A life behind the lens: Neil Duggan

Those words of wisdom come courtesy of Neil Duggan, a lifelong Bears fan who first visited Edgbaston in the 1980's and has been positively obsessed with the club ever since.

Following on from those early days in the Rea Bank Stand, watching a whole host of icons grace the hallowed turf of the Fortress on both the international and the domestic stage, Neil has since turned his passion for Warwickshire CCC and sports photography into a career, first covering the club in a 2023 Vitality T20 Blast match against Leicestershire at Grace Road that also happened to mark Glenn Maxwell's debut for the West Midlands county.

In order to gain a greater level of understanding and insight into this fascinating career path, along with the more technical aspects of the field, I had the pleasure of catching up with Neil on a gloriously sunny Tuesday at Station Road - the home of Knowle & Dorridge Cricket Club - with the aim of finding out more about the wonderful world of sports photography.

Here's what he had to say:

Neil, it's great to speak about all things sports photography and your own journey in the field on such a nice day here at K & D. It's the obvious opening question but what are your earliest memories of cricket, either playing or watching the game?

I still remember my first game quite well... it was 1982 and England were playing Pakistan at Edgbaston. The Hollies - or the Rea Bank Stand as it was called back then - was full and my parents dropped me off outside the ground so I could buy a ticket. I get to the gate, pay my £1.50 to get in, walk up the stairs of my stand and guess who's coming out to bat? Ian Botham. 

The ground was full at this point; he starts swinging his arms as he walks out into the middle and the noise was incredible. I was actually taken aback by it a bit in all honesty.

Anyway, he gets ready to face his first ball and guess what happens next? He's hit on the pad, gone lbw for a golden duck!

I'll never forget that day, and a couple of weeks later, I went to my first County Championship match - which was against Derbyshire - and became a junior member at Warwickshire. I've been a massive fan of the club ever since really. 

Wow, that's quite the introduction to Edgbaston! We’ve also got to expand upon that last point about Warwickshire whilst we’re at it, so what would you say had been your favourite moment as a Bears fan from over the years?

There's definitely a couple that stand out... I'll always remember the Neil Smith six against Middlesex in the 1989 NatWest Trophy Final - because we were the underdogs in that game - and then there was Asif Din's knock in the 1993 Final, which was unbelievable. It's always nice to see players like Asif and Dermot Reeve still coming down to Edgbaston as well because those guys gave us all so many great memories during their time at the club.

You've mentioned a couple of certified Warwickshire legends in that last passage Neil, if you had to choose just one Bears player as your all-time favourite though, who would take the title?

It's a tough one, but I'd have to say Dermot [Reeve]. He was a great motivator, he'd get under the skin of the opposition with the tricks he'd pull, and he just had a way of changing the outcome of games with his leadership. He was well ahead of his time with his approach to captaincy too. 

Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised by that shout, there's a reason why there's so many photos of him and that team from the mid-90's dotted around Edgbaston. And on that topic of photos Neil, how did you first get involved in the world of sports photography?

Well, I always used to do it on a local level when my boys were playing on the Worcestershire pathway - so I already had a bit of experience - but my first real opportunity came as illness cover for Warwickshire's club photographer in 2023.

I'd been a business development manager for all of my career up until that point and it was almost a cue for me to go, you know what, what if I start doing this as my job?

Anyway, I was offered a new role at my previous workplace that I wasn't as passionate about, and I turned it down in favour of redundancy. I wanted to give the photography a good go.

I upgraded my kit with the redundancy money and off I went; I haven't looked back since really. 

What's your favourite aspect of being a sports photographer?

Capturing the special moments. As a photographer, you're always on a mission to capture an image that will stand the test of time and when you get a good one, it's a great feeling. Then when you show the players and their faces immediately light up because they love the picture, that makes it all worth it. 

This next one might be a tough question, but what would you say is the best photograph that you've taken at Edgbaston over the years?

Oh that is a tough one... there's a photo of Ethan Bamber with his jumper by the boundary rope, showing off the Bear and Ragged Staff, that I really like. I even told him that I couldn't have placed it any better myself if I tried!

I usually prefer to shoot for emotion on a matchday though, so any ones of a bowler getting a wicket or of someone scoring a century tend to be up there for me. 

Well, we definitely saw some of that emotion in the Championship game against Essex, Beau Webster in particular showed plenty of passion with his wicket celebrations! And for those who might not already be aware, what does a typical morning on a County Championship matchday look like for you Neil?

For a normal Championship game, I tend to land at Edgbaston at 08:45 and get the laptop all set-up and ready to go for the day. Then I'll have a quick walk around the ground to get 6-10 photos of a certain stand, the club's flag or a floodlight etc that the social media team can use for a general matchday post. That usually takes about 15 minutes in total.

From there, I'll grab the big lens out of the kitbag and head over to the nets to shoot the first 15 minutes of the session so the club can post a nice warm-up photo on the social media platforms. Then after that, it's a case of heading onto the pitch with my 85mm lens and getting some photos of the bowling warm-ups as well as any cap presentations if there's one in the huddle that day. All of that's done by around 10:45. 

Finally, I'll set-up my big lens again ahead of the first ball of the morning's play and I'm all set for the day. 

You speak there about the use of the 'big lens' for the start of the day's play and the net sessions, which different cameras and lenses do you use over the course of a matchday?

I shoot with two different cameras for the cricket; the first one's a Canon R3 and the other one's a Canon R6 Mark II. The R3 tends to be better in lower light, so if I'm struggling a bit with the light, I'll always opt for that one, because there isn't a noticeable drop in quality when the photos are produced. I'll always have both on me at all times though, with one in my hand and the other one in my kitbag.

Then when it comes to the lenses, I've got a 400mm f2.8 Mark II - which is the 'big lens' - with a 1.4x extender on it to help capture the images better in good light. If the light fades though, I'll take that extender off so I can shoot in f/2.8 instead of f/4. And as for the shorter lenses, I've also got an 85mm f1.2, a 70-200mm f2.8, a 16-35mm f2.8 and a 24-70mm f2.8 (all of them made by Canon) so there's quite a bit of kit in the bag!

For a novice in sports photography like myself, what's the difference between capturing images in f/2.8 and f/4?

That's a very good question. It all comes down to the sharpness of the image, so in f/2.8 you get a lot less background and more focus on the main subject compared to f/4, which is exactly what you want in cricket photography.

Clubs generally prefer for the focus to be on the player, so if you can get a nice clean background - with the batter or the bowler front and centre - you'll get some nice pictures at the end of it.

And finally Neil, it's a question that relates quite nicely to that previous passage, what advice would you give to any aspiring sports photographers out there who are just getting started on this career path?

I'd say my first tip is to not spend big money when you just start out. The cost of mirrorless cameras is coming down and there are websites out there where you can buy second hand cameras and lenses for a decent price, meaning that you can pick up some basic equipment without spending a fortune and you can still take some nice pictures whilst you're at it.

After that, my next one would be to get in touch with any local cricket clubs as they're always looking for ways to attract new members and increase interest, so I'd recommend asking around and seeing what opportunities might be out there for you to build up a bit of experience.

My final tip - which is the most important one in my mind - is to always think about your background. The most common thing I see with new photographers is choosing to shoot from a position with a busy or a messy background. From experience, clubs and fans prefer to see images with a clear subject and a clean background so that would be my number one tip personally.