Sports photography gallery

Sports photography: a lesson in humility

Sports photography is, above all, a lesson in humility. You think you are ready, and then a horse race at Longchamp, a rugby scrum or a swimmer cutting through the water at dusk reminds you bluntly that the subject does not wait. You either get the shot or you don’t.

What sports photography teaches you, and fast, is that it’s all in the timing. Not just the reflexes, but the anticipation. Knowing where to stand, when to raise the camera, which fraction of a second will make the difference between a picture and a photograph. A jockey leaning into a bend, the precise moment a scrum collapses, a swimmer’s arm breaking the surface. None of this is accidental. It is the result of watching, waiting and knowing your subject well enough to read what comes next.

I came to sports photography as a spectator first and a photographer second. That outside perspective, I think, is an asset. I am not embedded in the action; I am observing it, which is exactly where the camera belongs.