Rapport (Sunday newspaper in SA) at the time. What always amazes me about Hoffie was that how he always manage to be at the right place at the right moment while taking sport pictures. If one opens the Rapport  on Sunday morning all the key moments were captured by Hoffie. I always used to watch Hoffie at Rugby tests and see him floating around the field but never manage to sort out how he got it so spot on.

In 2007 i again met Hoffie at a Athletics meeting in Rustenburg and while chatting asked him how he always manage to read a rugby match so well. He explained that when he started of as staff photographer for the newspapers in the late 60’s early 70’s they used plate cameras and were issued 5 plates per match. He then used to shoot one scrum, one lineout and three action shots. Yes five images per match. There were no other way but to have picked the moments that he wanted  to capture very carefully. This experience stayed with him and that’s how he managed to got it spot so well.

These days we are using digital cameras shooting away at 10 frames per second. At a test match like the SA vs NZ on 20 August in PE there were forty accredited photographers. That mean for a 1 sec movement there is a chance that 400 images of that movement could have been photographed.

Okay what’s the point. In golf there is a saying that says ” driving is for show and putting is for dough”  Well the same here. A good sports photographer must be able to capture the action well but what makes a sports photographer stands out from the rest is what he does more than just shooting away at 10 frames a second. By that i mean seeing things from a different angle, shooting emotions off the field, before the match and after the match. Thats is where photographers like Hoffie, Walter Looss, Chris Smith, Erich Baumann, Tony Duffy  and a few others is and were just in a class of their own.

Here a few images that i took during the Test match on Saturday 20 August 2011. Fifteen years back on 10 August 1996 i did my first test in Cape Town between the Springboks and the All blacks and till today there are nothing that beats the atmosphere at such a test match. The adrenaline rush one gets during such a test is just something that will keep one going back year after year.

For more images of this match go to www.superimage.co.za

Gerhard

Springboks vs Wallabies – 13 August 2011

I had the privelage to have covered the Sa vs Australia test in Durban on 13 August 2011 in Durban. Apart from having absolutely no internet signal to send images i had a great time and came away with some nice shots. After the match i went back to the hotel in Umchlanga and had full 3G connection to send some images away.

This week i’m going down to Port Elizabeth for the Springbok All Blacks clash. Looking forward to it and can’t wait to feel the vibe in the PE stadium. Last time i was there was during the Soccer World Cup covering the England vs Slovenia match. What a stadium and as with all the World Cup Soccer stadiums the light is so much better for photography appose to the Kingspark stadium where one still have to shoot at 4000 ASA at a speed of 1/640 sec. Some of the new stadiums one get away with 2000 ASA and 1/800 sec at F4 which is more than enough to get some decent shots.

Gerhard

Blitzbokke.com

Blitzbokke posted a something about my photography. Feel free to go and have a look.

http://www.blitzbokke.com/?p=5223

Gerhard

My view of 2010

So far 2010 has been a great experience for me. As a Sports Photographer the Soccer World Cup open up a new world for me and lifted my photography once again to another level.

But again i learned that you must never think you can take photos and think you’re a “yster”. I saw some photo’s of the other photographers during the tournament that will keep me humble for awhile an will inspire me for the next few years.

Well at least i featured in the latest addition of Sports Illustrated (August 2010). Although i was watching the game at that stage and not taking photos as i was suppose to do. This photo was taking during the Bafana vs France Game in Bloemfontein on 22 June 2010 by Jewel Samad of AFP.

Okay here the image i took just before this photo was taken. Yes see, sometimes i do take photos and does not sit and watch the game the whole time. This is a photo of Bongani KHUMALO after he scored the first goal for South Africa vs France. Bafana Bafana won the game 2-1

Gerhard

11 July 2010

Thirty days, 7500km, 15 games, 7 stadiums, thousands of images and now it’s all over. Spain is the new world champion after beating Holland 1-0 at Soccer City last night.

I had the privilege to be commissioned by a French Media Company to cover the World cup for them.

Once again it was an experience second to none as my friend Jubs would say and worth every single kilometer I drove through the country stopping at hundreds of road work stops, well nearly feels like hundreds and nearly as bad as sorting out match passes and parking passes. The rest were a blast and I had the most memorable time of my life.

Although the final wasn’t the greatest of games to watch as most finals are the closing ceremony was out of this world with technology you can’t believe. After everything I think we as South Africans can be very proud and can just say… VIVA South Africa….! because we are champions in our own right to host an event of this calibre. Congratulations to Danny Jordaan and his team who exceed all expectations.

Next week is the Billabong Pro in J-Bay. How great it’s going to be not to be hit by long lenses on the left and right of your head when the game is moving from left to right. Hope to get a few nice surf images and catch up with my old Varsity buds Jubs and Willis.

In the middle is Iker CASILLAS the captain of Spain with the World Cup Trophy.

Gerhard

World Cup 2010

Seven days to go and everyone in South africa are waiting in anticipation to see if everything will go of well.

Looking forward to see favorite teams like Spain, Brazil in action with players like Kaka, Xavi, Torres and David Villa in Action. And then probably the worlds nr. one player at the moment, Lionel Messi of Argentina. Okay then one mustn’t forget players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and Ribinho. This is going to be one big feast.

Spain must be one of the favorite teams to win this tournament seeing the fact that they only lost one game out of 45 in three and a half years. That one game was during the Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa against the United States of America during the semi-Final in Bloemfontein. Another reason that make Spain the favorite is that seven of Spain’s players are rated among the top 50 players in the world. Nearly the whole team. South Africa’s Steven Pienaar is the only player from South Africa that is rated in the top 50.

I had the privilege to cover that game in 2009. Here a few decisive moments that let the USA through to the Final which they played against Brazil. Brazil won the tournament by the way with Kaka the man of the series.

Jozy Altidore after scoring for the USA.

Clint Dempsey after scoring his goal for the USA.

Torres on one knee after Spain losing against USA in the semi final during the 2009 Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Gerhard

SA Senior Nationals 2010

From tomorrow till 19 April I’ll be covering the SA Senior National Swimming Champs at Kingspark Pool in Durban. Seeing that Swimming is my favorite sport to photograph I’m looking forward to the event and will post a few images later this week.

Here a few of last years photos.

Gerhard

Inter High 2010

Die naweek wat verby is was weer ‘n bedrywige een op kantoor met die Noord Vrystaat vs Suid Vrystaat swem op Donderdag, Inter Hoër swem op Vrydag en Saterdag en ook die Suid Vrystaatse Laerskole Atletiek kampioenskappe op Saterdag.

Hier ‘n paar fotos wat ek geneem het tydens die Inter Hoër Swem.

Gerhard

My Portfolio

Wat gebeur – 2010

2010? Wel ons is nog aan die gang en besig. Op die oomblik met al die junior swem en atletiek byeenkomste tot einde Maart. In April doen ons die Nasionale Swem kampioenskappe in Durban.

Einde April en Mei maand bied ek ‘n basies en gevorderde fotografie kursus aan. Die aanvraag is ongelooflik en ons moet reeds ‘n tweede klas aanbied vir die basiese kursus.

Met die internasionale sport en ook op provinsiale vlak vat ek dit ‘n bietjie kalmer as in 2009. Die eenvoudige rede is dat die mark vir die fotos net te beperk is in SA soos ek alreeds verduidelik het in vorige posts. Ek doen wel ‘n paar super 14 wedstryde vir  Sportzpics en Photosport in NZ in die nabye toekoms en sal dan sien wat later die jaar gebeur.

Op die trou front lyk dit baie goed en die bookings vir die res van die jaar lyk goed en tel nog steeds op.

Ons het gister Sentraal Hoërskool se Top 20 Atletiek byeenkoms gedoen en moet sê dit was ongelooflike atletiek met van die land se beste junior atlete teenwoordig.  Hier ‘n hekkie foto wat ek geneem het tydens die byeenkoms.

Gerhard

My Porfolio

Photographers – what a strange bunch

The latest post of Joe McNally is one of those that one have to share. Here is a part of it, absolute brilliant. I swear the guy can see into my soul. How did he know I do all these stuff?

“Photographers. We’re strange, right? We can’t stop. We run when others walk. We work when others relax. We have no sense of weekends, holidays, time off, time on, or time in general, except as it relates to sunrise or set. When there’s a football game on TV, we aren’t looking always at the action on the field. We’re looking at the sidelines to see if any our buds are covering the game and how much of the long glass out there is black or white. We walk around like addled sumbitches, staring at strange stuff, hovering at the edge of human activity, aching to be accepted, dying for a moment, breathless in anticipation for that which mostly never happens. Curious behavior, at best. That’s putting it nicely. Most folks would just chalk it up to damn strange and tell their youngsters to stay away from us.

Maybe the word is hinky. We shake our heads, punch buttons on expensive cameras, eyeball perfect strangers, ask odd questions, and wait for light. What an odd thing to wait for. We also have restive, restless, roaming eyes. Eyes that don’t shut down. Eyes that often feel hemmed in or framed by a 35mm lens border, eyes that correspond to a 24-70, or a 200-400, depending on what they encounter. Eyes that curse the dumb conglomeration of plastic, brass and glass we place in front of them, asking that mix of pixels and wiring to be surrogate vision, supple as the real thing. Hah! We might as well ask a fucking toaster oven.” – Joe McNally