Rugby

Photographing England Rugby Coach Eddie Jones by Adam Jacobs

It was a pleasure to recently be commissioned to shoot England Rugby coach Eddie Jones. An Aussie originally (which led to a bit of banter on set), Jones led England to the Grand Slam at last year's Six Nations. This followed on from an already impressive coaching CV which included when he led Japan to a victory against South Africa during the 2015 Rugby World Cup  in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sport.

The shoot was part of a promo for Natwest/RBS/Coutts who all sit under the same umbrella and took place in the Twickenham changing rooms. I can't show you photos of these but, trust me these are far from the one's you remember from your days at playing sport at school; they look more like a five star hotel and are equipped with plenty of high tech gadgets and facilities to ensure that players can perform at their maximum capabilities. 

I chose to shoot Eddie away from all of the mod-cons though and found a quiet spot in the coaches area. I asked him to sit on a simple red cushion where instead of shirts hanging in lockers or fancy wall decals as a backdrop there was simply bare white walls. This gave me more of a canvass to work with. As I began taking some test shots for both composition light, I noticed some strong vertical red lines had been painted at one end of the room on the wall....perfect!! I could frame Eddie within these as if he was at the centre of the flag of St George. Eddie who, by the way was an absolute pleasure to work, with kindly scooted over a few cushions until he was just in the right place between these strong compositional lines. This hopefully imbues the end frame with some patriotism.... "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" which is the traditional and historical song that echoes around Twickenham to support the English Rugby Team was the only thing missing as I shouted wrap. 

Eddie Jones England Rugby Coach_Adam Jacobs Photography_Sports Portrait

p.s. there was even time for a quick impromptu snap of Eddie Jones and the Six Nations trophy! 

Speaking at Clifford Chance To Launch Photography Competition by Adam Jacobs

I recently spoke at Clifford Chance to launch a photography competition open to all of their employees in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup later this year. The firm are the official legal supplier of the tournament and are therefore actively encouraging all of their staff through various channels to engage in the lead up to the event. Each employee has been provided with a mini rugby ball and asked to use their creativity to go out and take photographs of their ball in interesting and unusual places. 

My job was to launch the competition by inspiring people through my story and portfolio whilst sharing a few tips on how to make better pictures. I will then be judging all entries in the coming months with winners receiving a host of prizes from Rugby World Cup merchandise to Canon cameras and the eventual winning image, receiving tickets to the Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham. 



Twickenham Stadium by Adam Jacobs

Last week, I was at Twickenham Stadium, the home of English rugby in South London on a shoot for RBS photographing two English rugby legends, Jason Leonard and Graham Rowntree.

Whilst there, I took the opportunity to photograph the stadium empty before the shoot. As many, of you know empty arenas are one of my favourite subject matters to shoot evoking memories of all of the great moments of triumph and jubilation along with anguish and defeat that have occurred within these magnificent arenas throughout their histories. 

With an attendance of 82,000 making it the largest rugby union venue in the world, Twickenham is a particularly interesting stadium to shoot replete with vivid green seats and modernist architecture despite it being over a hundred years old.  Below are a couple of my favourite photos of the stadium including a panorama which is a composite stitch of fifteen photographs. 

Twickenham Stadium Panorama Photo_Adam Jacobs
Twickenham Stadium Pitch Photograph_Adam Jacobs