Scottish Cup Final - United Celebrations

At the end of the Scottish Cup Final it was a bit of a scramble with the hordes of professional photographers to get the photo that will make the sports page headlines. 

The select few had special coloured bibs that allowed them onto the pitch and join the players on the lap of honour (and so get the best opportunity to get the photo they wanted).  The rest of us had to run round the trackside and hope for the best!  The atmosphere was unbelievable. In a different world to the Highland Amateur Cup match at the Dammies the weekend before!

I managed to attract the attention of United's manager Peter Houston and Club Chairman Stephen Thompson just before they went back down the tunnel.

Scottish Cup Final - match action

Action pics from the Scottish Cup Final match between Dingwall's Ross County (in blue) and Dundee Utd.  United won 3-0 to win the cup for only the second time in their history. It was County's first ever final.

The atmosphere was fantastic with nearly 50,000 fans making lots of noise.

Wick Academy vs Inverurie Locos

Wick played Inverurie Locos today and won 2-1.  A big difference to the surprising 6-1 defeat to Rothes on Friday night.

The last game of the long season is next Saturday in Wick vs Formartine Utd.

Fans at the Scottish Cup Final

I was one of the 50 official photographers at the 125th SFA Scottish Cup Final on Saturday.  Ross County could not repeat their semi-final form (when they beat the mighty Celtic 2-0) and lost out 3-0 to Dundee United. 

Prior to kick-off I took some photos of both sets of fans.  Everybody was having a great time and even shaking hands and wishing each other's team good luck!

The United fans were very colourful in tangerine.  County are known as the Staggies due to their crest, hence lots of antlers.  The guys in the stag suits must have been hot as it was glorious sunshine all afternoon.

Match action pics to follow - once I get through them all.

More Caithness Cycling

My son Christopher came with me on Saturday for the 25 Mile TT and took some snaps using my old digital bridge camera - set to sports mode (see above pics).  The high shutter speed gives a static look to the cyclists, but the some of the profile shots look dynamic.

Caithness Cycling Club Loch Calder Hilly TT

The Caithness Cycling Club racing weekend continued this morning with the 24 mile Loch Calder Hilly Time Trial.  I managed to catch most of the first circuit in the sunshine, but the second circuit was marred by rain and I had problems keeping my lens dry.

I decided to give the panning technique a miss and try a close up, low angle shot with the camera shutter speed set at a fast 1/1000 sec.  With the riders travelling downhill (at Loch Calder Sheiling) at around 40 mph, my problem was focussing. I manually set the focus for a spot on the road 3m away, but found it difficult to time it right.  I often pressed the shutter too early or too late. The riders flashed by in a blink of an eye!

Peter Alexander, Moray Firth CC, won on Saturday and by the speed he was travelling at today, I think he won again.

Caithness Cycling Club Racing Weekend

Caithness Cycling Club is staging its annual racing weekend today and tomorrow.  I caught the 25 mile Time Trial today (Sat) which runs from Thurso to just past Watten and back.

The road was very busy with cars and I photographed a few as they passed the cyclists in my line of sight.

I took all the pics by panning at 1/30 sec, to give a blurred background and hence a sense of speed.  It is very difficult to get a pin sharp pic, as the speed of my camera (as it pans), must exactly match the speed of the cyclist.