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Sports photography - part 8 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

by Mike McNamee Published 01/08/2011

Stools, Ladders and Scaffold Towers

Stools are very personal (did I really just write that?). The tri-leg Swedish type sold by Flaghead are light and well made. Personally I find them a little high (I have very short legs) and the arrangement of the canvas at the top is a little unfortunate for male users. The stool I prefer cost £2.99 in a cost-saver shop (they have also been seen in large stacks at motorway service areas). It folds flat and has a carry handle. It is not well made and cracked when sat upon. Despite this it is still going strong, lives in the boot of the car and doubles as a perch for taking your boots off after a long day in the hills.

Ladders are what they are, almost any will do if you need to find the extra height that they provide (but be aware of instability on soft ground). If you are the commissioned photographer at an event, and it is appropriate, hiring a scaffold tower or even a cherry picker is an option. Compared to the cost of your gear, the day rate for such things in quite modest.

A 10-foot scaffold tower costs around £30 per day, £60 per week. A cartowed cherry picker costs around £250 per day (but assumes your vehicle is fitted with a tow bar). A tip to note if you use a tower is to make sure the public are cordoned away from it by a few feet, nothing is worse than people helping themselves to a better view at your expense particularly as they wobble your tower quite a lot! You might also have to unravel some health and safety issues with the organisers.


Weather Protection - gear

This falls into two categories, protecting the equipment and protecting the user. We are well served for both, there is quite a thriving industry in both sectors.

Matin and Kata both provide specialised camera protection gear at relatively modest prices (tens of pounds rather then hundreds). For long lenses the nature guys provide some of the best stuff and provided you don't mind looking like the SAS out on exercise, you can have a camo covering over both you and your gear right up to 800mm lenses. Stealth Gear and Stealth Wildlife provide a range of kit to keep everything dry and warm.

Weather Protection - personal

Sports photography can take you out in extreme weather. For summer work a hat, sunscreen and something to protect the back of your neck are almost vital. Personally I find a Tilley hat to be the best. It has a neck lanyard (for the wind), it's cool, protects your ears and, most importantly, the brim deflects out of the way when you are shooting. Baseball caps are good for shading your eyes but cannot be used in vertical shooting without turning them round.

Not only does this make you look like Kevin from Harry Enfield, but doing it all day leaves you with a sunburned rectangle in the middle of your forehead (and people do comment - I've been there!). For sunscreens Riemann P20 is a good choice.

It is a sport product which you can even wear for swimming. It is applied to the skin ahead of time and is fully dry, with no residues to smear from your nose to the back of the camera. Talking of such matters beware of DEET, it may keep the midges away but dissolves plastic (goodness knows what it does to your skin!).


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1st Published 01/08/2011
last update 18/07/2022 16:35:44

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Updated 18/07/2022 16:35:44 Last Modified: Tuesday, 08 November 2022