Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I managed to escape the cold in London for a few weeks of sunshine!

This photo was taken after the first Test of Australia's 2003 tour of the West Indies. Australia had a good match, winning by nine wickets inside four days. Justin Langer was Man of the Match, scoring 146 in the first innings and finishing 78 not out in the second.

When travelling with the Australian team I often try to get some photos in the changing rooms at the end of the match, particularly after a win. This can produce some different photos from the action out the field such as the players relaxing or celebrating after the match. I usually try and get a photo of the entire team celebrating together. Also, depending on what has happened during the match, I will try and get photos of the player or players who have performed well.

Sometimes, it is a matter of getting in, quickly getting the photos and the getting out to transmit them to meet deadlines. Other times the players and in particular the captain (Steve Waugh in the case of this photo) are happy for me to stay for a bit longer which can lead to more interesting photos. When time is rushed the photos are often over posed and don't always look as good.

In the case of this photo, as Man of the Match, Langer was an obvious choice to photograph. He was sitting in the chair with ice packs strapped all over his body. I was trying to get a photo with him, Ricky Ponting (who also made a century) and Jason Gillespie (who took five wickets in the second innings). I did manage to get that photo as well, but it involved Ponting and Gillespie moving to Langer as with all the ice, he wasn't really too mobile! While waiting to do the photo of the three of them, I took some photos of Langer.

Unfortunately I don't have the exact settings I used. However, I can say I used a wide angle lens and flash as the rooms were quite dark. My exposure setting would most likely have been somewhere around a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second at an aperture of f4.0 and an ISO setting of 320.

This was the best of these photos as someone out of camera shot said something to him causing him to glance away and smile. He looks more natural, just relaxing, rather than posing for a photo. The ice strapped all over really shows how much the match took out of him. I also like the bats, shoes and clothes strewn around and the gloves sitting on the fan, clearly showing the photo is in the dressing rooms. The final touch to the photo, is despite having taken off all his whites he has put his baggy green cap back on.