I Tried to Shoot a Soccer Game on Film with Manual Focus

Mar 05, 2026

Matt Growcoot

A soccer player in a black jersey prepares to kick the ball during a match, while defenders in blue and white watch. Beside the field, a hand holds a camera on a monopod, with the stadium and crowd visible.

When I was sent a new 35mm film to try out called Harman Switch Azure, my brain went: ‘It’s a blue film, so I’m going to shoot my local soccer team, whose nickname is Blues.’ Makes perfect sense? Maybe not.

My film camera is a 1976 Canon AE-1, so when Blues, officially named Birmingham City, graciously accepted my application to come and shoot an FA Cup game, it was then when the scale of my task began to dawn: I only had a 35mm and a 50mm lens, oh, and how on Earth was I going to shoot a fast-paced sport using manual focus? Perhaps I’d been watching too many Expired Film Club videos. In any case, I went and bought a cheap 135mm lens and headed to the stadium.

A blue stadium building with "St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park" on the front, several parked and moving cars in the foreground, and blurry blue bars partially blocking the view. — St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park in Birmingham.

Two people in winter coats walk past a blue-toned mural depicting a man with sunglasses, a group of soccer players, and a cityscape background. The mural is painted on a building’s wall. — Fun fact: Tom Brady is a minority owner of Birmingham City.

The Weather in England

As game day approached, I was obsessively checking the weather: rain was forecast all day. Of course this is England in February, so what do you expect? But the 125 box speed also gave me pause for thought as I wondered whether it would even be bright enough despite the midday start time. I decided to buy some faster film, Kodak Ultramax 400, to bring along with me.

A weather forecast for Bordesley shows 4°C and heavy rain with a max gust of 22 mph from the south. The hourly forecast predicts rain, temperatures from 4°C to 6°C, and wind speeds up to 11 mph. — Forecast was grim.

I arrived at St. Andrews @ Knighthead Park as the heavens opened. I shot the fans arriving, the empty stadium primed for action, and the players warming up. The action began and I took my seat right next to the field. Mercifully, the rain stopped right around game time and stayed mostly dry throughout.

A bearded man wearing a dark cap and a blue-and-white scarf stands outdoors on a snowy day. The scarf is draped over his head, and people and trees are blurred in the background. — This Blues fan arrived while using his scarf to protect from the rain, which I appear to have captured falling.

Before the game had even kicked off, I had already shot one roll of the Harman Switch Azure, so I figured it would be a good time to load the Kodak UltraMax 400. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric: 28,000 people singing and cheering. Changing film in that environment is totally different from when you’re quietly sitting in your home.

A person holds an open film camera loaded with a 400 ISO film canister at a sports stadium, with the pitch and blurred spectators visible in the background. — I fumbled and trembled as I changed the film.

A person sitting pitchside at a football stadium holds a camera on a monopod, with the field and crowded stands visible in the background under an overcast sky. — My makeshift monopod helped.

Shooting Sports on Manual Focus

My plan was to focus on a particular spot and wait for the action to come to me. But as the players buzzed around in front of me, I wanted to capture what was happening so I tried to follow. It was then that I noticed how tiny the turn of the focus wheel was from 50 feet to 100 feet, which was exactly where most of the action was taking place. The precision required was way out of skill range; I was flying blind, and I just had to hope for the best. Here’s what I got on the Kodak UltraMax.

Soccer players from two teams jump to head the ball during a match, with a crowd of spectators in the background and other players watching the action. — Here, I knew the ball was going to be launched to this area, so I set my focus (wrong, I may add) and waited for the action to happen.

A soccer player wearing a blue jersey with the number 10 raises his arms in front of a cheering stadium crowd during a daytime match. — As the players moved around in front of me, I tried following them while spinning the focus wheel.

A soccer player wearing a blue jersey with the number 10 stands on the field, with the blurred Birmingham City stadium and other players in the background. — I was trying to get Birmingham number 10 Demari Gray, who was playing right in front of me, framed with the Birmingham City sign.

A crowded soccer match scene shows players leaping near the goalpost as the goalkeeper attempts to punch the ball. The scoreboard displays 0-0, and many spectators fill the stands in the background. — More action in the box as the game remains goalless.

A soccer match in a large stadium with a crowd. One player in a blue and white jersey kicks the ball, while another in black and a player in blue and white with number 23 are nearby. The scoreboard shows 0-1 at 39:12 minutes. — I knew I had captured this shot fired in by Birmingham’s talisman, Jay Stansfield – I just wish I had it in focus.

A football player in blue and white stands with his hands covering his face in disappointment, while others react around him on the field at Birmingham City Football Club’s stadium during a match. — Carlos Vicente expresses his frustration as Birmingham pushed for a late equalizer. Would have been better if he were in focus.

A soccer goalkeeper in a pink uniform with "PERA 1" on the back stands on a field, raising his left arm, with a stadium and stands filled with people in the background. — The Leeds goalkeeper.

Several soccer players from two opposing teams stand alert on the field during a match, with a packed stadium and spectators visible in the background.

Two male soccer players wearing blue and white uniforms stand on a field. Both appear focused, with blurred spectators and other players visible in the stadium background. The image is split vertically to show each player. — Jhon Solis, left, and Demari Gray, right, walking off the field at halftime.

As you can see, it was a mixed bag. I was trying to be economical with my shots because my Kodak Ultramax only had 24 exposures. I think I got more joy toward the end of the game as the players were tiring and the action was slowing. I just wish they had stood still long enough for me to focus on them.

Psychedelic Soccer

As I explain in my article about Harman Switch Azure, if I had my time again, I wouldn’t have shot a soccer game on this particular film; it just doesn’t suit it. I was hoping that the Azure film was going to accentuate the blues, like the Harman Red film does to reds, but it turns out I paid a little too much attention to the ‘Azure’ and not enough to ‘Switch.’ That’s right, the Blues came out orange.

A group of people in winter clothing stand on a stadium balcony above a large red sign that reads "IS BLUE" in bold white letters. — ‘Is Blue.’ Except it’s not blue, it’s orange.

Soccer players walk onto a field amid smoke and blue flames, with a large crowd in the background and a pink-orange tint over the scene, creating a dramatic atmosphere. — The fiery pyrotechnics announcing the players onto the field become blue.

A large, mostly empty football stadium with red seating and green field under a pink-tinted sky. The stands read “BCFC,” and a scoreboard displays information on one side. The stadium lights are on. — The stadium is supposed to have blue stands.

Two soccer players in warm-up attire stand on a field in a stadium with many empty seats. The image has a reddish-orange tint, and an electronic scoreboard is visible in the background.

After some dismay, I decided to have a play in Photoshop and spin the hue sliders. I found that it was possible to make Birmingham City’s shirt the royal shade of blue it ought to be. The one problem? It made the greens — which is the one color that doesn’t switch on the film — a kind of purple. Far from perfect.

Rows of empty blue stadium seats curve under a large, partially covered roof, with a few people visible in the distance near the top of the stands. The setting appears quiet and awaiting an event. — I adjusted the hue slider on Photoshop to make the stadium its rightful blue color again.

A soccer player in a blue and white uniform stands on a red-tinted field, with a large crowd of spectators filling the stadium in the background. — But the grass did turn a shade of purple.

A bearded man in a scarf and cap stands in a crowded stadium, looking intently ahead. Behind him, a lively crowd of fans appears focused on the event, with blue lighting casting a cool tone over the scene. — This was the kind of thing I envisioned before the shoot, a bluish tone to the photos.

A group of people dressed in winter clothing stand on a stadium balcony above a large blue sign that reads "IS BLUE." A security guard in a yellow vest stands nearby. — Now it is.

A motion-blurred image shows a soccer player in blue sprinting across the field, with other players and a stadium full of spectators in the background under blue-tinted lighting. — This was one of my better shots: panning at 1/60 or 1/30 of a second.

Two soccer players in jackets and uniforms walk across a maroon-colored field in a stadium, with several other players and empty blue seats visible in the background under bright lights.

I admitted defeat and accepted the color was never going to be to my liking. So in one final throw of the dice, I decided to convert them to black and white. I’m personally not a big fan of monochrome, but you can’t deny they look a bit more… normal.

A black and white photo of a soccer player standing on the field during a match, with a blurred crowd filling the stadium in the background. — Converting to grayscale was my final bid to save them.

A black-and-white photo shows two soccer players on a stadium sideline, one in a tracksuit and the other in a team jersey, talking and gesturing toward the field while a crowd fills the stands in the background.

Two teams of soccer players line up and shake hands on a foggy field before a match, with spectators in the stands barely visible through the mist in the background.

Wide-angle view of an empty football stadium in black and white, with rows of seats surrounding a well-maintained pitch and large stands labeled "BCFC" and "Birmingham City Football Club.

Eye-Opening Experience

I used to shoot Birmingham City games back when I was an agency press photographer circa 2011. So I knew the layout and what’s expected of you. I had to sit on one side of the stadium and was discouraged from moving around too much. Although in some stadiums you’re not allowed to move at all, so this relative freedom is most welcome.

A cardboard takeout box contains baked beans on a hash brown, scrambled eggs, grilled mushrooms, and crispy bacon. Next to it is a cup of tea with milk on a white table. — I was fed a delicious breakfast and had at least seven cups of tea on that cold February day. Birmingham City certainly look after the press.

The game itself was fantastic. Blues were playing Premier League outfit Leeds United in the 4th round of the FA Cup — the oldest football competition in the world. Birmingham took Leeds all the way, the game eventually being decided by a penalty shootout, which, unfortunately, Blues lost.

But after 15 years away from the action, I got a real buzz doing my old job again. Quite a few of the other photographers asked me what the heck I was doing with a film camera, but they were all kind and curious. A friend of mine who was a paying punter inside the stadium said I looked ridiculous with my tiny camera standing next to real photographers with their massive 600mm lenses.

A soccer match between Birmingham (BIR) and Leeds (LEE) with players preparing for a set piece. Inset zooms in on a fan sitting on the barrier with his foot caught between metal bars. — Trying, and failing, to focus correctly on my analog camera. | Credit: TNT Sports

Speaking of other photographers, kudos to the sports snappers in the mid-20th century who actually shot on manual focus film cameras. I can tell you from experience, they must have been thrilled when autofocus was announced in the mid-1980s.