Bermudian sports photographer Lawrence Trott was there when Bermuda qualified for the World Cricket Cup for the first time in 2005 in Ireland.

He was there when Shaun Goater played at Wembley Stadium in England in 1996 for Rotherham.

He was there at Wellington Oval in 1995 when St. George's Cup Match captain Wendell Smith became the first player to reach 1,000 runs in the classic.

And all the while he was taking photographs.

Mr. Trott is now offering images from 25 years of Bermuda's most exciting sporting moments on a new website, trottstockphotos.com which was recently launched.

"Looking back at my old images, negatives and slides, I just felt the need to do it," said Mr. Trott. "I decided I wasn't going to let them just sit there and not be seen .

"I had a photo exhibition in 1994, but otherwise, about 80 percent of my photographs have never been published."

Mr. Trott designed the website to appeal to sporting fans, and also people nostalgic for the good old days of Bermuda sports.

"It should attract older folks who can relate to the era of Arnold Manders, Arnold Smith, and Ricky Hill who were all top cricketers in the 1980s," said Mr. Trott. "There are football images as well, such as Shaun Goater's early days in North Village and Kyle Lightbourne when he first played for North Village."

He said the website also contains more current images that will attract a younger crowd.

Mr. Trott is a sub-editor with The Royal Gazette and a freelance sports photographer.He was also the author of 'Bermuda Sports', a picture book published in 1997. He started in the newspaper's sports department in late 1976 as a teenager and quickly caught the camera bug.

"Within a few weeks I purchased my own camera," said Mr. Trott. "The other reporters in the sports department – Colin Zuill, Joe Brown and Kyle Hunter – all had their own cameras and used to supply images from matches they were covering. I thought that sounded pretty cool and bought a camera, too."

His first photo was published in The Royal Gazette on January 4, 1977.

"I remember it vividly. It was a football match between North Village and Hotels in St. David's," recalled Mr. Trott.

"The match finished 3-3 it was a somewhat ill-tempered match with one North Village player, Garrett Dill, getting sent off for retaliation. The photo they ran was of the players from both teams crowding around each other as things got heated, beginning to lose their cool. Instinct took over and I kept shooting."

Mr. Trott said when he first started at The Royal Gazette the atmosphere was very supportive.

"When I started here there were just two staff photographers, Tony Cordeiro and Stephen Raynor," said Mr. Trott.

"We [the sports department staff] used to help the photographers by shooting sports. On any given Sunday we would have photographs from three or four games.

"Both Mr. Cordeiro [who is now retired] and Stephen Raynor were particularly helpful with advice. Photography has changed considerably since those days of film cameras and darkrooms."

Mr. Trott said today he considers journalism his profession, but photography his passion.

"This is what gets me out of bed in the morning when it is raining, cold and damp," he said. "I think if you are going to be successful at anything you have to enjoy doing it. And I do."

Mr. Trott said what he liked about sports photography was the unpredictability.

"No two days are alike," he said. "You never know what you are going to get when you go out there.

"You are always out there chasing that best photo."

One of his most memorable photos so far was an image of Ricky Hill at Cup Match 1989 at Wellington Oval.

"In the photo it appears Mr. Hill was attempting a run-out and he lost his balance and appeared to kick the stumps," said Mr. Trott.

"That picture is in my book. There is also one of cricketer Charlie Marshall celebrating in 1980 after he got a century as a colt in Cup Match, the first player to score a century in his first Cup Match."

Cricket is Mr. Trott's favourite sport, probably because he is a former player and comes from a cricket family (his father and brother both played Cup Match for St. George's), but he said photographing it presents challenges just like any other sport.

"You can sit there all day just waiting for that photo," he said.

"It's not like soccer, track and field, motocross or cycling where there is action constantly."

The weather can also provide an obstacle.

"Last weekend I got caught in the rain on my way to the Butterfield Bermuda Grand Prix at Morgan's Point.

"If it rains you just use an umbrella or a trash bag to protect your equipment. Sometimes those conditions provide the most interesting shots, but it can be bad for your equipment."

Mr. Trott prefers early morning or evening light better suited to sports photography.

"I absolutely dread harsh, mid-day sun, especially in cricket when the batsmen are wearing helmets or caps and their faces are shadowed," he explained.

"I much prefer the soft, diffused light, preferably the low light which provides a warm cast. I think the soft, diffused light in England is the best for sports, or even landscape, photography.

He added: "A key aspect of sports is emotion, something which all sports photographers try to capture...the celebration of a goal or a victory. In motocross, for example, you can't see the faces because they have helmets and visors and it doesn't allow you to see emotion. You do have to get creative when shooting motorcycle racing and harness racing, otherwise the images all start looking the same."

And taking photographs at sporting matches and racing can sometimes be dangerous.

"I was taking photographs at Cup Match when Somerset's Cup Match captain Jacobi Robinson was batting,' stated.

"They were getting ready to make a declaration to get St. George's out to win the game and he started hitting sixes all over the place. I was on the boundary and one of the sixes came and hit the wall next to me. I swear the wall shook! And later, tourists were taking pictures of each other and almost got hit. You have to pay attention. Jacobi is probably the hardest hitter of a cricket ball in Bermuda right now."

From experience he knows how to conduct himself at various sporting events.

"Golf is one sport where the players can get particularly edgy if you fire the shutter too early," he said.

"Always wait until the ball has been hit before taking a picture, especially if you are close to the action.

"Once you specialise in certain sports you know the etiquette of certain sports. You know where you need to sit to stay away from the action. I always stay behind the boundaries and prefer to give the players their space. You can't shake their hand and take their picture at the same time!"

One of the highlights of his photography career was being asked to serve as a judge for a photography competition put on by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1998.

The competition was aimed at selecting the best photos taken in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and the Football World Cup in France, for a book. Other sporting events were included, also.

The book was called 'The IOC BEST of Sport Photographic Contest Issue 10'.

"That was pretty huge," he said. "It included an all-expenses-paid trip to Lausanne, Switzerland in 1998 for the judging at Olympic headquarters."

Mr. Trott was a judge along with photographers and editors from all other the world, including a photo editor from Sports Illustrated Magazine.

"We judged 940 photos submitted from 183 photographers from 29 different countries," said Mr. Trott. "The best photos were put into a book."

He became a judge thanks to Austin Woods, former president of the Bermuda Olympic Association.

"He gave a copy of my book to officials from the IOC," said Mr. Trott. "A year later they asked me to be a judge."

The experience of having his own website has been a daunting experience, especially going live for the first time after several months of putting the site together.

"A photographer friend of mine in Atlanta urged me a few years ago to get my own website, but I am only now appreciating how much work actually goes into keeping it current," said Mr. Trott.

"It is a lot of work involved but I am enjoying it. One of the challenges is finding time to work on the site.

"I edit each individual photograph and I make an effort to caption every photo properly, which is vital during a gallery search.

"If you do a image search by name on the website and it isn't captioned properly you won't find it."

He said his journalism background helps in this regard.

"Writing captions is something I have been doing since I started working in the Sports Department," he said. "I think it is important to tell people what they are looking at. I think people will find the site to be user friendly, we kept that in mind when designing it."

David Wellman, of OMax Graphics, who designed the site, is pleased with its design and content.

"The TrottStockPhotos.com proved to be a challenging website to build since it encompasses lots of custom behind-the-scenes solutions that allow the public side of the website to be user friendly and easy to use," he explained.

"The site is intended to contain photographic "memories" of Bermuda-based athletes past and present and its emphasis is on quality of its images rather than quantity. It is also a free membership site where users can store their favourite photographs and share them with friends. The current version of the website is to be considered as a first phase with additional features to come in the future."

l For more information visit www.trottstockphotos.com.

Photography achievements

January 4, 1977

Had first sports photo published in The Royal Gazette. Image was from the First Division football match between North Village and Hotels at St. David's which finished 3-3.

1980

Took photo of the moment Charlie Marshall hit the last-ball six off Robert Hinds to become the first Cup Match colt to score a century.

1986

Studied photography at the Art Institute of Atlanta.

1988

Took a one year sabbatical and followed the West Indies Test team as a freelance photographer for their home series against Pakistan and their tours of England and Australia.

1994

Held solo photo exhibition at the Bermuda Society of Arts, called "Through the Long Lens".

1997

Published Bermuda's first full-colour book on sports, Bermuda Sports.

1998

Invited to sit as a judge for the International Olympic Committee's 10th BEST of Sport Photographic Contest competition in Lausanne, Switzerland from which a photo book of the best images was produced.