[Cathus]

I have just covered the British American Football Championship finals this weekend which happened at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London.

It is the most work I've ever done photography-wise. I've done much less at weddings.

Someone decided that they would only have one official photographer sanctioned by the league and that was me, what a bloody awful idea that would turn out to be (for me).

I was there from 0900 to 2330 on Saturday and from 1000 to 2030 on the Sunday.

I shot continuously for 13 hours on Saturday - there are several disciplines within the sport so 3 adult leagues have their finals, there are finals for junior kitted, 5 on 5 kitted, and cadet, junior & adult flag football.

I shot for 8 hours on Sunday. I didn't get a break on either day as between games I had a few minutes to download my shots onto a laptop so league staff could upload some onto their website as the games progressed. I worked so hard that on both days I didn't need a single wee all day as all the fluid I drank went out in sweat (15 hours between toilet breaks on saturday!)
Anyone who has seen my kit will know it weighs a ton - 600mm f4 lens weighing 7kg plus camera & monpod, plus 2nd camera and telephoto & belt with other lenses & flashgun carried all day long round a sports field.

I got home at 1.30 on Sunday morning & was back in London by 10 the next morning to do it all again.

I shot 5 full-length games, plus several shorter games, took just over 4,000 pics, spent 7 hours & 320 miles travelling, have 2 blisters on my toes, aching arms, shoulders, and thighs.

I missed out on the free food from the organisers as I was so busy, didn't sit down for longer than 5 minutes whilst memory cards downloaded, I dread to think how many miles I walked around the pitch over those 21 hours.

I have to say, it was great doing what I love & I really enjoyed the photographic activity, but I will be putting some feedback suggesting that next year they emply several photographers to share the workload.

The downer on the day was that I didn't get paid on the day, as originally promised, and the organiser personally thanked all the volunteers who helped out, but missed out on thanking me, which was a bit of a kick in the teeth having spent two days listening to the volunteers talking about arranging their meal vouchers and breaks where they could relieve each other and I didn't get a single break & worked like a bloody Trojan.

Anyway, I enjoyed the intense photography and hope that I have been able to provide images which the particpants will cherish. And I probably lost some weight which can't be a bad thing.