Fans who complain about the report may not know that it was often shot by a lonely photographer who was precarious on scaffolding

"Saturday is Coming" by Paul Buller

The life of a photographer in a low-level league is not easy. In the last year, relying on online live broadcasts and highlights of the game aroused many criticisms from fans on the quality of the shots. As someone who has taken shots in many places, I want to first uncover what is needed to take these shots.

We have been spoiled by the large-scale production of the Premier League, where the game has at least 30 cameras to shoot from every imaginable angle, and the production cost is hundreds of thousands of pounds. In the lower leagues, the situation is a little different. You show up in Dagenham and Redbridge alone with your camera, tripod and microphone, and the chairman pulls out the ladder from the bushes and tells you to climb the back of a stand to reach a scaffolding tower that looks tattered . Or because the rack is too small to shoot any game in the corner of Gillingham Stadium.

Usually, the last thing you want to watch a football game on TV is the three-camera setup, which is the ideal minimum requirement for reporting the game. Camera one provides a wide-angle lens after most of the action; camera two captures the set ball, target and close-up shots; and camera three roam and provide different angles.

Although three cameras may be the most ideal minimum configuration, but in the Premier League, this is a relative luxury. Covid restrictions require live coverage of the game, and sometimes three cameras are provided in larger tournaments, but usually EFL games can only be filmed by a single photographer who has to overcome countless obstacles to take these shots for you.

When I reach the ground, the first thing I need to look for is the camera position. If you are lucky, there will be a specially built gantry on the top of the stands, which has enough space for me to shoot tall and wide shots directly along the center line. On a good ground, there will be elevators or some sturdy stairs to directly drag all my equipment up. In an old stadium, I might have to climb a rusty ladder, which was installed directly between the auditoriums and removed 45 minutes before the start of the game, making it impossible for me to get down. Many age-specific racks are rusty, bouncing and shaking disturbingly, making it almost impossible to move while shooting.

If I were not so lucky, it would be a 3x3 meter tower, which was crumbling on the edge of the roof of the booth in 1973 by a long-dead local scaffolding. There is no covering on my head, no seat belt, no guarantee of safety. A colleague recalled shooting on a scaffolding tower that collapsed on one side halfway through the game. In any case, he adjusted the tripod to fit the 45-degree angle of the tower and continued shooting.

Although the scaffolding towers are dangerous, they at least give us the opportunity to shoot from a suitable location. However, even in the era of on-demand footage, many clubs do not provide us with the best shooting opportunities. Many stadiums are composed of low-level stands. I often find myself standing behind a stand, shooting behind the audience, almost above the level of the stadium. This creates some awkward angles, and panning to the left or right means that the action may be obscured by the back of the audience's head.

This is usually the main difference between large broadcasters. They have 10 trucks, a multi-camera circus, and I showed up at the back of my car with some rented tools: when Sky or BT reported a game, They can almost completely control what happens in the stadium. I have little or no. I got a great opportunity and I have to say that I was taken care of by some very kind and generous club staff who were happy to let me there, but I would never allow fans to do anything that might spoil the game day experience.

So if I set my camera at the level of the court in the center line and I block the view of some of the supporters in the front row, fans and fans will tell me to move the club unambiguously. If I am allowed to stay, I must hope that the supporters behind me will not get angry and start swearing because of my existence, because my microphone is the only microphone in the stadium, and a thousand Cambridge United fans are singing "Photography" "The teacher is a bastard" is not the ideal soundtrack for the highlight of today's game.

In my career, I have filmed, produced and directed many types of TV shows, but as a football fan, there is nothing like visiting clubs that I have never been to before, being welcomed and offering endless tea and biscuits And to be able to shoot better games in a way that is as close as possible to the way you and I want to watch. This is no easy task, but it's worth it. I hope that next time you see some shots of your team, you will think of me and dozens of people who are crumbling on the edge of the scaffolding tower like me, doing our best to capture what we can capture.

This article first appeared when Saturday came WSC Follow Paul Buller on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on Twitter