The TP "Official" guide to sports stadiums

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The deep smelly photogrpahers pit at portsmouth.. stood on cold concrete for an hr ...

Nice to see how well us types are thought of
 
Anyone got anything about King Power Stadium, Leicester. Parking, WiFi pitch side etc? Would appreciate any info. Thanks
 
Has anyone been to St Albans? What are the floodlights like?
 
I searched the whole thread but couldn't anything. What is Norwich city stadium like anyone? Thanks in advance
 
Keep up @BDL :LOL: and not laughing much at all!
 
Tannadice - Dundee United

Getting there - Parking

Street parking only. Police will drop cones along one side of most nearby streets but there is still plenty of parking around the ground.

Getting in / Accreditation

Accreditation comes in the form of an email that you need to print and display to the steward on the gate. Name gets checked off a list upon arrival at the photographers room and an orange bib is issue.

Food / Facilities

The photography room is accessible by Gate N if it's open. It's situated in the corner of the main stand. If the gate isn't open upon arrival it can also be accessed by Gate K, walking up to pitchside and entering via the stand which involves carrying gear up a flight of stairs then back down again.

The room includes power outlets and limited seating. A tray of sandwiches were provided last time with tea and coffee. No WiFi or ethernet services as far as I was aware.

A note of caution is that the access point to the room can sit behind a section of away supporters which means finding an alternative route back following the final whistle as police and stewards move to get away fans out of the ground.

Photographing Positions

Standard positions behind the goal at either end of the pitch. The advertising boards are very low in terms of height and the positions are close to the pitch so I found myself using the 70-200mm more often than at other places. As per usual you can get down the sidelines for pre match manager shots etc.

Lighting

Has improved recently in terms of quality of light. The downside is the lighting coverage. One side of the pitch is nicely lit from the stand along the sidelines, the other is horribly lit by two huge corner flood lights. It means a very uneven coverage with dark spots.
 
Emirates Arena - Glasgow (Davis Cup 2016)

Getting there - Parking

Parking provided for accredited photographers on request. The Arena has three carparks all in walking distance of the venue.

Getting in / Accreditation

Accreditation can be picked up from the front desk on the carpark side of the venue. Press access on last visit was via an exit on the corner of the building on the carpark side. It was manned by security who permitted entry upon display of accreditation pass.

Food / Facilities

I'd guess the food was provided by the LTA and their sponsors. Snack bars, biscuits and drinks were available throughout all three days to pick up. Lunch and Dinner options were provided which consisted of sandwiches, soups and pies.

The press room was set up in the smaller venue that is often used for Glasgow Rocks basketball. The area was shared with journalists and TV pundits (including Anabel Croft etc). Ethernet connections were made available in the press room while WiFi extended out to the arena. I didn't see anyone wiring from the courtside though as the press room was right behind the court on ground level.

The interview area was also in the same press room with photographers free to shoot players and coaches during the interviews.

Photographing Positions

One side of the court was reserved exclusively for players and staff. The other had the benches for photographers. There were limited spots available at the ends of the court which consisted of a gantry shared with the TV cameras. A limit of three photographers at a time was enforced due to the gantry being a temporary structure. Photographers were told not to obstruct the view of the spectators but were able to shoot from the mid-tier walkway (not a great height for shooting) and the stairwells (much better).

Lighting

The court itself was lit for TV but the white balance seemed to vary a bit depending on the direction I was shooting. ISO never went above 3200 though and the shooting positions are so close to the action that it's easy to fill the frame.
 
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St James Park - Newcastle United

Getting there - Parking

The club uses the multistory at the local hospital which is a ten minute walk away. Park up and show your accreditation details in exchange for a voucher that lets you back out of the car park for free. The good thing about the car park is that the walk from there means not having to carry your gear up any stairs to get into the press room.

The train means a 15 minute walk uphill carting all your gear followed by a flight of stairs to really test your legs.

Getting in / Accreditation

The media suite is under the main (Milburn) stand. They usually have a couple of guys to greet upon entry who will check your name off the list and issue a hi-vis vest and accreditation pass etc. DataCo card required unless you are a frequent visitor.

Food / Facilities

Pre-match food is back on. Soup, plus a choice of vegetarian or meat main courses. Tea/coffee is provided and cakes are made available at half time.

Photography room has seating, power points, ethernet and WiFi available. They've also got a big TV in there for watching the early/late matches while working.

Pitch side there are several ethernet boxes behind the goals at both ends of the ground that you can plug into. WiFi extends around the pitch but I've found it only really works on the Milburn stand side so a 4G option is worth having.

Photographing Positions

Strictly behind the goals with the manager shots accepted as per usual.

Lighting

Is good. Not had any issues and is almost daylightish in colour.
 
Tynecastle - Heart of Midlothian

Getting there - Parking

There used to be parking for photographers in the club car park but on my last few visits that has been removed. I guess that's due to the fact they are renovating the main stand at the moment. Street parking is avaialble a few streets away under the aquaduct if you arrive early enough.

Getting in / Accreditation

Accreditation can be picked up at the main entrance. The photography room is accessible by walking along the side of the pitch and down into the room which sits under the stand behind the goal.

Food / Facilities

Selection of pies were available at half time and post match. Tea & coffee as well.

The photography room had power and seating but there was no WiFi or ethernet connections available. Being in the city centre of Edinburgh it wasn't an issue connecting to a 4G signal throughout the match or from the press room.

Photographing Positions

Behind the goals as per standard but I will mention that it is very tight. The crowd is pretty much on top of you and there isn't a great deal of room to squeeze by the TV cameras. Being so close to the pitch meant more 70-200mm usage and less 400mm shooting.

Lighting

Solid. Far from the worst up in Scotland. Not a patch on Premier League or most Championship grounds but plenty to work with.
 
Hampden - National Stadium (Scotland)

Getting there - Parking

Hampden has traditionally been a nightmare to get to given it's location and lack of transport options. New initiatives are quickly improving public transport links though.

Car parking was provided last time I was there and it wasn't far from the media entrance.

Getting in / Accreditation

The SFA generally mail out accreditation ahead of the event which includes accreditation pass to present upon arrival. Name will be checked off a list and you will be issued with what you need to shoot pitchside.

Food / Facilities

Pre match meal offering has always been good when I've been at Hampden. Half time pies on offer and usually plenty left at full time.

Facilities included seating, power points, WiFi and ethernet in the photographers room. Unfortunately the WiFi is patchy at best though and completely useless pitchside. I've also had issues wiring from pitchside as despite being in the middle of Scotland's biggest city apparently 4G connection is difficult to obtain.

Photographing Positions

Lots of room behind both goals with the crowd feeling like it is a million miles away behind you. National matches and cup finals are always going to be busy so normally I'll get out early and throw down my seat & monopod but I've never had any issue with space when switching ends at half time etc

Lighting

Good enough. Again not the standard you will find at top Premier League facilities but comparable with what scotland has to offer elsewhere.
 
Dens Park - Dundee FC

Getting there - Parking

No parking provided at the ground. The stadium sits on the opposite side of the street to Tannadice meaning that the parking situation is much the same. Police will have cones down around the stadium but there is still plenty of parking nearby. I've often found space down near or around the corner from the GE Arena towards the East end of the street.

Getting in / Accreditation

Accreditation is issued by email which should then be printed and carried to the stadium. Entrance is via the Players Entrance where there is a desk with a sign-in sheet for media guests.

Food / Facilities

Photographers have a 'press-room' which is more like a few tables in a corridor but it does have power points and bibs will be issued. Spaces are limited and I have been in here at matches where photographers end up sitting on the floor to edit after the match.

Food comes in the form of a voucher for a pie & drink which can be exchanged at the kiosk in the main stand.

Photographing Positions

Behind both goals as per usual. It wasn't made clear to me initially but you can setup your gear on the grass behind the painted line at both ends of the pitch. There are no advertising boards at some points and where they do exist you can sit in front of them.

Lighting

Pretty poor from my experience. The ground is lit by four floodlight towers in the corners which provide patchy coverage of the pitch. Night kick-offs can be an issue early in the season when the sun hangs above one end of the ground. Early in the match it will light up the far penalty box and stand until the sun drops low enough.
 
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Just starting to read through this thread and the names of the grounds aren't on the individual posts?

Is it just because it's such an old thread that these names have been removed and information is no longer valid?
 
McDiarmid Park - St Johnstone

Getting there - Parking

Plenty of parking at the ground. Matchday parking attendants direct accredited media to park behind the 3G astroturf pitch on the same side as the media entrance.

Getting in / Accreditation

Entrance via the corporate ticket door along from the main reception. Sign in and collect a hi-vis bib before heading through the doors into the stand. Photographers' room is accessed via the players' tunnel. Take the first left inside the tunnel, go through the door on the right and then right again into a small room for photographers.

Food / Facilities

Selection of sandwiches and cakes were laid on last time I was there. WiFi is provided with the password up on the wall in the photographers' room. 4G tends to be the better choice pitchside though. Power sockets are provided inside. No matchday programme was offered on my last visit but there was a team sheet issued prior to kick-off.

Photographing Positions

Behind both goals as per usual. Again there are no advertising boards etc so it's a case of sitting on the grass behind the line. Subs tend to warm up on one side of the goals so it's often better to go to the far side of the pitch. A few guys were photographing around the sides of the pitch at certain times and there were no issues in doing so.

Lighting

Similar to most Scottish grounds. Not great but enough to get results.
 
Easter Road - Hibernian

Getting there - Parking

Hibernian offer parking for media. Until recently it was at the ground but it has been moved to a car park on St Clair Street behind the Famous Five Stand end of the ground.

Getting in / Accreditation

Entry is through the gates on the corner of the Famous Five Stand and the East Stand. The photography room sits on this corner under the Famous Five Stand. Bizarrely on my previous two visits I have walked right in without having to show any accreditation or ID. I've simply picked up a bib in the photography room and gone pitchside without a question being asked.

Food / Facilities

Tea/coffee and half time pies were on offer although the quality of the pies brought a few complaints. Power sockets in the press room and WiFi is available although the ground is in Edinburgh therefore 4G tends to be the best option pitchside.

Photographing Positions

Instruction sheets are on the walls in the photographers' room detailing where you can shoot from. Basically it's behind the goals at both ends of the pitch. Like other places in Scotland the substitutes may warm up along the goal line on the side nearest the team benches so it's advisable to go to the far side.

Lighting

Much the same as other Scottish grounds. During day time matches the sun position can make lighting a bit unfavourable if shooting from the far side of the pitch. It's trade off as to whether you want subs running in front of you or more challenging lighting conditions. The latter tends to be less of a problem as it's Scotland and seeing the sun is rare.
 
Superseal Stadium - Hamilton Academical

Getting there - Parking

Parking for photographers is in the underground car park under the adjacent Morrison's supermarket

Getting in / Accreditation

Entry is through the gates nearest to the the underground car park - bang on the gate and a steward will let you in. It's a good idea to bring your own bib, they didn't appear to have any on my visit

Food / Facilities

The media room is reached by going through a door in the elevated stand directly behind the dug outs and then down the interior stars to reception. As you reach ground level look on the right for a door which leads to the players lounge and media room - there's wifi in the media room. There was no food or tea/coffee supplied at the weekend through there has been very basic food and drink on previous visits.

Photographing Positions

Behind the goals both ends, Hamilton used to be really picky on photographers blocking advertising board and would send stewards to hassle them - they seem to have eased up on this in recent years.

Lighting

Floodlights weren't need at the weekend but on previous occasions I've found the lights here are at the less powerful end of the Premiership scale
 
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Parking
You automatically get assigned a parking pass when applying using IPBS. To collect your pass pull up opposite the Seat stand where stewards will be handing them out. I was in Trent car park which is 2-3 minute walk from the ground. Traffic was pretty bad after the match so worth waiting around for it to clear.

Lighting Levels
Although floodlights were on, it was a lunchtime kick off so can't really comment on the quality.

Food and Facilities
Enter the media entrance near gate 7, just up from the club shop. Not a big photographers room but a large press room upstairs which has food and hot drinks. Staff were all friendly and helpful and the photographers room had a quick entrance to the pitch.

Free Wifi which was of a pretty decent standard. Slowed down at half time and full time as you can expect but pretty decent. Good 3G signal on Three.

Locations/Shooting Spots
Shooting from both ends of the pitch, behind advertising boards or down either side.

Before the match you aren't allowed in the dugout area, there is a barrier about 5 metres either side which prevent you from getting close ups of the managers.


Anyone got an update on the Brittania Stadium, Stoke. Has anything changed there since 2010? TIA
 
SSE Hydro - Glasgow (Andy Murray Live 2017)

Getting there - Parking

Parking is the SSE Multistory across the road which seems to be nicely set for charging you £8 for anything between 1 and 12 hours.

Getting in / Accreditation

West entrance for accreditation tonight. No problems as it was being issued on the door upon arrival. Also no issues getting into the press room where they issue photographer bands after checking names off the list.

Food / Facilities

Tea/Coffee and biscuits provided by Tennis Scotland. Bottled water provided by their sponsor as well.

The press room was unfortunately way too small for the number of media people present. Too many photographers to count squeezed in with similar amounts of journalists and TV people into a room with not enough desk space. Plenty photographers sitting on their gear cases in the corners attempting to wire images after play had finished.

Photographing Positions

Probably the worst I've seen at any tennis event unfortunately. Non Getty photographers were limited to the one half of one side of the court. That was the half behind the umpire/players chairs, on the side for shooting the backhand. From the vantage point there was no way to shoot the other half of the court so no chance of taking a forehand picture. Strictly no other positions we allowed, which meant little variety in the photos. To make matters even worse, no seats were allocated to photographers who were told to sit on the floor right behind the advertising boards at the feet of the journalists right behind. With photographers sitting on top of each other it was cramped with no room for extra gear.

I appreciate that organisers had to work with the space given however conditions were challenging. What was odd though was that the other side of the court had plenty of room courtside but they have opted to sell floor level spectator seating. Strange choice given that it was well back from the court and not being tiered would have offered a terrible view of the action. It would have made a lot more sense not to sell seats with an awful view and instead house the press over that side of the court.

Lighting

Poor. At least a stop, if not two, darker than the Emirates Arena setup for the Davis Cup. There didn't appear to be the same lighting rig illuminating the court area. The corners of the court were dark and even the better lit areas struggled to allow shutter speeds for freezing the action. Even the press conference was lit awfully to the point that the sponsor boards were lit but the players faces were heavily cast in shadows.
 
Hi - I shot an FA Cup game there three years ago vs Arsenal. So it is possible that this has changed....the ground is exceptional for what was a Championship club, really premier league quality in advance of them making it.

You need to get parking sorted through your agency. Once done you have parking onsite. If you are getting there typically early then you won't have any issues, the ground does bottleneck off the A27 at a roundabout flyover but again all of that had cleared once I had wired final images and was ready to leave.

Entrance to the press area was near the entry of the club shop far side of the ground from the car park.

Press area is really nice, not too many cubicles/desks to work at but plenty of space on seats, food was really good.

Wifi around the ground, no ethernet when I was there but that may now be sorted. A fair amount of space to work in between advertising hoardings and spectators. Was OK to go up and do manager shots.

Nice place to work

HTH
Mike
 
Hi - I shot an FA Cup game there three years ago vs Arsenal. So it is possible that this has changed....the ground is exceptional for what was a Championship club, really premier league quality in advance of them making it.

You need to get parking sorted through your agency. Once done you have parking onsite. If you are getting there typically early then you won't have any issues, the ground does bottleneck off the A27 at a roundabout flyover but again all of that had cleared once I had wired final images and was ready to leave.

Entrance to the press area was near the entry of the club shop far side of the ground from the car park.

Press area is really nice, not too many cubicles/desks to work at but plenty of space on seats, food was really good.

Wifi around the ground, no ethernet when I was there but that may now be sorted. A fair amount of space to work in between advertising hoardings and spectators. Was OK to go up and do manager shots.

Nice place to work

HTH
Mike

Perfect, thank you for the info Mike (y)

I've got the parking sorted through the agency and will probably aim to get there for about 6.30pm.

Any idea what sort of ISO I can get under the floodlights or was it an afternoon kick-off for you?
 
Sorry - can't recall. I was shooting with a D4, and D3s not the brightest I have ever worked at but not too bad.
 
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