Friday night football

It is Friday night at the office, and my camera bag is packed on the desk. Charged batteries, formatted memory cards, a monopod, the usual things. The Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports does not fit in my regular backpack, so it travels in its own case on the passenger seat. 

Twenty years ago, my bag would probably have held boots, shin pads and a water bottle. Back then, Friday nights often meant me playing football instead of taking photos of it. Zipping the camera bag shut somehow feels the same. Gameday does something to my stomach that apparently never goes away. I’m excited.

While the rest of Stockholm is heading towards dinners, a night on the sofa or the occasional party, I’m heading the other way, towards a small football ground on the outskirts of central Stockholm. This is Sweden’s second division. There are no enormous crowds here tonight. The people who have made their way to the stands are here because they genuinely care. So do I.

I work at Sigma in the Nordics and Baltics, and most days at the office the 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports exists in a very different world for me. It’s a spec sheet, a social media post, a sample sent to an ambassador. Tonight, it is roughly four kilos on a monopod and my most trusted companion on the sideline.

As the natural light fades and the floodlights take over, the referee blows the whistle. I’ve found my position for the first half thanks to some advice from the more experienced sports photographers along the sideline. Now I just have to figure out the rest.

The match itself is a tough one between two very good teams. One of them happens to be my childhood club, but that’s a story for another time. Tonight is about trying something new and putting both the Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports and myself to the test.

Within a few minutes, I’m like a kid on a playground. Being able to move rapidly from 300 to 600mm changes the way I see the pitch. One moment I’m following the play in front of me. The next I’m picking out a cheer or a reaction from the crowd on the other side of the field. I’m physically stuck in one position on the sideline, but through my viewfinder I can move almost anywhere i need to.

At 600mm, moments happening far away suddenly feel close. At 300mm, I can pull back as the game moves towards me. Instead of waiting for the action to enter one particular part of the pitch, I can keep following it.

The hardest part for me tonight is the anticipation. Trying to understand where the next pass will go, who will make the run, when a tackle is about to happen and where the celebration might be before there is anything to celebrate.