Many people enjoy shooting sports. I am not one of them.
Every year the company I work for has a bandy[1] match during lunch. I can avoid actually exerting myself on the ice by being the designated photographer.
Last year my only long lens was the Nikkor-Q 200mm ƒ/4, a manual focus lens from the late ’70s. I’ve since acquired a Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ/4 AF lens, and thought that now having zoom and autofocus would make my pictures even more awesome[2]
However, it was not to be. Perhaps counterintuitively, I got more shots I liked with the tele prime. This was due to three factors. First, I had a better vantage point (halfway up a set of bleachers). This year, the match was played on the side of the pitch without bleachers. Second, it was colder this year which made concentrating on the game harder. And third, the fact that last year I only had one focal length and manual focus meant I concentrating on the goal areas as they gave a better framing and I could pre-focus.
This year I was trying to capture both play at the endzones and in the middle distances. Whether it was the cold, or the vantage point, or the fickle light, I felt I got less keepers this year despite “better gear”.
[1] it’s never called “Russian hockey” in Sweden
[2] for “even more awesome”, read “slightly less pathetic”