I’ve done very little indoor sports photography before now, and so on Sunday I took the opportunity to photograph the Tranmere Rovers futsal team in action.
Futsal is similar to standard football in many ways, however it is a separate game in its own right. It is played on a smaller hardcourt, with five players per team (and lots of subs) and over two periods of 20 minutes. It’s fast, physical and hot. Not to mention competitive, very competitive.
Background to Tranmere Rovers Futsal
The team was formed in the summer, led by experienced futsal coach Damon Shaw who returned from a similar role in Spain to take the job of managing Rovers’ new team, assisted by Matt Frejos. The refurbishment of the recreation centre at Tranmere’s Prenton Park stadium has created the perfect home for the futsal team, and going in to Sunday’s game against York City, they were so far unbeaten at home.
York are one of the strongest teams in the division, denied a place in the English Futsal Super League a few years ago but still containing at least one England international futsal player.
So with Tranmere and York level on points going in to the game, it promised to be a belter.
Photographing futsal
One thing I was well aware of heading to the game was the poor lighting in the arena where the game would be played. Now when I say poor lighting, it’s absolutely fine if you’re playing or watching futsal, however for photographing it did provide some predictable challenges.
Unlike some other indoor sports, futsal is played at a very quick pace and is physical. This game especially was thrilling, and in the second period as the game became a little stretched as both teams went for the win, it certainly had a strong physical element to it. It’s a pretty entertaining way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
So, with the pace of the game in mind, I knew I’d want the shutter as quick as I could get it. Like when shooting standard football outside, you want the image to be frozen with nice crisp detail. When trying to do this with indoor lighting, something has to give if you go for that high shutter speed.
Personally, whenever I do football photography, I want the shutter as high as possible really without having to crank the ISO too high. Indoors, I wanted the same crisp shots. I began shooting on 800/1 shutter, a little slower than I try to opt for, but it was fast enough. However, with aperture at 2.8, I still needed to compensate by bumping the ISO incredibly high.
As the game progressed, I experimented with several settings, bringing the shutter down to 640/1 and then 500/1, and adjusting the ISO accordingly.
It was a great learning curve and, overall, I was satisfied with the results. Check out the images below and let me know what you think.