Photographing Golf with the Japan Society
Golf. Not something I thought I’d be photographing anytime soon and yet as I have said before, volunteering can take you to places you wouldn’t otherwise go. After starting to learn Japanese I joined the Japan Society in order to learn more about Japanese culture whilst living in the UK. Having met with some of the leadership during last year’s Christmas party I put myself forward to volunteer my time as a photographer to help them get their message out to a wider audience.
From what I now understand golf is a popular activity in Japan, especially amongst businessmen and so it makes this event a no-brainer for the Japan Society. The tournament was held at Maidenhead Golf Club which has strong connections with the Nippon Club, a social club for Japanese ex-pats. Golf is quite different to the other sports I have photographed, there’s certainly not a constant frenzy of action, just key moments that are gone in a flash. Given that I also took the train I couldn’t be hauling around masses of heavy gear, so I limited myself to three lenses and I ultimately just used two of them. My 105mm and 58m F1.4G lenses.
Predominantly I used the 105mm outside and the 58mm inside. Neither are particularly fast focusing, but they performed fine given the nature of golf and using a polarising filter I could happily shoot at F1.4 to dissolve the background with plenty of bokeh, even in bright conditions. I spent some time waiting patiently in the clubhouse before catching the golfers on the final two holes so I could get shots of both putting and driving without wandering too far into the line of fire. First up though I had to get a shot of the plate presented to the winner, which proved to be a challenge whilst I worked out which backdrop was most suitable. In the end leaning it against the flagpole of the final hole proved to be the winner.
At least golfers are fairly predictable, it’s quite clear when something is about to happen and I did my best to position myself to capture the best of each hit, as well as try to introduce some interesting framing with the other golfers. The 105mm lens meant I could stand a good distance back so as not to disturb them but at the same time not standing too far away that I would miss things. Capturing the driving was straightforward as they all stood in roughly the same spot. The difficult aspect was capturing a shot with the ball as they struck. Sadly, the 7fps of my Nikon D850 wasn’t really up to the task but I did manage to capture a couple which was enough for what I needed. A Nikon Z8 or Z9 would be pretty handy in this situation.
So, what could I do differently next time? If I was photographing professional golf, I would definitely be standing much further back and likely have a more fixed position. In that situation my big 300mm F2.8G lens would probably work fairly well on a monopod. However as with the football the ideal lens for an amateur tournament like this would probably be a 70-200mm F2.8 for its sheer versatility. Using the long end at 200mm would also give more bokeh and compression although that doesn’t always produce a better look than the 105mm lens at F1.4. Furthermore, as I had plenty of space and time to move around, zooming in and out with my feet was not very difficult.
All-in-all I am happy with the results and would almost certainly use the 105mm F1.4G again. Perhaps there are some clever things I could do with a wider lens but at the same time I wouldn’t want to disturb the golfers. As it stands, I’m not about to pick up a 70-200mm F2.8 lens for my F mount cameras, but I do look forward to the day I have a Nikon Z8 with native glass in my hands. Though that won’t be coming just yet.
If you’d like to learn more about the Japan Society, then you can do so by clicking here. I can highly recommend it for anyone based in the UK (particularly around London) who are interested in Japan and Japanese culture.
If you have enjoyed this blog then please consider leaving a tip below.