You have to take a lot of photos to get the perfect one.

Over 7,000 photos at least for Tommy Dickson from Enniskillen, at last weekend’s historic rugby match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium.

It was Ireland’s first victory over an All Blacks side on Irish soil in Test match rugby with a try from Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale the difference between the top two rugby teams in the world.

And it was this defining moment in the game that was captured brilliantly and uniquely by Tommy, who was covering the game for Inpho Photography.

The birdseye view of Stockdale sliding over for the game winning score has been featured on the front page of the sports section for The Examiner and The Irish Times, while other photos from the game were used on the front pages of the Irish Daily Mail and The Irish Times.

Describing how the moment all came about, Tommy admits there was some luck to it, but that is what is needed to get the most memorable of shots.

“It came from the lineout and initially I had went over to shoot the lineout from a side on perspective. And they started going right and then changed play real quick and passed it back to Stockdale.

“Stockdale just happened to be where I was on top of the gantry. I got him kicking the ball over all the boys face on and then when he collected it and then when he started sliding as he was sliding towards me, the closer he was to me, so I had to tilt over and shoot like birdseye perspective. You couldn’t have lined it up any better if you tried.”

In a part of the stadium where he was the only photographer, Tommy had a perspective that nobody else.

“Above the TV screen in the large stand there is a big caged walkway which goes around three-quarters of the stadium and you have access to most of stadium from up there. For a bit of it I was up the sidelines and I was shooting action from the side. But then I kind of noticed that behind the goal was a nice perspective because you are kind of close to everything. I got a few nice pics of Beauden Barrett. It was a different perspective from there.

“But for the try it was just basically me in the right place at the right time. You couldn’t have called it. There is a bit of luck in it and you need a bit of luck in photography and it was with me, thank God.”

Tommy developed an interest in photography while at Portora Royal School. But it wasn’t until he took his dog to the dog groomers that put him in touch with a local photographer who set him on the path of photography.

“I took my dog to the dog groomers. I only ever took him there once and the time I did bring him there the girl told me about Andrew Paton. So I contacted him, went out and had a chat with him to get me any advice and he told me about Inhpo and Sportsfile. He showed me he had a picture in Roy Keane’s autobiography and I was like right that’s what I want to do. So we stuck together a portfolio of images and sent them down to Inhpo and Sportsfile. And Inpho got back to me saying I could come down for a week’s work experience and after the week they gave me a job.

“I was in a gap year and didn’t know what I wanted to do until I got chatting to Andy and he set me on this path.”

And since joining Inpho, Tommy has travelled all over the world in what is a dream job.

“Travelling is great. The next two weekends I will be away in England, Scotland and Wales doing Champions Cup rugby. I have got to go to Taiwan, Australia, Italy. All these real nice places to take photographs. It’s a dream job. After doing this now there is no other job I would do.”

But why is his picture of Stockdale so popular compared to the thousands taken at the game that day?

“Most of the people have seen it all. The only reason this picture is getting so much attention is because it is so different. No-one ever sees birdseye views of tries or anything like that. It is such a different angle.”

The perfect shot on an perfect day for Irish Rugby.