Marc Aspland’s top images of 2024

Happy Christmas to our loyal and dedicated followers of Unseen.

January

I started my year in early January with a first-ever flight using my new drone. To say I was incredibly nervous would be an understatement and as the light blue crew of Cambridge University returned to Ely boathouse in preparation for the 2024 Boat Race, I captured this image of the beautiful early morning light over the flat fenlands of East Cambridgeshire as the Great River Ouse bends away to the horizon — one of my favourite portfolio pictures of 2024.
Equipment used: DJI Mini 2 SE drone

Reader Ian Hiscock invited me to photograph the Olney “Pink” Ladies RFC as they played Old Northamptonians Ladies in the NC1 East League and Ian’s daughter Ellie (right) features alongside Elyse Royal as the visitors won a bruising encounter 39-19.
Canon EOS R1 using 560mm lens (400mm fitted with x1.4 extender. 1/1300th sec f4. 1600

February

My second-ever flight found my eyes-in-the-sky over Kenilworth Road, home of Luton Town before their home game against Manchester United. I wanted to show how the ground sits snugly in the terraced houses in the Bury Park area and to also show the famous Oak Road Stand, where fans access the stadium through the houses.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone

The wonderfully eclectic nature of our weekly Unseen galleries meant I could take pictures while on a skiing holiday in Chamonix and one night I discovered by accident that six and seven-year-olds were practising on a ski jump facility at “Le Grépon”. One very brave 11-year-old perfectly executed the formidable K30 jump, landing well past the red line on the icy slope. He punched the air in delight but I cheered the loudest knowing I had captured a unique unseen sporting moment.
Canon Powershot S100. 1/1000th sec f2 ISO 5000

March

Our great friend and supporter of Unseen, Roger Watt from Vancouver, Canada, wrote an introduction in March: “All the elements which give sport its infectious fascination are captured in the Unseen gallery every week, from the highest echelons to the grassroots, from the popular to the overlooked, from the stage to behind the scenes, from the ultra-professional to the deeply personal, from the joy to the despair. And the results, which combine to tell the whole story, regularly transcend sports photography to enter the sphere of photographic art.”

The annual Head of the River Race on the Thames in early March gave a perfect picture of some of the 318 crews taking part, racing from Mortlake to Putney — the opposite direction to the Boat Race.
Equipment used: Canon EOS R3 using RF70-200mm lens (set at 163mm) 1/800th sec f8, ISO 400

The top image for this Unseen gallery is from the tiny town of Olafsvik, on the north-western side of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula in Iceland, where I found the Olafsvikurvollur Stadium, home of Vikingur Olafsvik FC, while on holiday. The drone was dispatched for this beautifully lit picture.
Equipment used: DJI Mini 2 SE drone.

These two contrasting pictures using my drone are both effective and quite dramatic. The first was taken over the vast expanse of Hackney Marshes in East London where Sunday league fixtures take place with teams such as UK Moldova, Baddoo FC, Halychyna, Navarino, Crondall FC and Boundary Estate. The second was flying over the pristine artificial grass pitch at Harpenden RFC as the under-23s played St Albans School Old Boys under-23s.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone

April

During an unbelievable FA Cup semi-final, Coventry City went from 3-0 down to 3-3 against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium as Haji Wright sent André Onana the wrong way to score the equalising penalty. Captured using a fisheye lens behind the goal using a remotely fired camera.
Canon EOS R3 using 15mm fisheye. 1/2000th sec f5.6. ISO 800

From one traditional sporting event to another. Bradley and I have covered perhaps more than three decades of Grand National meetings at Aintree racecourse and we decided to showcase this year’s gallery all in black and white as the runners and riders shatter the spruce at the Water Jump.
Canon EOS R3 using 16-35mm wide angle lens (set at 20mm) 1/2000th sec f4.5. ISO 800

May

Capturing an image using my drone over St Albans Croquet Club in beautiful spring light was perfect for an Unseen gallery. Croquet is a fascinating sport — a mixture of snooker and chess, and a game of high skill, strategy and precision.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone

June

Royal Ascot also offers a feast of fine images for Unseen and in the Royal Enclosure I spotted this gentleman wearing his traditional morning suit signalling to his wife that his wine glass needed refilling. As it was an overcast day converting this to monochrome made for a perfect silhouette.
Canon EOS R1 using RF70-200mm lens (set at 156mm) 1/1000th sec f8. ISO 100

Temperatures reached over 30C in London so I went to the beautiful Parliament Hill Lido in Hampstead Heath, north London. Opened in 1938 it is a public unheated open-air pool which remains open even in December.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone

July

The defending champion Carlos Alcaraz serves on the pristine Centre Court on the opening day of Wimbledon and replicates his service action against Novak Djokovic in the final showing the wear and tear from two weeks at the Championships.
Canon EOS R3 using Rf70-200mm lens (set at 173mm) 1/2000th sec f4. ISO 400

August

Simone Biles seems to raise the bar of Olympic excellence. Competing in the women’s gymnastics all-around team event on her “redemption tour” she claimed her eighth Olympic medal, and her fifth gold, to become the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Games. She went on to win two more golds and a silver in Paris.
Canon EOS R1 using RF70-200mm zoom lens (set at 200mm) 1/3200th sec f3.5. ISO 2000

An estimated 500,000 people lined the streets of Paris to catch a glimpse of the men’s road race. I chose the iconic Basilica of Sacre Coeur as my backdrop and was fortunate to capture the eventual gold-medal winner Remco Evenepoel as he blasted down the cobbled street to the deafening cheers of the cycling fans at Montmartre.
Canon EOS R1 using 16-35mm wide angle lens (set at 17mm) 1/8000th sec f3.5. ISO 800

September

The Cambridge University picture which opens this collection is the first of my favourite portfolio pictures of the year and here is the second. A remarkably beautiful sunset behind the Eiffel Tower during the semi-final of the men’s blind football between Argentina and Brazil offered this stunning lightshow.
Canon EOS R1 using 16-35mm wide angle lens (set at 22mm) 1/500th sec f5.6. ISO 800

This is my opportunity to have a golf picture in my collection. Again using my drone while on holiday I visited Perranporth Golf Club as I was keen to capture one of course designer James Braid’s masterpieces, and I hope this does credit to the essence of a links golf course and sport in landscape.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone

A high vantage point in the West Stand at Twickenham and a pan-blur effect worked to great effect to capture the Red Roses’ Emily Scarratt as she made a break. leaving the Black Ferns of New Zealand in her wake.
Canon EOS R1 using 200-400mm zoom lens (set at 390mm) 1/30th sec f22. ISO 125

October

The 2024 London Series returned to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the regular residents, the Jacksonville Jaguars, hosted the Chicago Bears who won comfortably 35-16 in front of 61,182 fans.
Canon EOS R3 using RF70-200mm zoom lens (set at 200mm). 1/3200th sec f5.6. ISO 1250

A visit to Kempton Park for a floodlit race meeting on the all-weather track gave me an opportunity to fly my drone during a stunningly beautiful sunset and I was so pleased to capture this frame as the runners and riders started the 6.10pm race.
DJI MINI 2 SE drone

November

Where else but the Unseen gallery could we feature sport’s most dominant athlete, Camden Riviere, who holds the oldest world title in sport, dating back to 1740, winning 29 titles in a row when he became British Open real tennis champion at Queen’s Club, west London (above), alongside Jude Bellingham celebrating Anthony Gordon’s first goal for England as they thrashed Ireland 5-0 in the Nations Cup at Wembley Stadium (below)?
Canon EOS R1 using RF16mm lens. 1/1600th sec, f4. ISO 5000

Canon EOS R3 using RF70-200mm (set at 70mm) 1/1000th sec f2.8. ISO 2500

December

Meeting Gordon Hill, aka the Wealdstone Raider, before the FA Cup match against Wycombe Wanderers was such fun. I asked him to pose for a few portraits and he replied, “If ya want some, I’ll give ya some.”
Canon EOS R3 using 16-35mm wide angle (set at 35mm) 1/800th sec, f8. ISO 1000

And ending my year how I started it with my eyes-in-the-sky, a drone picture over Harpenden Rugby Club showing the artificial pitch alongside the two traditional grass pitches also being used. I am now a fairly confident pilot as practice certainly makes perfect when using the drone.
DJI Mini 2 SE drone