My Favourite Non-League Picture: David Bauckham

ROLLERCOASTER RIDE: These two Altrincham supporters perfectly depict the emotions of a tense game against Eastbourne Borough in 2011 with all to play for. Picture: David Bauckham
In the first of a new series, photographer David Bauckham shares and explains the image he cherishes the most
April 30, 2011
Altrincham 3
Eastbourne Borough 4
Blue Square Bet Premier
Attendance: 1,649
By David Bauckham
The last day of the 2010-11 season at Moss Lane found Altrincham requiring a win to avoid relegation, whilst hoping that results elsewhere went their way, having thrown themselves a lifeline by winning at Grimsby the previous weekend.
Visitors Eastbourne Borough  were already relegated but had comfortably beaten Alty 4-0 earlier in the season.
The two clubs had first met in the only ever Conference North versus South Play-Off Final at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium back in 2005, with Alty defeating Borough 2-1.
Eastbourne had joined Altrincham in the top flight three seasons later, but both had struggled with the demands of being amongst only a handful of part-time clubs in an increasingly full-time division.
Most photographers will probably admit that there is an element of luck in capturing a special moment.
However, it is equally true that you make own luck, and it is particularly satisfying on those rare occasions when you actually get the shot you purposely set out to achieve. It is for that reason I particularly like the image above: everything just fell into place.
With so much at stake, I guessed Altrincham would come out with all guns blazing in an attempt to get a crucial goal. With that in mind, rather than go pitchside, I decided to position myself in amongst the home fans behind the goal Alty were attacking and focus my camera on them. Sure enough, in the opening minutes they went close from a corner and I captured the fans’ reaction.
What I especially like about this image is not only the contrasting emotions of the two fans in the foreground, but also that the image as a whole is remarkably well-composed. As an added bonus, there is also a random inflatable banana in the background!
In my photographs I always try to capture a match from a variety of different perspectives, and am constantly looking around me from the moment I arrive at a ground a couple of hours before kick-off.
As I am neither a news or club photographer, for me getting an interesting shot is more important than capturing a goal or a celebration – although of course that is always a bonus. Had I been photographing a match higher up the pyramid, it is unlikely that I would have had the freedom of movement that would have enabled me capture this image, due to the various restrictions in place.
Photographing Non-League football, and especially amateur football, allows me to shoot matches from a variety of different vantage points and access areas that would be  off-limits in the professional game. It allows me to engage far more intimately with a club and its supporters.
In many ways, photographing Non-League is also more of a challenge. The game may be slower, but lower down the divisions it is often more difficult to anticipate where the ball is going to end up.
In addition, on many occasions, there may not be much of a crowd or structures to lend context to an image; and of course there isn’t the luxury of high-lux floodlights that photographers enjoy in the Premier League. I always recommend that any budding football photographer develops their skills, and especially their eye, at their local Non-League club, or even down the recreation ground on a Sunday morning.
In the game itself, it would have been difficult to write a more dramatic script. Eastbourne raced into a three-goal lead by half-time and Alty looked dead and buried.
But in a remarkable comeback, they drew level in the second half, only to succumb to a fourth goal in the closing minutes. It was the cruellest way to be relegated.