The Spanish national football team’s well-deserved second FIFA World Cup victory has been somewhat overshadowed by the Argentinian team’s conduct before and after the final whistle, drawing criticism regarding the defending champions' behaviour. But another incident has dominated headlines: footage of US President Donald Trump appearing to overstay his welcome during the sacred lifting of the trophy.

And now, some outlets are reporting that the US President has been intentionally cropped out of official photographs of the historic moment, including an image posted on the official FIFA World Cup X account (formerly Twitter) .

What happened?

The POTUS was given the honor, alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, of handing out medals to both teams as well as presenting the fabled trophy to Spain captain Rodri, during the ceremony at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. Rodri appears to gently guide the US President to one side, but he stalls right on the edge of the crowd as the team prepares to lift the trophy.

Even Infantino appears to coax Trump further away, but the beaming President faces the cameras and claps the victors as Rodri launches the trophy into the sky amidst a hail of golden confetti. Only then does Trump head off.

Of course, plenty of photographers were on hand to immortalize the moment, intent on capturing that initial burst of jubilation. However, an official photograph posted on the FIFA World Cup X account (above) depicting the initial celebration features an extremely tight 4:5 crop, which only includes what appears to be a very slim portion of the President’s suit. The news comes following a hot-mic moment during the broadcast when Australian commentator Claudio Fabiano could be heard saying: “They can edit him out of that,” seemingly referring to Trump.

Was the crop intentional?

I can only comment on the situation as a photography expert. And firstly, I should address a few things. I’ve seen the word ‘edited’ thrown around a lot, which can conjure images of subject removal, cloning, etc, but from the images I’ve seen, it simply looks like they don’t extend far enough to include Trump.

Now, there’s two ways to crop, the photographer can either crop in-camera by altering the framing, or you can crop in post-production, by using a cropping tool to physically reduce the borders of the image. It’s therefore entirely possible that some of the images being shown were not cropped, but simply never framed the President in the first place.

Still, the image on FIFA’s X account is so tightly framed, my best guess is that it was cropped in post-production (although I cannot be sure). This isn’t necessarily a political move, however. In the world of photography, it’s rather common to crop out distractions that detract from the main subject of the image. And while Trump is very often the main subject, he stood to one side and was therefore secondary to the subject matter, the Spanish national team’s hard-fought victory.

While politicians come and go, this was a very specific moment to be immortalized in the annals of football history. Looking at the bigger picture, it certainly makes sense from a narrative and compositional perspective, to crop out any distractions beyond the team itself, whether that be Trump, Infantino or anyone or anything else.

This contrasts sharply with a very similar situation that happened a year ago, when Donald Trump also stayed put during Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup trophy lift at the same stadium. Rather than stand to one side, he found himself right between captain Reece James and goalkeeper Robert Sánchez for the brunt of the celebration. In this instance, the script is flipped, the situation is so unusual and Trump is so integral to the composition that he becomes the subject matter and from a photographer’s standpoint that only adds to the interest and intrigue of the imagery.

So, do I think Donald Trump was intentionally cropped out of the image? Yes, and if I was editing it, I would have done the same because his presence detracts from the subject matter. However, if I’d been photographing Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup victory, I’d have been frantically capturing image after image of the President among the players, knowing I was photographing a bizarre yet historic moment in its own right.

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Forget "Hand of God" is this football's "Camera of God"? Why a cable-suspended camera is being blamed by Norway for its World Cup defeat. These photos of the very first FIFA World Cup Final are surprisingly good, considering they were taken on 100-year-old cameras. Check out the best cameras for sports photography.

A cable-connected camera has found itself in the middle of a raging debate following England’s 2-1 World Cup Quarter-Final win against Norway. The alleged incident happened when Norwegian goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland lofted a thundering goal kick high above the pitch, with footage appearing to show a sudden drop in altitude and the ball falling directly into the path of England’s Eliott Anderson.

The midfielder drove forward, passed out wide to recent Barcelona signing, Anthony Gordon, whose pass then traced the edge of the box toward England talisman Jude Bellingham who shrugged off a defender and slotted the ball across Nyland’s goal and into the bottom-right corner of the net.

A BBC Sport report highlighted how Norwegian players immediately reacted to the incident, but referee Clement Turpin allowed the goal to stand. ABC News quoted a statement from FIFA which revealed that the sensor inside the football itself did not register a “peak” at the proposed moment of contact, meaning there’s no definitive evidence as to what exactly happened. You can watch the incident via the YouTube Short from @PeNewssss (above) and make your own mind up.

What is a cable-suspended camera?

Cable-suspended cameras are crucial for sports coverage, because they can be suspended high above the field. These cameras travel along a system of cables enabling them to follow the on-field action. This is crucial in delivering varying angles for replays.

The controversy follows several high-profile incidents regarding referring decisions in the World Cup, but is the first time camera equipment has been accused of intervening. This incident wasn’t even the only talking point during the match, with Norway having a goal from a corner disallowed, following a shove from team hero, Erling Haaland on England’s Eliott Anderson, as well as calls for a foul on England captain Harry Kane, shortly before Norway’s Andreas Schjelderup opened the scoring with an incredible long-range effort from a tight angle.

England will now face Argentina in a semi-final clash on Wednesday July 15. Here’s hoping the match isn’t blighted by any camera- or hand-related controversies.

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These photos of the very first FIFA World Cup Final are surprisingly good, considering they were taken on 100-year-old cameras. Could the Z 120-300mm f/2.8 be a surprise addition to Nikon’s World Cup squad? I’ll be keeping an eye on the sidelines. Ikea photographs household items to create ingenious representation of World Cup nations’ flags.

As concerns surrounding artificial intelligence and misleading imagery continue to grow, a photograph's traceable history could become every bit as valuable as resolution, autofocus, or dynamic range. C2PA-enabled cameras help field the question "Is this AI?" by giving viewers an overview of how a photograph was captured and edited.

Cameras on this list may be designed for very different photographers, from photojournalists and documentary shooters to portrait, landscape, and commercial professionals. Some are compact rangefinder-style models, while others are powerful full-frame workhorses, but they all share one increasingly important feature: built-in support for C2PA-based Content Credentials.

This technology adds cryptographically signed provenance information at the moment an image is captured, helping viewers confirm where a photograph originated and whether it has been altered through a compatible editing workflow. It does not judge whether the subject itself is truthful, but it provides a transparent, tamper-evident record that can help distinguish genuine camera-captured photography from manipulated or AI-generated content.

Whatever genre of photography you shoot, the best C2PA-enabled cameras give you a clearer way to demonstrate that your images originated with you, in your camera, at the point of capture.

The best C2PA enabled cameras in 2026

Best in concept

Sample images

The Leica M11-P combines the traditional rangefinder experience with one of the most important new technologies in digital photography. Its understated design removes Leica’s familiar red dot, giving the camera a more discreet appearance that suits street, documentary, and travel photographers who prefer to work unnoticed.

Inside, it shares the same 60MP full-frame sensor as the standard M11, complete with Leica’s Triple Resolution Technology. Image quality is exceptional, with superb detail, rich color, and plenty of flexibility for large prints or heavy cropping.

The M11-P was the first camera ever to embed C2PA-compliant provenance information at capture, creating a secure record of an image’s origin and subsequent editing history. While many brands use software-based C2PA, Leica uses a hardware-based chipset to apply the C2PA as the image is captured, making the data harder to tamper with.

The C2PA embeds more than the typical metadata, like what camera was used and the photographer's name. The C2PA also records if the photo was opened in an editing program like Photoshop and, if so, what changes were made. If you only made adjustments to color, for example, that's what will show inside the Content Credentials.

Anyone can look up the Content Credentials online, but the feature is also compatible with Leica's Fotos app. These Leica Content Credentials cannot prevent photographs from being manipulated, but they give photographers a clearer way to demonstrate that an image began as a genuine camera capture.

The Leica M11-D offers the same C2PA functionality but removes the rear screen entirely, creating an even more traditional shooting experience. Reviewing images requires a connected smartphone, but for photographers seeking a more focused, film-like approach, it is an appealing alternative to the M11-P.

Read our full Leica M11-P review for more details

Best for beginners

Sample images

The Fujifilm X-T50 brings much of the imaging performance of the flagship X-T5 into a smaller and more approachable body. Its 40.2MP APS-C sensor and fifth-generation processor deliver excellent detail, strong color, and plenty of cropping flexibility, while built-in image stabilization makes it a capable everyday camera for travel, street photography, and portraits.

Video performance is equally impressive for a camera of this size, with high-resolution 6.2K recording, oversampled 4K, and internal 10-bit options. Fujifilm’s Film Simulations remain a major part of the experience, with the dedicated dial making it quick and enjoyable to switch between different looks without spending hours editing afterwards.

The X-T50 does support C2PA Content Credentials, giving photographers a way to attach verifiable provenance information to their images. Like other C2PA cameras, this attaches a digital signature and tracks whether or not a photo has been edited. The C2PA feature is also free to use and doesn't require a paid activation.

The X-T50 is one of the more affordable options for anyone who wants strong image quality and traditional Fujifilm handling alongside a modern authenticity workflow. It is not perfect, though. There is no weather sealing, the battery is relatively small, and the single memory-card slot limits its appeal for demanding professional work. Its price also places it close to the more robust X-T5, but for photographers who want Fujifilm’s latest sensor technology and C2PA support in a compact body, the X-T50 remains a very compelling choice.

Read our full Fujifilm X-T50 review for more details

Best hybrid camera

The Canon EOS R5 Mark II is one of the most advanced hybrid cameras available, combining a 45MP full-frame sensor with rapid shooting, sophisticated autofocus and professional video capabilities. It can capture bursts at up to 30fps and record 8K 60p RAW video, making it equally comfortable covering sport, wildlife, news assignments, and high-end filmmaking.

Canon’s Dual Pixel Intelligent AF is a particular highlight. Eye Control AF allows you to select a subject simply by looking towards it in the viewfinder, while Action Priority can recognise important movements in selected sports and shift focus towards the player most likely to perform the decisive action. Its powerful stabilisation and in-camera neural-network processing further strengthen an already formidable all-round package.

For this guide, however, the most important feature is its support for C2PA-based image authentication. With Canon’s Image Authenticity feature enabled, the EOS R5 Mark II can attach signed provenance information at capture, helping news organisations verify where an image originated and follow its history through editing and publication. Canon’s wider Authenticity Imaging System also supports certificates, trusted timestamps, and content-history verification, although C2PA functionality requires paid activation and availability varies by region.

While specifically designed for newsrooms, Canon's Image Authenticity requires a paid activation.

The EOS R5 Mark II is undeniably expensive, and not every photographer will need its extensive speed, video, and authentication capabilities. For professional photojournalists, sports photographers, and editorial teams that require both cutting-edge performance and a traceable image workflow, however, it is one of the strongest C2PA-enabled cameras available.

Read our full Canon EOS R5 Mark II review for more details

Best digital/analog experience

Sample images

The Leica M11-D takes a very different approach from most modern digital cameras. By removing the rear screen entirely, it encourages photographers to concentrate on framing, timing, and instinct rather than reviewing every image immediately after capture. The result is a slower, more deliberate experience that feels closer to shooting with a traditional film rangefinder.

Despite its minimalist design, the M11-D is built around thoroughly modern technology, including Leica’s 60MP full-frame sensor and C2PA-compatible Content Credentials. Provenance information can be attached at the moment of capture, helping create a secure record of where an image originated and how it moves through a compatible editing workflow. Like other Lieca,s the C2PA data is hardware based.

It is not the most practical choice for photographers who need instant playback, rapid menu access, or a conventional digital workflow, as image review is handled through a connected smartphone. For street, documentary, and fine-art photographers who value both a distraction-free shooting experience and verifiable image authenticity, however, the M11-D is one of the most distinctive C2PA-enabled cameras available.

Read our full Leica M11-D review for more details

Best Canon for sports

Sample images

The Canon EOS R1 is built for professional sports, news and action photographers who need speed, reliability and intelligent autofocus above everything else. Its 24.2MP stacked full-frame sensor can shoot continuously at up to 40fps, while the fast sensor readout keeps rolling-shutter distortion to a minimum when photographing rapid movement.

Canon’s Dual Pixel Intelligent AF system is the real highlight. Action Priority can recognise important moments in football, basketball and volleyball, while Registered People Priority helps the camera remain focused on selected individuals. Eye Control AF also allows photographers to choose a subject simply by looking towards it through the viewfinder, making the R1 exceptionally responsive in unpredictable situations.

The EOS R1 also offers 6K 60p RAW video, powerful in-camera noise reduction, and deep-learning upscaling that can increase the dimensions of a 24MP image by four times. It may lack the native resolution of some competing flagships, but its combination of speed, connectivity, and intelligent processing makes it ideally suited to photographers working against tight deadlines.

Of course, it also supports Canon’s C2PA-compliant Authenticity Imaging System. With the Image Authenticity function activated, the camera can attach a digital signature at capture, helping news organisations verify an image’s origin and track its history through editing and publication.

The full C2PA service requires paid activation, and availability varies between regions, but for professional sports and press photographers who need both rapid performance and verifiable imagery, the EOS R1 is one of the strongest options available.

Read our full Canon EOS R1 review for more details

Best Sony camera for sports

The Sony A9 III is built for professional sports, action, and news photographers who cannot afford to miss a decisive moment. Its full-frame global-shutter sensor eliminates the rolling-shutter distortion associated with conventional electronic shutters, while enabling blackout-free continuous shooting at up to 120fps with full autofocus and exposure tracking. It can also reach shutter speeds of 1/80,000 sec, including with compatible flash equipment.

Sony’s AI-powered autofocus system is equally impressive, recognising and tracking subjects including people, animals, birds, insects, vehicles and aircraft. Combined with its exceptional burst speed, this makes the A9 III particularly well suited to unpredictable subjects where even a fraction of a second can determine whether you capture or miss the image.

With compatible firmware and Sony’s Camera Authenticity Solution, the A9 III can also support C2PA-based Content Credentials. These add signed provenance information to captured files, helping photographers and news organisations verify where an image originated and follow it through a compatible editorial workflow. Sony also uses depth data inside the credentials, which helps prevent someone from taking a photo of an AI-generated image with the camera and passing it off as real.

Licensing and service availability may vary depending on the country or region. Basic C2PA certificate capabilities are included with the purchase of the camera, but the Digital Signature Upgrade License made for newsrooms is a paid upgrade.

For most photographers, the A9 III’s extraordinary speed will be unnecessary and will quickly create demanding storage, backup, and image-selection workloads. For professional sports and press photographers who genuinely need global-shutter performance, advanced autofocus, and verifiable image provenance, however, it is one of the most specialised and capable C2PA-enabled cameras available.

Read our full Sony A9 III review for more details

Best for megapixels

The Fujifilm GFX100S II makes high-resolution medium-format photography considerably more accessible. Its 102MP large-format sensor delivers exceptional detail, dynamic range, colour depth and tonal subtlety, making it particularly well suited to commercial, fashion, landscape, fine-art and archival photography.

Despite that enormous sensor, the GFX100S II is relatively compact and weighs approximately 883g. Its in-body image stabilisation provides up to eight stops of compensation, while Pixel Shift Multi-Shot can create files with resolutions of up to 400MP when even greater detail is required.

Its place in this guide comes from Fujifilm’s rollout of C2PA-based Content Credentials across selected GFX and X Series cameras. This gives professional photographers a way to attach tamper-evident provenance information to their work, helping demonstrate where an image originated and how it has been handled through a compatible workflow. The latest firmware and any required software should be checked before relying on the feature professionally, but C2PA is a free feature.

The faster and more expensive GFX100 II remains the better choice for demanding video or action work, but many photographers will not need its additional performance. For anyone prioritising extraordinary resolution, manageable handling, and verifiable image provenance, the GFX100S II is one of the most compelling C2PA-enabled cameras available.

Read our full Fujifilm GFX 100S II review for more details

Best compact monochrome

Sample images

The Leica Q3 Monochrom is an unapologetically specialised camera, combining a fixed 28mm lens with a dedicated black-and-white sensor. Its 60MP full-frame sensor captures exceptional detail, tonal depth and low-light performance, while the Summilux 28mm f/1.7 lens delivers excellent sharpness and contrast for street, documentary, travel and fine-art photography.

It is not designed for photographers who want maximum versatility. There is no colour capture and the lens cannot be changed, but those limitations are a large part of its appeal. The Q3 Monochrom encourages you to concentrate on light, texture and composition, creating a more deliberate and focused shooting experience.

For this guide, its other key feature is built-in Leica Content Credentials. The camera can attach C2PA-compliant provenance information at capture, helping establish where an image originated and providing a traceable record through a compatible editing workflow.

It is expensive and undeniably niche, but few cameras combine such exceptional monochrome image quality with a compact body, fast fixed lens and verifiable image provenance. For photographers committed to black-and-white photography, the Q3 Monochrom is one of the most distinctive C2PA-enabled cameras available.

Read our Leica Q3 Monochrom review for more details

Best mirrorless Leica

Sample images

The Leica SL3-P is a powerful hybrid camera designed for photographers and filmmakers who need speed, image quality, and professional video tools in one body. Its 44MP full-frame BSI sensor delivers excellent dynamic range, color and low-light performance, while its multishot mode can produce 176MP files when additional resolution is needed.

Autofocus is considerably faster and more dependable than on previous SL cameras, combining phase, contrast, and object detection. Continuous shooting reaches 40fps with full autofocus, making the SL3-P suitable for action, events, and documentary work as well as more considered portrait and commercial photography.

Video is another major strength, with 8K recording, 3:2 open-gate capture, with RAW output over HDMI. It also supports professional features including ProRes recording, L-Log, timecode, external SSD recording, and direct camera-to-cloud workflows through Adobe Frame.io.

The SL3-P is the second camera in Leica’s SL system to include Content Credentials technology, following its introduction on the SL3-S. It can cryptographically sign images at capture with information about the camera and subsequent editing history, giving professional photographers a clearer way to demonstrate the origin and authenticity of their work.

It is expensive, but for anyone who wants a premium hybrid camera with strong stills, video and C2PA support, the SL3-S is a highly compelling choice.

Read our Leica SL3-P review

Best all-rounder

Sample Images

The Sony A1 II is one of the most capable professional cameras available, combining exceptional image quality, rapid performance, and Sony’s most advanced autofocus system. It is an evolutionary update rather than a complete reinvention, borrowing several features already seen elsewhere in the Alpha range, but those improvements are enough to keep Sony’s flagship competitive.

Its 50.1MP full-frame sensor continues to deliver outstanding detail and dynamic range, while the improved in-body image stabilization makes handheld shooting more dependable. The most significant upgrade, however, is the automatic subject-recognition autofocus. The camera can identify and track different subjects with very little input from the photographer, making it faster and more intuitive for sports, wildlife, news, and documentary work.

For photographers who need to demonstrate the origin and authenticity of their images, the A1 II also supports C2PA-based Content Credentials through compatible firmware and workflow. The Sony A1 II is one of the first cameras to offer C2PA for video as well as stills. Sony offers a basic C2PA certificate at no additional charge, but the Digital Signature Upgrade License – which includes video licenses – is a paid feature built for newsrooms.

The biggest obstacle is its price. Rival flagship cameras now offer similarly impressive speed, autofocus, and image quality for considerably less. Even so, the Sony A1 II remains an exceptional professional tool, particularly for photographers who need one camera capable of handling almost any subject while also supporting a verifiable image-provenance workflow.

Read our full Sony A1 II review for more details

Honorable mentions

How to choose the best C2PA-enabled cameras?

Choosing the best C2PA-enabled camera should begin in the same way as choosing any other camera: think about what you actually plan to photograph. A photojournalist may prioritize speed, autofocus and durability, while a portrait or commercial photographer may care more about resolution, color depth and studio connectivity. The presence of Content Credentials is important, but it should complement the camera’s core performance rather than replace it.

You should also check exactly how C2PA support is implemented. Some cameras require a firmware update, additional software or a particular workflow before credentials can be attached and preserved. It is also worth considering whether the editing programs you use can maintain the provenance chain, especially if you regularly crop, retouch or export your images before publication.

How we test cameras

When I test a sports camera, I don’t waste time shooting brick walls or static landscapes – I take it straight to the action. Whether it’s courtside, ringside, or trackside, I put these cameras through real-world sports scenarios to see how they perform under pressure. Sometimes that means shooting pick-up games at the local rec center, and other times, it’s photographing elite Olympic athletes. No matter the level, the goal is the same: to push these cameras to their limits.

I stress-test autofocus, burst shooting, buffer depth, and battery life, capturing both stills and video. I shoot in bright outdoor conditions and dimly lit indoor arenas to see how the ISO performance holds up and whether the autofocus can track fast-moving subjects in tough lighting.

Once I’m done, the cameras go to our lab manager, Ben Andrews, for rigorous scientific testing. Using Imatest Master and DxO Analyzer, he evaluates:

1. Resolution (ISO-12233) – We use an Applied Image ISO-12233 resolution chart to determine the camera’s vertical resolution at the center of the frame. The higher the value, the sharper the detail.

2. Dynamic Range (DxO Analyzer) – This measures the camera’s ability to retain detail in highlights and shadows. We use DxO’s transmissive chart, which allows testing up to 13.3 stops of dynamic range.

3. Noise Performance (DxO Analyzer) – Using the dynamic range transmissive chart, we analyze the signal-to-noise ratio for both raw and JPEG files across all ISO settings. A higher value means cleaner images with less noise.

By combining real-world field testing with controlled lab analysis, we ensure these cameras are truly ready for the fast-paced demands of sports photography.

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FAQs

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Photographing fireworks requires hitting the shutter at just the right second – but sports photographer Casey Sykes recently managed to capture not just fireworks but lightning all striking in the same frame.

Sykes (@caseysykesphoto) is an Atlanta, Georgia-based freelance photographer whose portfolio spans regular coverage of the Atlanta Braves to Getty Images to corporate clients. After the Braves’ 14-3 win over the New York Mets on the Fourth of July, Sykes stuck around for the fireworks show and captured a rare shot mixing lightning with the post-game fireworks.

In the shot, fireworks light up just beyond the stadium as a bolt of lightning strikes on the right side of the photograph. That dual human-made and nature-made night show unfolds over a packed stadium, including striking blue lights and projected stars, further adding to the ambiance of the shot.

Capturing lightning on camera is a difficult shot that requires the right timing – or a light-sensitive trigger. But capturing a photo that mixes both fireworks and lightning is even more unusual.

Many fireworks shows are often cancelled when inclement weather is expected, making the mix even more rare. The storms held off for most of the game, however, and started moving into the area during the post-game show.

According to the photograph’s metadata, Sykes captured the shot with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens. A fifteen-second shutter speed helped get both the lightning strike and fireworks in the frame, while an f/22 aperture kept much of the detail in the stadium sharp.

The mix of fireworks and lighting together over the home of the Braves was striking enough that the photo was featured among Getty’s top photos of the week.

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It turns out that people are ‘photographing’ the World Cup by taking pictures of their television sets – including professional sports shooters. That’s right, World Cup images are turning up on Instagram from photographers who aren’t even on the same continent, let alone the stadium in question.

It would seem that the person who sparked this particular trend is Paris-based professional sports photographer, Florence Pernet (@flo_pernet). Upon failing to get accreditation for the World Cup, he found an alternative route by photographing games on a television set.

Florence isn’t the first photographer to think of this, going so far as to credit Matthew Johnson (@matthewjohnson) in one of her posts. Matthew created a series called Screen Time, which centers around television photography. However, this interesting style of photography has courted some interesting discussions regarding photography ethics.

An Instagrammer called @imbue_visual has posted a Reel about it, calling Florence’s work and the reasoning behind the idea “brilliant”, as well as praising the artistic results, before essentially questioning others jumping on the bandwagon, stating:

“It stops becoming a statement and starts being more of a creative style. Like, come on, the broadcaster has found the angle.”

Fashion influencer and photographer Damien Broderick (@damienbroderick) has also commented on the Reel, stating: “I couldn’t travel to India or back in time. So i decided to photograph this book [sic].”

Another commenter says, “You’re not shooting the whole frame of the tv tho. You are finding your own view through another’s view [sic]”. The Portuguese national team has even reposted one of Florence's images of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Clearly the internet is split. However, it is important to note that Florence’s images look nothing like the framing used on television. Often they are zoomed in, so you can see the screen’s pixels, captured with slow shutter speeds to form gesture-drawing-like abstracts, or color graded extensively.

In a world where creators are worried about AI scraping their works, this sort of debate is always going to divide the community. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but what I will say to detractors is, where does it stop?

You wouldn’t lambast an architectural photographer for finding their unique angle when framing a building or structure they didn’t design or build…

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Interested in sports photography? Here are the best cameras for sports photography and the best lenses for sports photography. Plus, here's the latest camera news.

Nobody can truly say which camera brand reigns supreme when it comes to professional sports photography, but the latest data from MPB – the world’s largest photography gear resale platform – points to Canon.

According to MPB, during the build-up to and initial 14 days of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (from January 01 to June 23), sales of the Canon EOS R1, the brand's flagship camera, rose by a whopping 344% compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, on-site searches for the Sony A9 III, the best camera for sports photography from the Alpha brand, rose by 119% but led to a more modest 63% overall increase in sales year-on-year.

“For sports photography, it’s all about features like subject tracking, continuous shooting speeds, buffer depth, low light capabilities and overall image quality," said Amy Moore, a camera expert at MPB.

"A robust camera body with great battery life, as well as quick, professional connectivity for sharing the action are also important.”

The EOS R1 is Canon’s best camera for professionals, released in late 2024. Among other top-tier features, the powerhouse captures up to 40fps with the electronic shutter and boasts in-body image stabilization of up to 8.5 stops.

The A9 III gives the R1 a solid run for its money, featuring a lightning-fast 120fps and the world’s first commercial global shutter sensor.

However, the faster sensor lacks the low-light performance of the R1's conventional stacked design – particularly with Canon's neural net processing offering up to two stops of in-camera denoising for even cleaner results.

Surprisingly, the MPB data said nothing of recent Nikon sales on the platform, although Moore did mention the Nikon Z9 – the Big N’s flagship shooter – as also being an “obvious standout” camera when it comes to professional-grade stills and video.

Find flagship models on MPB

Find your next professional-level camera on the world’s largest resale platform.

Canon EOS R1
Sony A9 Mark III
Nikon Z9

When buying, pay attention to the actuation count (how many images the camera has taken), the overall condition and the accessories included as these affect prices and performance.

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See where these cameras rank among the best cameras for sports photography, where my colleague James has put each of them through their paces, and make sure to pair them with the best lenses for sports photography.

Taking photos in a downpour is a major challenge – not to mention potentially dangerous to the camera gear. But I’ve just stumbled across a set of photos that perfectly illustrate why sometimes the best photographs are the most challenging ones.

Patrick Smith (@patricksmithphotos), a sports photographer working with Getty Images, turned a recent “torrential downpour” into an opportunity for dazzling mid-game portraits of the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles.

Last month, when the Tigers traveled to Baltimore, the skies opened up in what Smith describes as a “downpour.” Instead of trying to shield his lens from the droplets, Smith appears to have embraced the rain, taking shots from a low angle that allowed the rain to gather on his lens.

The stadium lights hitting those droplets turned the rain into a dramatic flare and dotted the images with bokeh. Rather than wiping off his lens, Smith turned towards where players waited on deck, creating striking photos that were taken in the middle of a professional baseball game, yet felt more like creative portraits than sports photography.

According to the photo’s metadata, Smith took the shots with the Canon EOS R1 – a mirrorless camera that is, thankfully, weather-sealed. However, Smith also used the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM, a budget wide-angle that isn’t weather-sealed and typically needs extra protection to work in the rain.

But, that ultra-wide perspective allowed the photographer to surround the players in a sea of rain-created bokeh and flare.

Smith used a mix of different settings for the shots. In shots dotted with shaped bokeh, he used a narrower f/13 aperture to help define the shape of the bokeh and turn the stadium lights into starbursts.

In another shot with more abstract-shaped lens flare, he used an f/2.8 aperture and ISO 2000 in order to freeze the rain in the background into droplets at 1/2000th of a second shutter speed.

The game wasn’t the first time Smith had turned bad weather into a golden opportunity for unusual sports photography. I previously came across Smith’s work while browsing through photos of the 2026 Winter Olympics, where Smith turned snow into a dramatic framing tool, along with using techniques like shutter drag.

I’m impressed both by the way Smith has managed to turn challenging weather into a framing tool – and the fact that he shot what look like portraits in the middle of an MLB game.

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Take a deep dive into the best cameras for sports photography.

Sports photographers have to be constantly on guard and ready to move at a moment's notice if a play gets out-of-bounds, but one camera operator narrowly missed an unexpected threat from above: a camera suspended on a cable.

During a match between Hungary and Kazakhstan on June 09, a cable camera – the TV cameras suspended above the field for a bird’s eye view of the game – started smoking. The cable then broke, sending the camera falling from more than 20 meters / 65.6 feet.

According to the BBC, the camera landed only about two meters from a camera operator on the sidelines at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary.

No injuries were reported, and the teams took a water break as the camera debris was cleaned up.

The cause of the incident hasn’t been verified, but the smoke shown in viral videos of the incident seems to hint that overheating may have compromised the camera’s cable.

As a camera lover, I had to admit, the video is hard to watch. I’ve had to jump out of the way on more than one occasion back in my sports photography days, but I never would have expected danger from above. The camera operator in the video seems to react with calm professionalism, taking a step back and then, naturally, turning the lens to the smoldering wreckage.

A camera smoking is devastating enough, but then it has to fall from about the same distance as throwing a camera out of a five or six-story window. I have to admit I winced watching the video.

It’s unclear from the reports what type of suspension system and camera were used for the match, but broadcast cameras plus the cost of a robotic camera system like those from Spidercam or Skycam aren’t cheap.

As the World Cup kicks off on June 11, fans and photographers alike will no doubt be treated to more viral soccer photos and videos in the coming weeks as the tournament unfolds across North America.

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The camera falling from the sky isn't the only viral hit ahead of the World Cup – I think this viral image by David Yarrow may be the best World Cup team photo yet.

As a photographer who got my start at a small town newspaper, I’ve had my fair share of photographing sports teams.

You probably know the sort, the ones with two or three rows of players all looking at the camera. The quick and dirty sports photo that happens when you have to take two dozen team photos in the span of an hour.

But after coming across a viral photo of Norway’s World Cup-bound team, I will never look at a team photo the same way again. In the photograph by David Yarrow, Norway’s World Cup soccer team doesn’t look bound for a major sports match; it looks like Viking warriors.

Yarrow’s photograph of the team quickly went viral on social media, with some even calling the image “the best team photo ever.”

Yarrow’s photograph of Norway’s national FIFA team doesn’t look at all like many of the FIFA team photos floating around social media ahead of the World Cup. As Yarrow himself commented, “We’ve seen a lot of pictures of airliner steps this week.”

Norway’s journey to take what could easily be the best team photo ahead of this year's World Cup started around six months ago, when the Norwegian Football Federation decided it wanted to do something different for the team photo.

Yarrow’s name came up, a recommendation by striker Erling Haaland, who Yarrow had previously photographed as a Viking, and golfer Victor Hovland, who was part of Yarrow’s iconic photograph of the European Ryder Cup team under the Manhattan bridge.

Yarrow’s decision to photograph the Norway team as Vikings was in part a nod to the country’s past, but the photographer said he also wanted to create a sense of a journey.

The team’s World Cup appearance is both a physical journey to where the tournament will unfold in the US, Canada and Mexico, but also an expedition to qualify for the competition – the first time Norway has done so in 28 years.

Perhaps Yarrow himself describes his style best: “I like to take people outside of how they are normally photographed.”

I’ve always been taught that a good team photo has all the players clear and sharp in the image. Despite the costumes, all the players are clearly visible in the photo – including one who couldn’t make the photoshoot date, but later made the trip to the same beach to be composited into the image.

Anyone with a few camera skills and some patience can take a clear team photo, however. Yarrow’s image elevates the team photo to one that speaks of a journey and a shared history.

The athletes may all be wearing different garb, but the photograph leaves Team Norway looking far more like a cohesive team than shots with matching jerseys.

The team is lit with harsh lighting from above. This creates shadows that are often considered undesirable for more classic portraits, but I think the lighting works here. The soft lighting of glamour portraits would feel as out of place on Vikings as smiles.

Yarrow took the photograph at a secluded beach in Oslo, where he not only arranged for period-accurate customs but also had the wooden jetty running down the middle of the shot built. He later traveled to a fjord in Viking Valley to photograph the boats and pieces of the background.

Yarrow created the unique team photo in a time when many viewers question unusual images as AI, so Yarrow’s team recorded the process behind the scenes.

“If you do it in a half-hearted way or in a studio, it can fall flat, but we really went for it. We got the boats in, got everyone dressed in proper Viking gear and not pantomime stuff,” Yarrow said of the process.

If you ask this former sports photographer, I think Yarrow’s team photo could be one of the best team photos yet. Fans will undoubtedly be treated to more legendary sports photographs as the World Cup matches kick off today.

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off on Thursday, June 11, when Mexico will face South Africa at Mexico City Stadium. Throughout the competition, hundreds of accredited photographers will shoot thousands of players from the sidelines of 16 stadiums across the host nations of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

And yet, while the technical aspects of photography have advanced immeasurably during the World Cup’s 96 years in existence, the process – like the beautiful game – really hasn’t changed all that much. Look no further than these images from the very first World Cup Final for proof.

The 1930 World Cup Final

The inaugural World Cup was hosted by then-current Olympic football gold medalist, Uruguay, and involved just thirteen teams – which included just two North American countries, US and Mexico, and four European nations: Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia.

Unsurprisingly, the largest representation was from South America, with seven participants including Brazil, Argentina and the host nation.

A climatic battle at the Centenary Stadium (Estadio Centenario) between Uruguay and Argentina would decide the competition’s first victor, a chance for Argentina to enact revenge on ‘La Celeste’ having lost to Uruguay in the 1928 Olympic final.

It was an action-packed match that saw the hosts take an early lead before a quick reply from Argentina levelled the game at the 21-minute mark.

Shortly before halftime, the Argentines took the lead – but they failed to capitalize on the momentum because, within the first 10 minutes of the second half, Uruguay would equalize, going on to score 2 more goals to seal a 4-2 victory.

The photographs

The first thing I noticed about the black-and-white photographs from the game is that once you get past the image quality, they’re remarkably similar to the images that football photographers still capture today.

In fact, change it to color and make it slightly sharper and I could see the photograph of the match winner from Uruguay’s Héctor Castro (see main image) on the back page of a national newspaper.

Clearly, these pioneers of sports photography were instinctively looking for decisive moments within the game such as goals, celebrations and moments of action. And in a photo of the semifinal between Uruguay and Yugoslavia (above) you can actually see the photographers sitting just behind the goal, dressed in suits and wearing fedora hats.

It’s hard to find exactly what cameras were used during the tournament, but I can see what looks like a large-format camera (possibly a Graflex camera), as well as some smaller devices that are most likely folding cameras.

Today, World Cup photographers are armed with the latest and greatest in DSLR and mirrorless camera technology. There’s even a rumor going around that the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S could be in attendance.

So, when you’re looking at photographs of Christian Pulisic or Harry Kane’s match winners over the coming weeks, cast your mind back to 1930 and the pioneering sports photographers who immortalized the very first World Cup tournament, 96 years ago.

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Last month, the ‘Big N’ announced that it was developing the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S, and if the latest tip-off from Nikon Rumors is to be believed, it sounds like it’s well into the development cycle. According to the rumor website, “select photographers” will have access to the lens at the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday, June 11, when Mexico will face South Africa at Mexico City Stadium. If this turns out to be true, I’m hoping an official release isn’t too far off.

This is pure conjecture, but I’ve been wondering if the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S will be launched alongside the heavily rumored Nikon Z9 II. It’s certainly not lost on me that this lens’s DSLR predecessor, the Nikon AF-S 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR, was released alongside the Nikon D6 flagship DSLR back in 2020.

The latest camera rumors suggest that the second coming of Nikon's flagship mirrorless series has been pushed back to 2027, which could potentially even mirror the original 120-300mm and Nikon D6's timeline, with both announced at the tail end of 2019 for delivery at the beginning of 2020. So, who knows, perhaps we could get a double announcement at the end of the year concerning the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S and Nikon Z9 II. But again, that is pure conjecture – there is no hard evidence to support that at all.

I’ve done a bit of football photography in my time and a 120-300mm f/2.8 is a grail lens. That super-wide constant aperture is beyond useful during evening matches, because although floodlights might seem bright, they dramatically reduce the available light, forcing you to up your ISO if you want to retain the shutter speeds required to freeze the unfolding action.

The Nikon AF-S 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR is still one of the best lenses I’ve had the pleasure of shooting with, but beyond expected optical upgrades, the Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S will have a built-in 1.4x teleconverter, increasing the lens's reach to 420mm. Essential when the action is happening further up the pitch.

I, for one, cannot wait for the Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S to be launched. Not that I can afford it… But I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out during matches, in the off chance we get a sneaky glimpse.

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The biggest sports fans coat themselves head to toe in their team’s colors – and nothing quite illustrates quite like the colorful fan portraits coming out ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

48 teams are headed to the World Cup next month – that’s the largest number of teams ever set to compete in the annual men’s soccer championship. But Getty has managed to fit one fan from all 48 teams into one stunningly colorful composite photograph.

The composite – a photography term for a photograph that is made up of multiple photographs – comes from several Getty staff photographers. The resulting photograph shows the myriad of ways fans show their support for their favorite team across their face.

The collection of 48 portraits spans from face paint to colorful glasses to hats and wigs. Combining fans from all the teams into a single photo doesn’t just create a colorful and striking image – it illustrates both how alike and how different fans are across the different countries.

But as a portrait photographer, what strikes me is the myriad of expressions coming from the composite. There’s joy, surprise, skirts, stares – it’s a photograph that also represents the range of emotions running through fans during every match.

The 2026 World Cup doesn’t kick off until June 11, but the event is already marking several firsts for the longstanding championship format. The 48 participating teams is a new record that means 104 total matches. The previous seven World Cups have featured 32 teams.

2026 is also the first time the World Cup has been jointly hosted by three nations. The matches are set to unfold across 16 host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico, culminating in the final game on July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, five miles (8 km) outside of New York City.

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This growing trend of sports stars making guest appearances as photographers at professional games outside their discipline doesn’t sit well with me.

Take Olympic ski champion Mikaela Shiffrin, for example, who recently spent a night photographing an NBA game between the Nets and the Hornets, kitted out in an official media vest with a pro mirrorless rig in hand.

Shiffrin isn't the only athlete to temporarily find themselves on the other side of the camera. Gymnast Suni Lee, for instance, photographed the Vikings’ win over the Lions in Minnesota on Christmas Day last year.

It’s hard not to see why these athletes get that honor. Shiffrin's appearance behind the camera, for example, was arranged as part of her press tour.

My worry is that these athletes may be getting one of the limited spots over an aspiring photographer who’s spent years honing their craft, or over the professionals who have invested blood, sweat, tears, and thousands of dollars to earn a courtside position.

Olympic ski champion, Mikaela Shiffrin, recently worked as a "pro photographer" at a Nets NBA game.

This isn’t a “bash Mikaela Shiffrin” piece – I actually think some of her images are quite good. Nor am I talking about athletes who eventually go on to become serious sports photographers, like Ken Griffey Jr., for example.

But giving a limited press spot to a sports star feels like a gut punch to photography as a whole, regardless of whether these athletes are genuinely interested in the art.

Sports stars are enjoying a night of photography, then walking away with a level of publicity 99.9% of working photographers could only dream of. And yes, I get that this is the point. It’s not really about photography. It’s about driving attention to celebrity athletes and revenue to the organizations that invite them to play photographer.

But there’s a better way to approach it. Instead of replacing professionals, why not have these athletes collaborate with them? Imagine a setup where a pro athlete works alongside an experienced sports photographer during a live broadcast. That would shift the focus back to the craft and give photography the visibility it deserves.

The best sports photographers understand the sport intimately – what better way to boost both sports photographers and athletes than by having them work together behind the camera?

Olympic gymnast, Suni Lee, also decided to be a pro photographer at Viking's NFL Christmas Day 2025 win.

It could even inspire fans of those athletes to pick up a camera themselves, or at least take a deeper interest in how sports imagery is actually made. It would also show photography for what it really is: a discipline built on years of practice, timing, and technical skill, not a casual hobby you can dabble in and expect decent results, let alone gain a media pass.

As a massive NHL fan, I’d love to see pro athletes from other sports rinkside, working alongside seasoned hockey photographers capturing the action. These athletes might not be photographers, but their experience in high-stakes games could give them a unique eye for what makes a compelling sports image. And with proper guidance from professionals, the results could be genuinely interesting.

Commanders quarterback, Mike Sainristil, was invited to photograph a Washington Capitals NHL game.

To be clear, this isn’t a call for celebrity photography segments or gimmicky TV formats where athletes are handed cameras. I can already imagine it turning into some strange Instagram Live series where only the most famous and good-looking of athletes are invited to look good pitchside, only with a camera in hand.

But if sports organizations are going to invite celebrities to shoot games anyway, then something should be done to ensure working photographers get a piece of the pie too. And having them take the invitee under their wing for a one-night mentorship could be a way of doing it while also shining a limelight on photography as a whole.

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Sports photographers often risk pricier gear for a good vantage point from the sidelines – and one photographer just found his gear on the wrong end of a Lionel Messi shot.

If you know even a little bit about soccer, you’ll have heard of Messi. Whether you think the FC Barcelona alumnus and current Inter Miami forward is the GOAT or not (I’m looking at you CR7 fans!), there’s no denying that he’s immortalized on the beautiful game’s Mount Rushmore alongside Pelé and Maradona (fourth place is up for grabs – I vote George Best).

So, when I came across a video shot by @manuelamoretta on the Daily Mail Sport’s Instagram, showing the Argentine forward smashing a shot past the post and straight into the path of a hapless photographer, I couldn't help but think to myself – I’d be getting that lens hood framed!

It looks like the poor photographer took it on the chin (or the lens…) and thankfully, it looks like the lens and camera weren't damaged. Still, official lens hoods can be expensive in their own right, and I couldn’t help noticing some of the comments downplaying the moment because of the existence of camera insurance. But broken equipment for a working photographer is no joke. Sure, you’d expect the kit to be insured, but even the best camera insurance in the world isn’t going to result in a replacement mid-game.

Thankfully, it looks like the lens hood took the brunt of the impact. I also noticed that the photographer had a second setup, and while professionals often use a two-camera setup to switch seamlessly between a pair of lenses, having a second camera and lens also serves as a vital backup should the worst happen.

Ultimately, though, the main thing is that the photographer wasn't harmed. I'm sure they'll be regaling friends and family about the time they weathered a full-pelt shot from ‘Leo’ Messi for years to come. As one commenter suggested: “Sell that on eBay.” But, frankly, if that happened to me, I'd keep that smashed lens hood in a place of honor on the mantle.

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The 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina were the most gender-balanced games in history, with a record number of female athletes. But, the official numbers from the games hint that the number of women photographing the games is also gradually increasing.

According to the International Olympic Committee numbers released this week, of the 691 accredited press photographers, 18 percent were women. While that number lags far behind the record-setting 44.7 percent of female athletes, the number is an uptick from the 15 percent of female photographers at the 2024 Paris games and the 13 percent at the 2022 Beijing games.

While the numbers mark a slow increase of women in sports photography, the change hasn’t gone unnoticed. At one of the team figure skating medal presentations, seven out of the eight photographers in attendance were women.

When photographer Danielle Earl tweeted a photo of the largely female pool of photographers – including a comment on the lone male in the group that he had never seen an event like that in his 13 Olympics – the post went viral. “This is my third Olympics, and the first day that I walked into this venue, I noticed right away,” she said.

“I think it’s really important to have people who are passionate about each sport driving the stories about each sport, but it is also important to have women who are employed full-time to cover sports,” said photographer Melanie Heaney, who started photographing figure skating nearly 20 years ago.

Heaney noted that figure skating has more women represented in the media than in traditional sports that are dominated by men. “Especially at the highest levels, at the Olympics, there haven’t been a large percentage of women working in sports photography.”

Photographing the Olympics is a position that often comes with prestige, as only a limited number of media accreditations are given out for the games. Looking at the numbers tends to offer hints at global trends for women in sports photography.

Notably, the number of local photographers at Milano Cortina was 33 percent female.

Out of the entire press pool, 25 percent were women. Photographers are one of the categories with the lowest number of female representatives, above local journalists (11 percent) and technicians (16 percent). The media fields with the highest number of women at the games are press attaché (43 percent) and support staff (40 percent).

“You can do it if you try it. I started when I was 14 years old,” Earl said. “You just keep going, practicing, making good connections, talking to people, being friendly and kind, I think that makes a big difference.”

The 2026 Winter Olympics notably had several mothers celebrating medals with their children – a sentiment that carried over to the press pit, too. “For me personally, being able to excel in my career makes me a better mom,” said Heaney, who has two young daughters. “It makes me more confident, and it makes me proud of who I am as a person. That makes me a good role model for my girls.”

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The New York Jets have become the first franchise in the National Football League to publish their official photography using image-streaming technology from SmartFrame Technologies, marking a notable shift in how professional sports teams manage and monetize their visual content.

Under the new partnership, the Jets will use the SmartFrame Images platform to retain full control over their intellectual property while unlocking new commercial opportunities through in-image advertising. Photography captured at games and official team events will be made available on SmartFrame’s platform, where publishers can embed the images for free without transferring ownership rights.

Crucially, all images and associated rights will remain with the Jets, allowing the organization to dictate how its official photography is displayed, distributed, and monetized across digital channels. The move reflects a growing emphasis among sports franchises on protecting content while maximizing its commercial value in an increasingly digital-first landscape.

The agreement represents SmartFrame’s first deployment with an NFL team and its first partnership with a U.S. professional sports franchise. The company’s technology is already in use across global sport, including organizations such as Manchester City FC, Everton FC, and Brentford FC, as well as governing bodies like New Zealand Rugby and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

Unlike traditional static image delivery, SmartFrame streams images directly to audiences, enabling interactive features such as full-screen viewing and Hyper Zoom, while embedding captions and content credentials to verify authenticity.

The platform also provides protection against image theft and delivers detailed audience insights, with revenue generated through high-impact advertising placements within the images themselves.

CEO Rob Sewell said the partnership signals a broader industry shift, adding that teams can now transform visual content into a strategic asset rather than a cost of doing business.

I’ve heard of video game photography, but I have to admit, one photographer’s setup for (real) photos of the 2026 Winter Olympics is one that I haven’t heard before. Getty photographer Jared C. Tilton used a Canon camera…and a PlayStation controller.

Tilton spent much of the Olympics taking high-angle shots over the ice, but he wasn’t using a drone or climbing up in the rafters. The Getty staff photographer’s setup used a Canon EOS R1 and 70-200mm lens inside a robotic rig.

The camera sent the footage straight to the photographer’s laptop. Using specially designed software, Tilton could then remotely trigger shots above the ice.

But what caught my attention was how he triggered the shots: Using a PlayStation controller. Drone controllers have always reminded me of video game controllers, and it makes sense that a moving robotic camera would need a similar setup in order to not just trigger a shot, but move the robot around to get the right composition.

The result of the complex setup is that Tilton was able to capture a bird ’s-eye view of iconic moments from above the ice. The high angle opened up a number of lovely compositions not possible shooting from the usual press section, such as athletes framed by the Olympic logo on the ice, a top-down view of Ilia Malinin’s viral backflip, and the huddle of hockey teams celebrating the gold.

The 2026 Winter Olympics ended with its closing ceremony on February 22, but now that the photographers are no longer busy shooting, I love that we’re getting glimpses of what it’s like to photograph the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee set a 3,000-person limit on press at the 2026 Winter Games, so spots for photographers were highly coveted.

Getty photographers shot more than six million images at the 2026 Winter Olympics across 39 editorial photographers and 24 commercial photographers.

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I’ve just seen an Instagram video that’s left me with mixed feelings about the future of videography, photography and sports.

Jason Fisher, former head of production at Disney, Paramount and AMC, calls Arcturus' admittedly impressive ‘Stage’ technology as “the future of sports production”.

As the video demonstrates, by positioning specialist cameras around a sports arena, Stage creates a web of imagery with which to create a full 3D render using AI to produce a “3D digital twin” of the action in real time.

The camera’s point of view can then be moved anywhere around the map, allowing for a huge range of previously impossible camera angles.

If you’ve ever played a sports game such as EA’s Madden NFL or FC (formerly FIFA), this would appear to function very similarly to the instant-replay feature that enables you to move a camera around the pitch at almost any angle.

Jason finishes the video by stating: “we’re no longer constrained by the physics of where you can place a camera, so the question now, it isn’t about tech, it’s about creative.”

As is often the case with emerging tech, I don’t have anything against the tech itself. It looks extremely impressive! But I am worried about the application and the ramifications that this could have on content creators and sports fans in general.

I can see something like Stage working very well in-studio for in-game or halftime analysis. But if the technology becomes realistic enough to start creeping its way into the broadcast itself, I would warn that no limitations and an abundance of information aren't always a good thing.

Firstly, all creatives understand that limitations can empower creativity. Break down those limitations – for example, no camera angle being beyond limits – and you risk having an adverse effect. I’ll talk more about this in due course, but sports are inherently human, and human camera operators and photographers play a key role in that human element.

Finding the best angle and choosing what to frame is a very human decision that's empowered by limitations. Shaky cameras, moments that aren't perfectly focused, celebrating players obscuring the view – these ‘imperfections’ all contribute to the emotional quality of the traditional broadcast viewing experience.

Secondly, I’m of the mind that too much information can negatively impact a sport. I’ll turn to the introduction of VAR technology in soccer to bolster my case. On paper, it should have been fantastic; no team would ever have to suffer the injustice of an incorrect refereeing decision again.

However, VAR has proven somewhat controversial among sports fans. Not only has it been unable to completely stamp out unfair decisions, there’s an argument that it ruins the flow of a game as the referee takes time out to review potential violations.

This is perhaps most noticeable when a goal is scored, with fan celebrations often put on hold to check the legality of the goal, thus sullying the immediate passion and energy of the experience. You could argue that what we don't see or know, as well as human error, all add to the emotional rollercoaster that makes sports so engrossing.

Last year I wrote an article about how boxing spectacle Eubank Jr vs Benn reminded me why sports photography must never be fully AI-automated. And that’s because sports are fundamentally human, and the misuse of emerging technology, risks diminishing that human element.

Let’s face it: the biggest draw of sports isn’t what’s happening on the field of play, it’s how it makes you and those around you feel. It’s about the discussion, the arguments, the passion, the emotion.

Too much information and too much creative freedom risks impacting the vital human element of sports negatively. I don’t think technology like Stage is inherently bad, I think it’s extremely exciting, but only if it’s used properly and doesn’t impact the human element in the process.

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The 2026 Winter Olympics have brought a number of legendary athletes to compete on international ice – and a number of inspirational sports photographers along with them. One technique in particular is turning the movement of ice skaters into ethereal art: the multiple exposure.

As a moment frozen in time, a single photograph doesn’t usually hint at what happened just before that split second or just after. But by exposing the image multiple times, Olympic photographers are capturing the athlete’s movement inside of a single frame.

Multiple exposure photography combines multiple images within one frame. (A double exposure is a multiple exposure with only two images.) When the technique was first used in the 1860s, it was known for its ghost-like effect of adding another image onto the first. Echoes of that ghost-like, ethereal quality can be seen in some of the multiple exposures coming from the Olympics, like in this multiple exposure photograph by Vittorio Zunino Celotto, highlighting the shape of Alysa Liu’s spin:

Photography has, naturally, evolved quite a bit since the 1860s, and with digital cameras, photographers have the ability to choose how the exposures are combined in camera. While the traditional additive double exposure is still possible, using other blend methods can eliminate the ghost-like appearance and instead repeat the athlete multiple times without the ghost-like effect, like in this shot by Dean Mouhtaropoulos of Liu during warm-ups in the Women’s Singles Freeskating:

Using double exposures in sports photography highlights the athletes movement, even when only milliseconds exist between exposures. I’ve spotted the technique in a few of the different types of sports at the 2026 Winter Olympics. In skating, using multiple exposures against the background of white ice creates a lovely ethereal effect.

Of course, the multiple exposure technique, while it shows movement, does obscure some details – which is why a number of the photographers shooting multiple exposures have done so during warm-ups.

With digital photography, multiple exposures can be created with software or, as is the case with these Olympic photos, in the camera, without editing, using a multiple exposure mode and firing off several shots.

Out of all the fantastic images coming from the 2026 Winter Olympics, I love seeing a mix of artistic experiments like the double exposure, thermal images, and even blurry photos mixed in with the traditional sports photography and documentary photography.

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Traditional sports photography freezes a moment in time with a fast shutter speed. But a number of photographers with a coveted gig covering the 2026 Winter Olympics are taking blurry photos – and they are stunning.

Watching the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, I couldn’t help but think that the events feel like both athleticism and art. The way that the figure skaters, skiers and athletes move celebrates sport as well as shapes, colors and composition.

Photographs can’t capture motion like videos can. But by blurring movement, photographers are creating a sense of motion – the shape and pattern created by the athlete’s body, the speed at which an athlete moves – in a single still image.

Don’t get me wrong, using motion blur is a technique that’s best used sparingly – and there are a number of fantastic, tack-sharp images coming from the Winter Games. But, I’m finding inspiration in these blurry images – which use a handful of different techniques – that create art from motion.

Panning

While sharp photos feel standard in sports photography, panning is a long-standing technique for sports photographers, particularly for events with predictable, track-based motion. For this technique, photographers use a slower shutter speed, but match the motion of the athletes with the camera.

Tracking the motion with the camera helps keep the athlete somewhat sharp while the background becomes a streak of motion blur. The entire athlete, of course, won’t be sharp.

In this shot of short track speed skating by Tim Clayton, the slow shutter – 1/6 second on the Canon EOS R6 Mark II – highlights the repetitive movement of the skater’s arms and legs. The final result is an image that helps convey the sense of motion and speed of these athletes.

Shutter drag

A flash’s brief burst of light can actually act like a second shutter speed of sorts. The flash’s intense, short burst of light freezes motion much in the way that a fast shutter does. But mix that short flash burst with a slow shutter speed, and you get a photo that is both sharp and blurred in the same frame.

This technique is called shutter drag. The motion during the flash duration is frozen, but the motion while the shutter remains open becomes blur, creating that mix of blur and sharpness.

The featured shot at the top of this article by Alex Slitz is sharp enough to see the concentration and expression on ski jumper Josphine Pagnier’s face, but leaves a colorful blur depicting her movement. This shot was taken with a 1/6 sec shutter speed at f/7.1 and ISO160 on the Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Fire the flash more than once in the image’s duration, and the motion can be frozen more than once – which is what I suspect is happening with the shot by Patric Smith above, catching Flora Tabanelli in the Freestyle Big Air training.

According to the metadata, that shot was captured with a 1/4 sec shutter speed at f/14 and ISO200 using a Canon EOS R1 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM plus a 1.4x teleconverter.

Zoom burst

The zoom burst is a technique that uses a slow shutter speed with a zoom lens. Photographers slow down the shutter, then, while the image is being taken, zoom in or out with the lens. The result is an image that feels like a starburst of motion.

The technique works particularly well here in this shot by Matthias Hangst, as the zoom burst blurs the flights of the opening ceremony, highlighting the iconic rings at the center. Hangst captured the shot with a 1/8 sec shutter speed on the Nikon Z9 with the Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II.

A blur filter

Blur filters use distorted glass to create the look of motion blur without requiring a slow shutter speed. That enables photographers to keep some of the image sharp while creating blur in other parts of it.

I think the blur filter works particularly well for this hockey shot by Andy Cheung. The blur creates the feeling of that rush towards the goal, yet the goal attempt is left perfectly sharp. Cheung took this shot with a quick 1/500 sec shutter speed, using the Sony A1 II and the FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II and a blur filter.

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There’s something quietly fascinating about the way Getty Images continues to push visual storytelling at the Winter Olympics, and its latest series, Winter Heat, feels like another confident step into unfamiliar but compelling territory.

Shot using the best thermal imaging cameras at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the project strips away surface detail to reveal something we rarely consider while watching the spectacle unfold: the sheer physical extremes athletes endure in sub-zero environments.

Thermal imaging isn’t photography in the traditional sense. It doesn’t rely on light, shadow, or color as we know them, but instead translates temperature into a spectrum of heat signatures. The result is a palette of glowing oranges, reds, blues, and purples that leans far more toward modern art than classical photographic expression. And yet, within that abstraction lies a raw truth. These images visualize the invisible - the contrast between frozen air and bodies pushed to their absolute limits.

What Winter Heat does so effectively is remind us that the Winter Olympics are not just about speed, elegance, or precision, but about survival at the margins of comfort. While we marvel at technique and timing, it’s easy to forget the brutal cold biting at exposed skin, the tension in muscles fighting both gravity and temperature. Thermal imaging turns that forgotten reality into the central subject, making the unseen impossible to ignore.

One image that truly stands out is captured by Ryan Pierse, showing a luge athlete training on day minus one of the Games. The athlete’s body burns through the frame in vivid orange, a glowing core of heat hurtling through an environment rendered in deep blues and purples. It’s a striking visual metaphor: human warmth versus an unforgiving winter landscape. The speed is implied, but the struggle is unmistakable.

The technology proves equally powerful on the ice rink. A standout frame by Pauline Ballet captures athletes competing in the Pair Skating – Short Program on day zero of the Games. Here, elegance meets intensity.

The dancers’ heat signatures bloom against the cooler surroundings, transforming graceful movement into a choreography of temperature. It’s less about form and more about effort - about what it takes, physically, to make something so demanding appear effortless.

Taken together, Winter Heat reinforces my belief that Olympic photography is evolving beyond pure action and results. Much like the documentary-style work now shaping how these Games are covered, this series focuses on context, environment, and human experience.

It may not look like photography as we’ve traditionally defined it, but it absolutely feels like the Winter Olympics - cold, extreme, and deeply human beneath the surface.

There’s something wonderfully poetic about Getty Images turning to a modified Graflex Speed Graphic camera at this year’s Winter Olympics. In an era obsessed with speed, resolution, and frame rates, the decision to look backward feels quietly radical.

It’s not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake; it’s a deliberate attempt to reconnect modern Olympic storytelling with the visual language that once defined it. And in doing so, Getty has found a way to capture the magic of these Games that feels both intimate and timeless.

Seventy years ago, when the Winter Olympics last took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, photographers relied on bulky press cameras to do the heavy lifting. The 1956 Games were covered with tools that demanded patience, precision, and intent - qualities that often shaped the images as much as the athletes themselves. By echoing the cameras used at the Cortina 1956 Winter Olympics, Getty isn’t just recreating a look; it’s revisiting a mindset.

At the heart of this experiment is the Graflex camera, an old-school large-format film camera once favored by press photographers. These were mechanical beasts - slow to operate, heavy to carry, and utterly unforgiving. Every frame mattered.

Traditionally loaded with sheet film, a Graflex demanded that the photographer slow down, observe the environment, and commit to the moment. That discipline is baked into its DNA, and it’s exactly what makes it so compelling in today’s Olympic landscape.

Of course, Getty Images doesn’t operate in a vacuum. This is a global agency built on instant delivery, real-time publishing, and images that need to travel across continents in seconds. So while I would have loved to see these Graflex cameras still loaded with film, reality intervenes.

The solution is clever: the cameras have been modified so iPhone 17 Pro smartphones capture images through the Graflex lens, allowing files to be transmitted immediately to picture editors around the world. It’s an elegant compromise between heritage and necessity.

Some will inevitably argue that if you’re not shooting film, the exercise is pointless. I get that sentiment - and I share a little of that disappointment. There’s a strong case to be made that these images could live as slower, more experimental works of art, with film adding another layer of meaning.

Yet I also understand Getty’s responsibility. These images aren’t destined for a gallery wall alone; they’re meant to be seen, shared, and felt while the Olympic flame is still burning.

What excites me most is how this approach reinforces my belief that documentary-style photography has become the new Olympic standard. These Graflex-inspired images aren’t just about frozen action or medal moments.

They’re about atmosphere, environment, and the emotional architecture of the Games - the crowds, the cold air, the quiet tension between runs. It’s storytelling that places the sport within its wider human context, and that’s where the Olympics truly come alive.

Getty’s “Back to the Future” series feels like a respectful nod to history with its eyes firmly on the present. By blending vintage tools with modern technology, it reminds us that innovation doesn’t always mean abandoning the past.

Sometimes, it means listening to it. And in doing so, Getty Images has found a beautiful way to capture the spirit of this year’s Winter Olympics - one frame at a time.

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The Milano Cortina 2026 is still doing what the Winter Olympics has always done: turning niche disciplines into prime-time drama. What’s changed is how we’re choosing to show it.

More and more, the defining frames aren’t the peak-action split seconds, but the pictures that explain the feeling of being there, the cold air, the scale, the noise, the nerves, the ritual. A documentary-style approach isn’t a side quest anymore; it’s becoming the new normal in sports photography.

That shift is easy to miss if you’re only counting medals and timestamps, but impossible to ignore if you’re watching the visual language evolve in real time. Photographers are widening the story on purpose: letting the venue breathe, letting spectators intrude, letting the mundane details carry the emotional weight. In other words, the sport is still the subject, but the environment is finally being treated as a main character rather than background dressing.

One image that nails this for me is Jonathan Gustafson in the Men’s Singles luge, shot by Al Bello for Getty Images, where the run is there, but the roar is the point. The athlete sits in the distance while the foreground holds the silhouetted crowd, as if you’re standing right in the stands with them, peering through bodies and breath and winter layers. It encapsulates the Olympic spirit precisely because it refuses to make the sport feel isolated; it shows performance as something the public helps create.

Then there’s the “pure gold” (pun fully intended) kind of documentary detail - like the close-up made by David Ramos of Zuzana Maděrová during the women’s parallel giant slalom medal moment, nails painted with “Italy 2026,” the rings, the Czech flag, and the Games' mascots Tina and Milo.

It’s not action, but it is competition - identity, pride, personality, and the intimacy of a victory that suddenly belongs to everyone watching. And it lands even harder knowing she surged to gold in a result that genuinely surprised the field.

Documentary sports photography also knows when to do the opposite: strip everything away, isolate the athlete, and let the viewer connect without distraction. That’s why I keep coming back to Jared C.

Tilton framing Alysa Liu with the Olympic rings hanging above - elegant, composed, and quietly intense. It’s a picture about focus as much as form, and it sits perfectly alongside the bigger narrative: Team USA’s figure skating team event win didn’t feel like a single moment so much as a shared, cumulative pressure release.

What’s interesting is that this way of seeing isn’t new – great photographers have always chased atmosphere – but the frequency of it is.

You can feel editors and shooters leaning into images that read like mini-features: crowd silhouettes, backstage gestures, equipment scars, hands shaking, eyes closing, flags half-folded, kids pressed to barriers.

The action shot still matters, but it’s no longer the only “hero.” The hero is the story, and the story is everything happening around the sport, not just the sport itself.

If the Winter Olympics have become the proving ground for this tide-turning, it’s because winter sports make context unavoidable: the weather, the altitude, the spectacle of temporary arenas, the sheer physical risk, the way sound behaves in cold air. Photographing it straight is fine.

Photographing what it feels like is better, and right now, that’s where the most memorable work is living.

My first job was at a small town newspaper – which is how I found myself suddenly spending every fall Friday night standing on the sidelines, listening to the smack of shoulder pads and photographing high school (American) football.

I never set out to be a sports photographer – in fact, I never really set out to be a photographer at all, but my first writing job was one that put a camera in my hands and, once I started, I found I never could really bear to put it down.

I’m not the sort of person that you would have expected to see working the late-night sports desk – I’m a bit of a nerd, more comfortable with a good book than cheering on a team from a sports bar. But, if you had walked into the newsroom around midnight on a Friday in the fall, there I was, a geek with a camera, quickly typing up the game and editing photos from my entry-level DSLR on a desktop Mac that, even at the time, was a bit of a dinosaur.

I was never much of a sports fanatic, but I worked at a newspaper that covered four towns with three writers, so I found myself quickly learning to anticipate the plays and adjust to where I was on the sidelines.

There’s something about watching the game close enough to hear the smack of shoulder pads, to smell the sweat from the fields and the popcorn from the stands. There’s just something to watching the game through a viewfinder, with the constantly looming threat of needing to jump out of the way of a play that comes too far out of bounds to keep the adrenaline flowing.

After experiencing that, in fact, watching a game on the TV just isn’t the same. Will I tune into the Super Bowl this weekend? Tune in to the Winter Olympics? Yeah, but I will probably spend just as much time trying to spot which cameras are on the sidelines as I do watching the actual plays. I miss the thrill that comes with not just watching the play, but trying to catch the action on camera, and the thrill that comes when I manage to get the timing and perspective just right.

I’m no longer a sports photographer, but my time spent on the sidelines with a camera in hand is still an era of my life that I look back on fondly. I don’t regret my experience at all – though it does mean watching a football game on TV comes with a pang of envy for the photographers able to see the action in person.

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The New England Patriots have the NFL record for the most Super Bowl appearances – tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers – and photographer David Silverman has been on the sidelines, camera in hand, for nearly all of them.

On Sunday, February 08, the Patriots will face off against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. For sports photographer David Silverman (@dspicsphoto), the event marks his 11th time at the Super Bowl – including every Patriots Super Bowl appearance except the 1985 game.

Silverman, who is a freelance photographer and has shot for the Patriots for 34 years, started capturing the games with a manual focus, manual wind film camera. For the 2026 Super Bowl, he’ll be on the sidelines on game day with three mirrorless bodies.

The sports photography veteran has packed three Sony A1 bodies for the game, along with four lenses: a 16-35mm, 12-24mm, 70-200mm, and a 200-600mm. For the pre-game team photo event, Silverman packed a Sony A7R IV with a 24-105mm lens. (The first time he tried a Sony was, ironically, at a Super Bowl, when Sony representatives attended the game in 2017.)

The Sony A1’s 30 fps burst speed is a far cry from the gear that Silverman started out with. He was working at a film lab when he connected with someone who was an intern for the Patriots at the time, a connection that meant he stepped straight from film development to sports photography on the NFL level.

At the beginning of his career, Silverman worked with an all-manual film Nikon, including manual focus, taking photos only “as fast as I could turn the handle,” he laughed. He has worked with several different camera brands over the years, switching to Canon as autofocus SLRs became mainstream.

But perhaps the biggest difference between Silverman’s first Super Bowl experience to now is what happens after the click of the shutter. “Doing film, I was up all night and delivering it the next day by car and making 8 by 10s in my darkroom at home. Now, I literally take a card out. Nowadays, we have a wire transfer right connected to our camera, and it's sent to somebody who's editing, at any location.”

Silverman says he was an early adopter of digital, switching around 1998-1999, recalling staying up all night after spotting the digital cameras at CES. The transition from DSLR to mirrorless then changed the game again, largely with the ability to preview your exposure from the viewfinder.

Experiencing the Super Bowl from the sidelines is a childhood dream that Silverman has now experienced several times over. “It's not your average game,” he said. “If you shoot a game during the year, it's exciting. [The Super Bowl] ramps it up about a 1000%. Your adrenaline's going all day long of what can be, what should happen, what could happen. You're on a high all day long.”

The biggest challenge, he says, is getting the shot with all the other people there. In the past, on the sidelines, there were so many people that Silverman would have his brother reserve his spot on the sideline with his gear while he photographed pre-game. After COVID-19, the sidelines aren’t quite as crowded, and there’s now usually a little more to move around.

Silverman advises budding sports photographers to just keep shooting – and play nice. “The best thing you can do is work hard and be nice. And that gets you a lot. If you're a good shooter and you're a nice person, that gets you ahead.”

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The Super Bowl comes with a few givens – championship-level athleticism, the best commercials of the year – and, on the sidelines, John Biever with his camera. Biever, 74, is the only photographer to photograph every single Super Bowl game, and after Sunday, the longtime photographer plans to retire, making Super Bowl LX his last.

In fact, Biever’s history on the sidelines starts before the NFL’s national championship game even earned the Super Bowl moniker. He was just 14 when he photographed the NFL Championship Game in 1965, alongside his father, Vern Biever, who was the team photographer for the Green Bay Packers. Despite being only 14, one of the images that he took at the 1965 game between the Packers and the Cleveland Browns was published in a magazine, a black-and-white photo of quarterback Bart Starr.

The following year, Biever would photograph the Packers' win in the first-ever Super Bowl, again alongside his dad, who would go on to photograph 35 Super Bowls alongside his son. The first ever Super Bowl wasn’t the same crowds – or number of photographers – that the game has today. One of Biever’s all-time favorite photos shows wide receiver Max McGee running to the end zone with a line of empty seats behind him.

“First of all, there weren’t that many photographers on the sideline for the first one, like there are now,” Biever told the Associated Press. “I remember Bob Hope being next to me at one point on the sidelines at the first Super Bowl. Hollywood stars would show up and just walk on the field and go where they wanted to go. And here’s Bob Hope, and it’s like, wow, for a kid from Wisconsin, that’s pretty cool.”

Now, Biever has noted that there are usually three rows of photographers, and the sidelines have far less room to move around.

The second year, the teenage photographer would catch the winning touchdown for the 1967 Ice Bowl on film, a touchdown that allowed the Packers – and the Bievers – to photograph the second Super Bowl too.

The Packers' Super Bowl streak ended after the first two, but Vernon Biever’s friend at NFL Films helped the father-son photo team get passes for the next several games, until both of the Vievers received full NFL credentials.

John Biever would go on to college, then work as a photo journalist before spending 30 years with Sports Illustrated, then photographing the games for NFL Photos.

That decades-long career comes with its fair share of stories. Once, he was hit in a play at the opening kickoff and broke his camera and his glasses. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, photographers weren’t allowed on the field, but Biever managed to get a stadium seat near the end zone and continue his streak of games.

Over the years, the gear has changed too, evolving from film to digital. In 2003, Biever used digital for the first time at a Super Bowl – the Canon EOS 1D with the EF 600mm f/4L IS USM lens. “I'm sure the editors were not exactly sure these little digital flash media cards would work,” he said. Over the years, he’s worked with both Canon and Nikon systems.

Biever told the New York Times that Super Bowl 60 will be his final one, with retirement in his future. The photographer will turn 75 just a few days after this year’s Super Bowl, leaving behind an iconic sports photography legacy.

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Legendary sports photographer Peter Read Miller has sadly passed away at the age of 78. The Chicago-born creative leaves behind a staggering body of work during an incredible career that lasted more than four decades. Peter was perhaps best known for his 35-year relationship with Sports Illustrated, where he worked as both a staff and contract photographer, with over 100 cover images to his name.

During his prolific career, he photographed some of sport’s biggest names, including Usain Bolt, LeBron James, and John Madden. He covered a staggering nine Olympic Games, over 41 Super Bowls, and 14 NBA Finals. He also photographed the Stanley Cup, the World Series, the Kentucky Derby, the NCAA Basketball Final Four, and both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup.

Sports Illustrated was just the tip of the iceberg, though, with image credits in some of publishing’s biggest titles, such as Time, Life, People, and The New York Times. Peter also worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca-Cola, Nike, Adidas, Microsoft, and of course, Canon, which honored the photographer by stating on X (formerly Twitter): “We mourn his loss with his family and the global photographic community, and honor a legacy that will endure.”

Peter was a well-known Canon stalwart who didn’t just immortalize some of sport’s greatest moments with Canon kit, but championed the brand via Canon’s Explorers of Light, of which he was a member for over 25 years. Fittingly, he was also honored by the brand as one of the Canon Legends, a team of professionals said to have made a “profound impact” as leading members of their genre.

When Peter wasn’t capturing sporting history, he was educating the next generation of sports photographers by leading workshops. And indeed, About Photography ran a quote from Peter that really conveys his wisdom: “The best sports photographs are not just about the action; they're about the emotion and human drama that unfolds during competition.”

Despite his busy career, Peter still found the time to write a book: Peter Read Miller on Sports Photography: A Sports Illustrated photographer's tips, tricks, and tales on shooting football, the Olympics, and portraits. The sports photography legend was also awarded a variety of accolades during his career. He won the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Dave Boss Award of Excellence and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Award for Sports Photography.

Peter Read Miller truly was a sports photography giant.

Above: Watch this 2013 B&H presentation in which Peter Read Miller talks about his work in detail

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Henri Cartier-Bresson is synonymous with the decisive moment. But I think we have a tendency to oversimplify the legendary photographer’s teaching. Photographers are told again and again to capture the decisive moment but, as somebody who does a lot of sports photography, I’ve learned that the decisive moment isn’t always the decisive moment. Let me explain.

One of the most famous boxing photos of all time was captured by Herb Scharfman in 1952. It depicts Rocky Marciano connecting with then-heavyweight champion of the world, Jersey Joe Walcott (above), moments before a 13th-round KO.

The photographer froze Joe’s rippling waves of skin and muscle, and the beads of sweat flying from his brow in a capture that’s often imitated, but has arguably never been bettered.

However, this might lead you to assume that the connecting punch or knockout blow is boxing's decisive moment. And as a spectator, perhaps it is. But for the photographer, things aren’t always that simple.

The most famous boxing photograph of all time – also the most famous sports image of all time – was taken by Scharfman’s peer, Neil Leifer, in 1965 (below). It depicts an enraged Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, sprawled onto the canvas, shouting: “Get up and fight, sucker!”

This time, the decisive moment wasn’t the connecting blow, but the immediate aftermath.

These two photographs can teach us a lot about the decisive moment. Both iconic, engrossing, enduring photographs, with one depicting a climactic moment of action and one the immediate aftermath. Scharfman’s photograph, as you see it here, is heavily cropped, with the original image depicting both boxers, full-length, alongside the referee and lighting above the ring.

I believe this photo to be iconic for two reasons. Firstly, its visceral brutality. Joe’s face is contorted in such an unnatural manner that it immediately conveys the ferocity of Marciano’s right hook. Secondly, it’s a moment in time that really encapsulates Marciano’s legendary career.

To this day, he remains the only heavyweight champion to have retired undefeated – and he was known for his devastating punching power, frequent knockouts and brawler fighting style, all of which Scharfman’s image perfectly conveys.

Leifer’s photo, on the other hand, was captured only a couple of years before Ali would endure a temporary ban from boxing as a conscientious objector. "The Greatest" was at the peak of his powers, but Ali vs Liston 2 would be drenched in controversy when some believed the challenger went down too easily.

To me, Leifer’s “Get up and fight, sucker!” photo really embodies Muhammad Ali’s character.

The fact that Ali is defending his world heavyweight title, yet his first reaction to his downed opponent is to will them back onto their feet, really conveys his fearlessness and belief in his own ability. It's a visually stunning photograph, too. Ali is backlit by the ring lighting, itself enhanced by a smoky haze, with shadows tracing the contours of his peak physical form, every bit the Adonis.

We all know about Bresson’s decisive moment, but how many of us take the time to really consider what the decisive moment really means? Too often it's simplified as the climactic moment of action. But I think it’s a delicate blend of interest, aesthetic and context.

Watch a game of soccer and the decisive moment is the game winner hitting the back of the net. But for the photographer, it might be the tackle that forces a last-minute penalty. It might be the team piling on top of the game-winning goal scorer.

In street photography, it might be the look of horror on the mother's face as a seagull swoops to snatch her child’s ice-cream or the poor child screaming, empty cone in hand, with the seagull halfway out of the frame.

Next time you head out, don’t mix up the climax of the unfolding situation with the decisive moment. Sometimes the two line up, sometimes the latter is a split-second before or a split-second after, and sometimes they’re miles apart.

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As a journalist writing photography news for over a decade it takes something rather special to make a new camera feature stand out. I must admit, I can’t but involuntarily roll my eyes when another new camera model surpasses the old one with little more than a few more megapixels to sing and shout about – it’s not quite the photographic revolution I’m hoping for when I see the press release land in my inbox.

However, two features that did genuinely get me very excited in recent times both came from Canon with its Canon EOS R1 and Canon EOS R5 Mark II flagships were launched in tandem back in November 2024.

Both sports powerhouses were launched around the time of the 2024 summer Olympics to show off what the flagships could do. Two of my favorite features that you’ll find on both the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and its bigger brother the EOS R1, is Action Priority and Register Face Priority, let me explain why…

Action Priority is a mode that uses AI algorithms trained on fast-paced sports where a ball travels between players quickly, specifically for three ball sports: Basketball, Volleyball and Soccer (or football as we call it here in the UK). These algorithms will be a godsend to professional sports photographers regularly taking photos of any of the three aforementioned sports as it can accurately predict where the ball is going to be in the frame and I’ve extensively tested it too and been seriously impressed by the results.

Canon’s Action Priority can detect tackles, strikes and passing in football, spiking in volleyball and even alleyoops in basketball. While it’s not perfect, it’s infinitely better than I could do with older autofocusing technology and it’s a great sign of where this sort of technology will go in the future – it’ll only get better!

The second feature is called Register Face Priority and works particularly well when paired with the previously mentioned Action Priority. Register Face Priority allows you to register up to 10 faces at a time, either using a reference on your memory card or by taking a fresh picture through the Register Face Priority menu. You can then rank these 10 people in order of importance – brilliant if you want to focus on your own kids playing on the pitch, star players – hell, it’s even perfect for weddings where you can make the bride and groom the priority for focus and close friends and family after them.

Lastly, there’s a third feature both cameras have called Pre-Capture, which helps you catch the shot even if you didn’t press the shutter button fast enough, as the cameras are always recording a buffer of images to give you a bit of a safety net in those fast, high stakes moments. All three of these features combined make Canon’s EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II pretty unstoppable when it comes to ball sports.

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Canon’s latest AI autofocus technology needs to be seen to be believed! Everyone knows about the Eye Detection AF, which locks on your subject – whether it’s a soccer player, owl in flight, or racing driver in a car on the track. But one setting that doesn’t get enough attention and applause is Register People Priority.

This is a brilliant feature available in cameras like the new EOS R6 Mark III, EOS R3, EOS R1, and the EOS R5 Mark II, which I was using to take photos of my son playing soccer at the weekend.

It’s simple to set it up. To register the person you want to focus on, a soccer player in a match in my situation, just scroll to the AF menu and select Register People Priority.

Switch Register People Priority to ON, then you can take a quick headshot of your subject using the Photograph People And Register option.

Your Canon EOS camera will now save the face information to prioritize your subject when using autofocus. Alternatively you can use an existing image on a memory card and register that.

It goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – you need your Canon EOS camera’s AF modes already set up to shoot action sports. So I’ll list the settings here I used on my Canon EOS R5 Mark II, in case you don’t already know for soccer:

My menu settings for shooting soccer

AF pink menu 1:

AF operation - SERVO

AF area - Expand AF area: Around

Whole area tracking Servo AF - On

AF pink menu 2:

Subject to detect - People

Eye detection - Auto

Register People Priority - On

Action priority setting 1 - Enable

Action priority setting 2 - Sports Events – Soccer

Also use High-Speed Continuous Drive mode, and set the AF-ON button for back-button focusing to give you more control.

Now you’re good to go! During the match, aim your camera and ensure the player you want to track is in your frame. Whenever the camera highlights your registered subject, a little ‘headshot in a box’ icon appears in the viewfinder (or rear screen) along with a small white cross-hairs box – so you can be sure it’s your player. Press AF-ON to focus, and a small blue box confirms focus locked, and press the shutter button to fire off a burst of shots.

In the past, when shooting sports without Register People Priority, cameras would focus on the player closest to me, or the players with their face looking towards me and easiest to focus, but not always the player I wanted to focus on.

With Register People Priority set up, as long as the camera can see the player’s head (and ideally the eyes, nose and mouth are visible) it will highlight them in the viewfinder for you to focus and shoot. During the match, I found the R5 Mark II could find my player even when in profile or if their hair was in their eyes.

I’m a convert and will be using this super-clever mode every time for sports photos in the future.

If you’ve ever tried shooting fast cars from a moving vehicle, you’ll know it’s a delicate balance of speed, stability and not falling out. Enter Porsche’s secret weapon: a 718 Boxster S converted into a dedicated camera car. 

Suprisingly, this wasn’t designed by some elite motorsport R&D team, but by nine second-year apprentices in Porsche’s training programme. Yet it’s a thing of beauty that's apparently been getting the shots (silently, reliably) since 2017.

What's a camera car?

For the uninitiated, a camera car is the vehicle used to film other vehicles in motion. Think of those dramatic tracking shots in commercials, motorsport promos or glossy car reviews. 

The camera car has to be fast enough to keep up, smooth enough not to shake the footage to bits, and safe enough for a photographer or cinematographer to hang off it in all kinds of precarious positions.

Porsche had a problem: its previous camera car, an older Boxster, couldn’t keep pace with the newer machinery tackling the track at the Porsche Experience Center Leipzig in Germany. Instead of sending the job to a specialist shop, they handed it to a team of apprentices as a real-world engineering challenge.

The starting point was a standard 718 Boxster S: 350 horsepower, mid-engined balance and enough agility to chase down a Cayman GT4 or 911 Turbo whilst keeping everything smooth.

Thoughtful design

Off came the soft-top roof. In its place: a robust roll bar, serving both as safety protection and a high mounting point for cameras. The entire car was resprayed matte black, eliminating reflections that would otherwise ruin a shot. Every surface was considered. Every bracket had a purpose.

Steel mounts were added to the front, sides and rear to allow rigs, arms, stabilised heads or handheld operators to work from whichever angle the shot demanded. Both the frunk and trunk were padded and fitted with harness anchors so a photographer could actually work from inside them securely. A standing platform between the seats offered yet another shooting option, again with a harness point.

Though it looks like a stealth performance special, the mechanicals remain stock. And that’s the point: the Boxster already has the power, grip and ride balance needed for smooth motion work. What really matters is practicality and uptime.

Internal wiring lets the camera or rig system connect directly to a laptop for monitoring or backup. A power inverter keeps equipment charged throughout the shoot. That means no “hang on, we need to find a socket” moments: when you're filming cars that cost more than most houses, you don’t want to interrupt the rhythm. In short, this Boxster gets out of the way and lets the shot happen.

Motion matters

For photographers, it's all a timely reminder that motion changes everything. To convey speed, you can’t just freeze it; you have to move with it. A camera car lets you shoot at matched velocity, creating natural motion blur, real parallax and a sense of momentum that no gimbal or drone can fully replicate.

It also shows that functional creativity doesn’t always start at the top. Sometimes the smartest solutions come from fresh eyes, fewer preconceptions and a willingness to ask: what do we actually need to make the shot? This Boxster is a working lesson in designing for the image, not the spec sheet.

What I love most is that it didn’t launch with fanfare. It wasn’t teased or previewed. It just quietly went to work; capturing GT cars, motorsport icons and hillclimb heroes, from angles the average tracking setup could only envy.

Now that it’s finally out in public view, it stands as a reminder that the most exciting piece of kit on a shoot isn’t always the camera. Sometimes, it’s the car you shoot from.

In a recent Canon USA video, titled What’s in Canon Explorer of Light Larry Chen’s Gear Bag, one of the world’s most renowned automotive photographers pulls back the curtain on the equipment that fuels his work.

Larry Chen’s career has taken him trackside at some of the biggest motor races in the world, into workshops and collections, and across the globe documenting car culture. His kit reflects that diversity; ready for anything from blistering speed on the circuit to intimate details in the garage.

At the heart of Chen’s setup are three Canon EOS R1 camera bodies. You heard that right, three! To most photographers that might sound like overkill, but for him it’s essential. Action in motorsport happens in split seconds; there’s no time to swap lenses when a car is flying past in the blink of an eye. By carrying three bodies, Chen keeps a wide-angle, a medium and a telephoto lens mounted at all times.

The R1 itself is a beast. Lightning-fast autofocus, industry-leading dynamic range and a massive electronic viewfinder that enables Chen to compose with precision as quick moments unfold. And while it’s tailor-made for action and sports photography, Chen points out it’s just as effective for static car portraits, offering enough latitude in the files to correct exposure in post.

ABOVE: Watch What’s in Canon Explorer of Light Larry Chen’s Gear Bag

The lenses Chen uses tell their own story. Chen leans heavily on fast primes, each with a specific role to play. The RF 35mm f/1.4 is his storytelling lens, versatile enough to frame an entire car in its environment or to step in close on a driver in the pits.

The RF 50mm f/1.2 is a low-light specialist, gathering available light under floodlit tracks or in dimly lit workshops while delivering creamy bokeh to separate the subject from the scene. The RF 85mm f/1.2 is another favorite, an "absolute monster," as Chen calls it, capable of isolating a vehicle or a person with stunning background separation, even in near-darkness.

Then there’s the RF 135mm f/1.8, a lens Chen prizes so highly he says it would be one of just two he’d carry for life. For years, he relied on the EF 135mm f/2; now, with the wider aperture of the RF version, he can shoot trackside, frame entire vehicles, or pick out the smallest details "from badges to shift knobs" with clinical precision.

On the Zoom side of things, Chen’s bag carries the stalwarts of automotive photography. The RF 15-35mm f/2.8 covers the super-wide end, crucial for cramped garages, crowded collections or dramatic perspective shots on the track.

The RF 24-70mm f/2.8 is his bread-and-butter lens, a versatile tool that works for everything from car-to-car rolling shots to pitlane coverage. Its image stabilization, when paired with the R1’s in-body stabilization, makes handheld motion shots surprisingly smooth.

And, of course, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8 rounds out the range, a staple lens in any car photographer’s arsenal. Chen uses it extensively trackside, where its reach and subject separation are invaluable for both panning action shots and static compositions. Light enough to carry all day yet powerful enough to deliver beautiful compression at 200mm, it’s the telephoto he trusts to do it all.

A curious detail in Chen’s kit is the duct tape wrapped around his lenses. Far from being cosmetic, it’s his way of adding an extra layer of protection. Shooting motorsport means dealing with dirt, dust and debris kicked up by cars at high speed, and the tape helps keep his lenses safe from the elements. It’s a small, practical hack that speaks volumes about the demands of photographing in environments where grit and chaos are part of the job.

Now, most of us can’t dream of carrying three EOS R1 bodies or half the Canon RF lens lineup in a single bag. But that’s not really the point. What Chen’s gear reveals is the level of preparation and adaptability required at the highest level of automotive photography.

Each piece of equipment is chosen for a reason – whether it’s speed, flexibility, or image quality – and together, they enable him to respond to whatever unfolds in front of his lens. For enthusiasts, it’s both aspirational and instructive, a glimpse into how one of the best in the business equips himself to capture the thrill, the detail, and the sheer beauty of car culture.

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If this kind of insight is interesting to you, I recently wrote about the kit renowned wildlife photographer Keith Ladzinski uses on assignment.

You might also like our guides on the best camera for sports photography and our top tips on motorsport photography.

The U.S. Open witnessed a moment of pure chaos on Sunday night when Daniil Medvedev erupted in fury after photographer Selcuk Acar stepped onto the tennis court mid-serve, sparking a seven-minute standoff that overshadowed Benjamin Bonzi’s first-round victory.

The man at the center of it all, freelance photojournalist Selcuk Acar, now finds himself without accreditation and at the heart of a heated debate about professionalism, responsibility, and the fine line sports photographers walk when working at the highest level.

You can see the full chaos unfold in the video below:

The incident unfolded during a tense third set on Louis Armstrong Stadium. With Bonzi serving on match point, Acar entered the court, interrupting play and prompting chair umpire Greg Allensworth to award Bonzi another first serve. Medvedev, the 13th seed, was incensed, directing his anger at the umpire and rallying the crowd in protest. Arms raised, he tried to whip up boos, delaying play for nearly seven minutes in a dramatic scene that quickly went viral.

Acar, however, insists he is the victim of a misunderstanding. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he claimed a security official told him:

“The match is stopped,” before he entered the court, adding that cameras would show him following instructions. “This incident has already turned into a lynching, and although I’m innocent, I’ve suffered greatly,” he said. With a résumé that includes NATO summits, presidential visits, and the FIFA World Cup, Acar stressed he is not the type of professional to make “such a mistake.”

The United States Tennis Association saw it differently. In a statement released to media, the USTA confirmed Acar had been told to stay in position and ignored instructions from both security and the umpire. His credential for the tournament was revoked immediately.

“The photographer disregarded these instructions and improperly entered the court between serves on match point,” the statement read.

As someone who spent two decades photographing international sport, I find the issue clear-cut. Every major event has a press briefing. You are told the go and no-go zones, the rules on equipment, and - crucially - what you can and cannot do during live play. These aren’t vague guidelines; they are hard lines designed to protect the integrity of the sport.

Common sense dictates that if the game is live, you stay put. Only when play is stopped do you move. Having watched the footage back, I believe Acar was at fault. Mistakes happen, but when you are a freelancer, you know the stakes. You follow the rules to the letter and always err on the side of caution. If you don’t, you accept the consequences - up to and including being asked to leave.

For Medvedev, the moment was another flashpoint in a career marked by combustible exchanges with crowds and officials. For Acar, it has become a costly lesson in the unforgiving spotlight of Grand Slam tennis, and for those of us who’ve lived behind the lens in the world of sport, it’s a stark reminder: you may be there to get the picture, but the play always comes first.

Following Lionel Messi's record-breaking move to Inter Miami, soccer has arguably never been more popular stateside. So, if you're a fan of the beautiful game, I've come up with a quick tutorial for freezing the fast-passed action. And best of all, this technique can be applied to other team games such as football and hockey. If you're keen on advancing your sports photography further, here's how to photograph football like a pro.

While getting a press pass for an MLS or English Premier League game might be out of reach, your local soccer club or a lower league club should be far more approachable. For a club at the bottom of the football pyramid, you might well be able to wander freely around the side of the pitch, but in most cases, you’ll be positioned to one side of the goal until half time.

While the best cameras for sports photography are great investments, lenses should be your main area of concern if you're just starting off. To record bone-breaking tackles and nifty footwork further up the field, you’ll need a much longer lens. If you’re concentrating on goalmouth heroics then 200-300mm will be required but when the action heads to the opposite end of the field, I'd recommend something more like 400-600mm. Either way, the best lenses for sports photography are a great shout.

Metering matters

Soccer under lights or at midday can result in underexposed photos if you use zone/evaluative metering, so in those circumstances it might be better to use centre-weighted metering. The key issue is having a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action, so open the aperture up, dial in 1/800 sec (minimum) in Manual mode and set the ISO to Auto. Definitely use focus tracking, or continuous focus, and shoot with a continuous or burst mode to capture the key moments.

Essential kit

It’s worth having one of the best monopods to provide stability and also make it more comfortable to hold the camera for long periods of time. Bring a stool for yourself. Some kind of weather-proof system is a good idea, so make sure you invest in the best raincovers just in case there’s a downpour.

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To get close to the action you'll need as big a zoom lens as you can afford. Discover some of the best telephoto lenses here. You'll need storage and The Best CFexpress Cards are some of the fastest memory cards you can buy. After capturing the action, it's time to edit your photos, with this collection of the Best Photo Editing Software around.

Question: what do you get if you have a sports player posing for a stylised portrait photo? A ‘sportrait’, that’s what. It’s not a genre we’d come across before in Digital Camera Towers, so we were surprised and delighted to discover that a practitioner of sportraits was based within 100 miles of us – and not on the other side of the pond. James Clarke is a big fan of American sport and sporting culture and has imported ‘sportraiture’, for want of a better word, to the UK. He has also given it his own twist, eschewing the studio shoot approach of the US variant and opting instead to work with the athletes on the playing field, to give his photos extra context.

One of these locations is Exeter University, where Clarke has teamed up with the Exeter Demons, BUCS [British Universities and Colleges Sport] Division 1 National Champions 2023-2024. On this occasion, Clarke was taking photographs for the Demons to use in their recruiting drive for the new academic year, and he invited Digital Camera along for kick-off.

James Clarke, photographer

Specializing in shooting sport and fitness, and as passionate about photography as he is about sport, Clarke can draw on over two decades of experience in the sporting world. www.justjamesmedia.com.

What is a sportrait?

“A sportrait is simply a portrait but in sports kit,” explains Clarke. “It can be static, like most of the shots today, or it can be dynamic action – in some of today’s pictures, someone was throwing a ball in the air and someone was diving onto a mat and catching it.

“For me, especially the way I want to shoot them, a sportrait is also about showing off people’s hobbies while they’re in sports kit. While that wasn’t what we were doing today, on a previous shoot I’ve photographed someone reading a book with their sports kit on, which captured their personality quite well.

“Sportraits are really big in America, obviously, not just at professional level but also in university sports and all the way down to junior level at high schools.”

“For this style of photography, I need the background to be as dark as possible, which I do via shutter speed. Once I’m happy with the setting, I use an ND [neutral-density] filter to overpower the sun, which I’m using as an extra light source. When I’m happy with how the natural light levels are looking, I’ll switch on the lights. Now I’m getting a dark background and shadows, with the lights making the subject pop.”

When I arrive at the appointed time, Clarke has already set up his equipment and is about to get started. Nine players from the Demons have shown up to be photographed, and Clarke will run through a variety of setups with them over the next five hours.

Key to how things will pan out today is his ‘look book’, something often seen at fashion shoots, where the photographer and creative director choose from a series of photos or drawings how they want the individual shots to look like. Today’s options range from static shots to action shots, all of which will be captured on the pristine astroturf pitch and using the relevant props. Having put the look book together, Clarke can interpret what his models want, and suggest alternatives if he feels the requests are unachievable.

Shooting his sportraits on location means that Clarke has to bring a car boot full of kit and caboodle with him – cameras, lenses, lights, light stands, softbox diffusers and more – and hope that the weather he is banking on plays along. The initial signs are promising, as the sun that Clarke needs for the shoot (see ‘The technical bit’, left) is shining.

Having captured a series of static shots of the Demons, who have each indicated their preferences from the lookbook, Clarke moves on to start the dynamic ones. The weather decides to get in on the action, too; the benign conditions I arrived in have given way to gusty showers, and now I can see why Clarke has packed bath towels with his camera kit. Rather than dismantling his lights while it rains, and putting them up again afterwards, he drapes towels over them.

Despite the challenging conditions – so far, we’ve had three seasons in one day, and it keeps cycling between them – Clarke works quickly and methodically, and his energy levels rub off on his subjects. He comes across like a sports coach with a camera, directing the players and swatting problems away as they occur – like a light stand that succumbs to the wind.

So why has he diversified from fitness and wedding photography to sportraits, I ask? “It stems from me being inspired by American sports and loving photography,” he explains. “There are lots of people who do sportraits in the US, and three in particular who inspire me. But I’m not aware of anyone who does it this way in the UK – there are some who shoot sportraits in studios, so to do it like this is pretty unique, I think.”

I bet Clarke wishes he was working in a studio right now, as the other softbox catches a big gust and topples over. But he doesn’t seem unduly fazed – this is probably less frantic than shooting a wedding, after all.

The action shots certainly lift the mood caused by the change in the weather. Clarke moves through capturing a series of setups – kicking a field goal, where one player kicks the ball held by a teammate; a vertical catch, where the ball falls into the centre of the frame from a distance; a dynamic catch, where the player dives horizontally to catch the ball, with a mat underneath to cushion his fall; and releasing the ball from a scrum – reminiscent of rugby union were it not for the shoulder pads, helmets and gloves.

Some of the action routines that Clarke is trying to capture are more complex than others, but the Demons players are well-drilled, and deliver what he needs with determination and efficiency.

There’s a line of thought that says you should photograph what you love (and it can be noticeable if you don’t). This is clearly in evidence today. Clarke’s knowledge of the sport and his command of its lingo is impressive for a layperson like myself to witness. There are discussions about the D-line, the O-line, offence and defence. If my ears aren’t playing tricks on me, I think that Clarke is starting to sound like an American.

“Yes!” he laughs. “I lived in the States for three-and-a-half years and followed football, baseball and basketball – probably in that order. When I came back to live in the UK, it took me a while to find American football, but there are three leagues here, plus a women’s league and a university league. So American football is growing in popularity in the UK.”

But sportraits aren’t limited to American football. The practice and style of sportraits might have emanated in the US, but it can work for any sport, enthuses Clarke, and the formula isn’t a rigid one.

For the last shot of the day, which isn’t a sportrait but one for the Exeter Demons photo album and social media accounts, nine Demons line up at the edge of the pitch in arrow-tip formation and stretch an arm out, a ring on each of their ring fingers – American football teams that win competitions or championships are given rings as a memento of the achievement, and Clarke crouches down to capture a signature American football image.

Getting a glimpse into gridiron has made for a fun morning, and it has also been great to get up close with a new and unfamiliar photographic genre. Touchdown!

Essential kit for shooting sportraits

Our pro’s tried and tested equipment:

Sony A7 IV

“Its 33MP resolution is enough for today’s shoot, and its flip-out screen lets me get down low on the ground. It’s also a great camera in testing light conditions.”

Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II

“The main lens I’m using today. The Mark II is a lot lighter than the original version, and the autofocus is way better. I had to get used to the aperture ring to start with!”

K&F Concept Nano-X

“A variable ND [neutral-density] filter is more help than a fixed one. For some shots I set it to two stops, whereas others were all the way up to 32 stops.”

Godox XPro

“This is the wireless trigger that comes with the Godox AD200 flash, but it does the job well. I use it to fire my AD200 – and my AD400, which is really powerful.”

Samyang AF 85mm f/1.4

“This lens is light and affordable, and it’s my second-favourite focal length. Some people are sniffy about third-party optics, but Samyang lenses are decent quality.”

Sony FE 35mm f/1.8

“I love this focal length and the image quality of this lens. It’s affordable, too, so Sony shooters needing a decent 35mm prime should get one of these.”

How to shoot superb sportraits

“You need to use a camera that performs well at high shutter speeds. You don’t need to adjust the ISO because you can just adjust flash power, so keep the ISO low and the shutter speed fast.”

“Know the sports you’re photographing. Knowing the lingo and certain positions will help you create a better relationship with the subject or model in front of you.”

“The photographers who inspire me get into each team or individual’s story. One works with Navy football in the US, and all his shoots take place on aircraft carriers or submarines, so for this style you don’t have to be based in a studio.”

“You don’t need an expensive lighting setup – you can shoot sportraits with one speedlight and a diffuser – but it needs to be strong enough to overpower the sun and make the background dark.”

“If you get it right in-camera, there isn’t too much editing to do. I tend to darken the background (if needed) or boost contrast, or darken certain parts with linear gradients, but it’s mostly just applying a preset.”

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Check out our guide to the best cameras for sports photography, and the best photography lighting kits

Professional commercial photographer Jon Segui partners with leading international brands on high-profile projects ranging from Formula 1 to product catalogues and beauty photography. To meet the industry's high standards, he exclusively uses Nikon gear.

Today, Jon shoots with the Z9, Nikon's flagship pro mirrorless camera. But this stunning image was captured back in 2015, using the Nikon D4 DSLR camera at the legendary Circuito de Jerez in Spain. To achieve the necessary reach, he paired the D4 with Nikon's iconic F-mount DSLR lenses – the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II.

Shot at 1/10 sec, f/14, ISO 100, Jon named the image after the shutter speed he used – "1/10th of a second" – a setting that played the most crucial role in capturing this fast-moving Formula 1 scene. Instead of opting for a sharp, static image showcasing the action, Jon intentionally slowed the shutter just enough to convey motion. The result is a frame that doesn't freeze the action, but instead expresses speed and creativity in a single shot. Let's dive into the story behind this image and discuss Jon's gear and lighting choices.

The story

"I'm not going to lie, I am a huge fan of Lewis Hamilton, and when working in F1, I always wanted to make sure he was out on track (not something you take for granted in pre-season sessions). I tried to capture him in as many different ways as I could imagine.

"The pit lane offers the closest vantage point of F1 cars in motion. As a photographer, it presented a fantastic opportunity to capture something unique and unconventional in sports photography. The main challenge is that although the pit lane has an 80km/h speed limit (slow for F1 cars), when you are standing so close to the action, you only have a split-second chance to get one in focus!

"The difficulty with action shots involving dragged exposures is finding the right balance between excessive blur and subject sharpness. Fortunately, with numerous cars driving through the pit lane at the limit, it becomes easier to fine-tune the shutter speed to achieve the perfect result. I set the shutter speed to 1/10 of a second and tracked Lewis as he zoomed past, firing off a burst of shots. The outcome is a dynamic image where his helmet remains sharp and recognizable, while the frame captures a vivid sense of speed using a short panning technique.

"Shooting at f/14 resulted in the need for numerous sensor spot removals, along with some color correction and other basic adjustments. One notable detail is the intentional tilting of the horizon, a common technique used in motorsports photography to enhance the dynamic feel of the image."

Gear Info

Jon captured this image using a Nikon D4, a full-frame camera featuring a 16MP sensor. It was released in 2012 and remains a benchmark for pro DSLR performance. With a rapid 11fps (frames per second) continuous shooting speed and an advanced 51-point autofocus system, it set new standards in speed and precision.

The D4 features dual card slots – CompactFlash and the then-new XQD cards, a precursor to today's CFexpress format. Though mirrorless cameras like the Nikon Z9 and Sony A1 now dominate the market, the D4's combination of performance, grip, and reliability makes it still a classic favorite among shooters worldwide.

Paired with the Nikkor 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens, Jon created a speedy and versatile setup. The lens is a true workhorse, excelling well across many different genres. The 70-200mm zoom offers fast, constant aperture and excels well in low-light conditions, and beautifully isolates the subject through a shallow depth of field.

While open-aperture telephotos often come with a bigger price tag, f/4 variants are a more budget-friendly option. The balance of reach, speed, and versatility makes the 70-200mm a must-have in many professional kits.

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Browse the best cameras for sports. More articles in this series:

• This image was shot with "probably the best 70-200mm zoom in the world"
• Not all photos need to be "nice to look at" – this DSLR shot preserves rituals for future generations
• I used a DSLR and an ultra-telephoto lens to convey a vital truth – that the fate of wildlife is inextricably linked to the health of our environment

Watch video: Game, set and match!

As Wimbledon fortnight gets underway, it is the perfect time for us to squeeze in one more fun sports project, where we’re going to use the centrifugal force of a spinning wet tennis ball to create mesmerizing water splashes. The result almost makes the tennis ball look like the centre of a galaxy as the water drops spiral outwards from the middle in spectacular fashion.

It might look like quite a difficult shot to take, and it isn’t without its challenges, though we’ve broken it down for you in our step-by-step below to help you bolster your chances. The two most important factors are having a helper with you to throw and spin the balls through the air, you’ll really struggle if you’re on your own so ask friends and family, your children or even grandkids to get involved with the fun. Secondly, you’ll need a fast telephoto lens. 

Usually when we call a lens ‘fast’ we’re referring to its wide maximum aperture, so a lens with an aperture like f/2.8 or f/1.8 would be considered a ‘fast’ lens. While this is beneficial to our photos here (more light allows for faster shutter speeds with lower ISOs) it’s actually the autofocus motor that we need to be speedy and responsive. If your lens takes an age to rack the focus back and forth you’re really going to struggle locking on to a rapidly  moving target like a tennis ball hurtling through the air. 

If you’re concerned about any of the water ending up on your pride and joy be sure to use a rain cover, a UV filter on the front of the lens will also keep it protected.

For best results you’ll want to shoot on a clear sunny day, for extra sparkle and direct sun will grant faster shutter speeds. 

1. Zoom lens

A telephoto lens with a focal length is vital to zoom in and achieve a frame-filling shot of the ball. A wide aperture will help but it’s more important to use a lens with a very responsive AF motor. We used a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II lens.

2. Fast camera settings

Go into Av mode and set the widest aperture on your lens, such as f/2.8. Have a friend hold the ball roughly where you plan to shoot it, then boost the ISO until you have a shutter speed of at least 1/2000 sec. Also enable your Continuous High Drive mode.

3. Customize the Autofocus

Set the AF to AI Servo so it will continually track your subject, then expand the AF Selection Area to 9-points to give yourself a bigger target. Change the AF Case to Mode 4 which works best for subjects suddenly entering the frame, too.

4. New balls please!

Get a large bucket and fill it with water. Dunk your tennis balls and make sure they are saturated. We recommend having at least three balls you can shoot back-to-back, then check your images and get back in position for the next batch. Wait for the sun to come out before you go again.

5. Watch the background

You want your tennis ball to stand out from a clean, dark background for better compositions and to make it easier for your camera to lock focus on the ball as it hurtles through the air. A blue sky sounds like a good idea but it’s quite bright and the water drops become a little less defined.

6. Go for gold

Shoot from a low angle so you can shoot the underneath of the ball against a clean background and get the water glistening in bright sunshine. Use your Continuous High Drive Mode with mechanical or electronic shutters to help you get a better hit-rate and ace shots that nobody can challenge!

Check out our guide to the best cameras for sports photography

The Grand National may be one of the most famous horse races in the world, but it was far from the first, even in the UK. The Greeks and Romans had races with mounted riders while the Persians, Chinese and Middle Eastern countries excelled at breeding and racing horses. Here in Blighty it was Knights coming back from the Crusades that were reputed to have raced the Arabian stallions they ‘liberated’ in order to showcase their speed to potential buyers. Richard the Lionheart offered the first racing purse of £40 for a race run over three miles. In the 12th century that was a lot of money. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that the modern era of racing began with the inauguration of the three classics, the St Leger in 1776, the Oaks in 1779 and the Derby in 1780.

On the track

The aim of photographing a day at the races is to capture the drama, the action, the thrills and the speed of the race as well as the excitement and pageantry of the crowd and social occasion. There are a number of approaches to take and different ways of getting the images that you want. To start with, the horses are normally paraded to get them used to the crowds and to let the punters have a look at which ones they’re going to lose their money on. This is your chance to use a short telephoto to get close ups of the horses but it’s best to avoid really wide apertures because with the horse being led round it’s all too easy to lose the key focus point, which should be the eyes. You don’t need a particularly fast shutter speed because they are fairly close and not going that quickly, so as long as it’s 1/125 sec or faster that will be fine. 

When out on the racetrack the length of lens required obviously depends on how far away you are from the action but you’ll typically be looking at 200-300mm because you’re not allowed to intrude on the course. Pro photographers at big events can get closer and you’ll see remotely activated cameras placed on mini-tripods at big fences to get wide angle views as the horses come over. For the regular punter that’s not normally an option but there are plenty of other places to stand to get good shots. In fact, as an afternoon of racing is exactly that, you can try different places for each race. So, look to get as close as possible to the start, a tight bend, fences, the finishing straight and the finishing line itself.

At fences you want to capture the action and spectacle of horses coming over, so compose the image with the lead horse going over, or having cleared the fence with the chasing pack coming over, leaving a little room ahead of the lead horse in the frame. A fast shutter speed is key here, I’d suggest a minimum of 1/640 sec, as well as enough depth of field to keep all the horses in focus. So, even if you have a fast f/2.8 optic, you need to be looking at a setting between f/5.6 and f/8. Now, that’s going to impact the shutter speed but how much depends on the overall light. If it’s sunny, it should still be easy to get speeds faster than 1/1000 sec but if it’s grey and wet (like it is any time you want to photograph outside) then you’ll need to increase the ISO rating. How much depends on how grim the conditions are but for my trip to Wincanton it needed ISO1600 to get a shutter speed of 1/800 sec at f/8. In terms of actual metering, look at the weather. With a white blanket of cloud or if the horses are backlit, then zone metering will underexpose the riders, so look at using centre-weighted metering.

With the riders at a distance, it’s fairly straightforward keeping the focus on them, but as they get closer the action speeds up dramatically. You’ll need continuous or tracking AF as there won’t be time to refocus on individual horses. Use a small group of focus points as well, rather than a maximum spread of points as this may inadvertently pick up the background. 

As the race enters the finishing straight, everything happens very quickly with the horses reaching 40-44mph. The action will heat up with riders out of their seats and using the crop to urge one last effort. Look to capture this intensity and, if the horses are passing in parallel to your position, then here’s the chance to try a panning shot as well. Use a narrower aperture, lower the ISO to get a slower shutter speed, then having locked onto a rider, move the camera as they race past. The key is to keep the focus on the same point during the exposure, so no dramatic sweeps, just a subtle pan at the same speed as the horse. The slower the shutter speed, the more pronounced the panning effect will be but the harder it is to keep the subject in focus.

Around the racecourse

It’s not all about the action on the track though, there’s plenty of other photographic opportunities to be found. Look to use the telephoto lens to capture candids of people caught up in the excitement of the race or heading to collect their winnings. Or, if there are big, colourful crowds, how about a wide angle shot with plenty of depth of field, say using f/11 or f/16, to show the overall spectacle. 

Lastly, for summer races when it’s warmest and especially at big festivals or Ladies Days, there will be the chance to swap in your prime portrait lens to showcase the style and glamour of individual race goers. Use f/1.4 or f/1.8 to throw all the background out of focus, but be very careful with focussing, or play it a bit safer with f/2.8 and generally focus on the eyes of the subject unless there’s something else that’s more interesting to show.

In order to capture fast-moving action you want a brilliant autofocus system, which means a mirrorless camera. Have a look at the best ones to buy in 2024.  If you don't want to be weighed down with your main camera though, how about taking a nifty compact? Here's the best choices at the moment. Either way, having a bag to carry your gear in is always a good idea, so check these ones out.

Many photographers, especially beginners, often wonder whether to choose a prime lens or a zoom lens. In sports photography, most shooters favor zoom lenses; a popular choice is, for example, a 70-200mm telephoto zoom, like the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM | Sports.

Zoom lenses are a favorite among many (including myself) because they allow versatile shooting from a distance, whether capturing wildlife or high-speed sports action.

Curious about what other motorsport photographers prefer, I reached out to pro motocross photographer Tania Delohery-Duffy to hear her take. She shared why the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 is the lens she never leaves behind for consistently sharp and reliable results on the track.

"With action photography, it's safer to be away from the scene, especially with sports such as motocross. This is where you need a lens with a longer range, so you don't have to get too close. But, when you want to shoot some filler images to build up a story, getting images of prep work and riders getting ready, you would ideally shoot with a shorter focal length.

"In a dusty environment, the LAST thing you want is to be swapping lenses and getting all that dust on your sensor, so a zoom lens comes in handy.

"The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM | Sports is my favorite lens. It gives me next to no chromatic aberration compared with other lenses I’ve owned, and the images are sharp and clear.

"With this focal length range, I can take almost any shot I need, whether I’m out on the track capturing the action, or in the pits taking a candid shot. What's more, especially when you're in an environment like motocross where it gets dusty, wet, and mucky, this lens is weather-sealed."

The optic

The Sigma 70-20mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM | Sports lens delivers top-tier performance with exceptional build quality and a host of advanced, customizable features. While it's slightly larger and heavier than some rivals, it handles beautifully and offers outstanding value for its price – making it a smart choice for serious photographers.

"The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 is really versatile. I also love using it for landscape and wildlife. It came in handy during a commercial shoot for a scaffolding company when I needed to capture the scaffolders working two stories up.

"I found the images are sharpest at 135mm, but don't be afraid to push the lens to its limits. It does well at all focal lengths and environments."

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Ringside photographers are usually there to capture the action. But a rookie WWE freelancer quickly became part of the action, when Randy Savage chased him around the ring after telling him not to take photographs of his real-life wife!

To some, he was the "Snap into a Slim Jim!" guy. To others, he was "Bone Saw McGraw" from the 2002 Spider-Man movie. But above all, Randy Savage was the "Macho Man" – WWE superstar, professional wrestling legend… and terrorizer of one poor ringside photographer.

During the Eighties, Savage (real name Randy Poffo) was led to the ring by his beautiful valet Miss Elizabeth – real name Elizabeth Poffo, Randy's off-screen wife.

Savage was famously protective of her in the cutthroat world that pro rasslin' used to be, often threatening other wrestlers and warning people backstage not to go near her. And on a fateful day, in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in the mid-Eighties, that warning extended to greenhorn photographer Tom Buchanan.

While he eventually spent 17 years working for WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), ascending to the position of chief of photography, back then he was on a freelance assignment for the promotion (at that point called WWF, the World Wrestling Federation, before losing its name in a dispute with the World Wide Fund for Nature).

As Buchanan explains, in a story shared on the Book Pro Wrestlers Facebook page:

"I had been assigned by WWF Magazine to shoot a series of live events, starting in Toronto, and ending in Chicago. I was tasked with shooting everything that happened at those events, but was asked to be sure to get lots of photos of Miss Elizabeth.

ABOVE: Savage also attacked a photographer back in the Memphis wrestling territory!

"Toronto was the first town, and the house was sold out as usual. Once Randy’s match was in progress I turned my camera on Miss Elizabeth, who was leaning against the ring apron cheering on 'her man'. Randy saw what I was doing, and briefly interrupted the match to lock me with his evil gaze and shout: 'Don't you take her picture.'"

Buchanan held up his hands, as if to say 'no problem', and backed away while the crowd booed Savage. But he still had a brief to work to and so, when the action resumed, he again turned his attention to Elizabeth.

"Once again Randy saw what was up and interrupted his match, this time running to the rope, pointing at me and shouting: 'I said, don't you take her picture.'"

Again the timid photographer backed away, the crowd showing their support by boing the wrestler. An assignment is an assignment, though, so again he pointed his lens back at the valet once the match was underway – but he was never out of Savage's sight.

"Randy was watching out of the corner of his eye and again interrupted his match, this time running to the rope and jumping to the ground. I was terrified and started backpedaling, then I just outright ran around the ring with Randy in hot pursuit.

"As he gained on me I leaped over the steel barricade and cowered behind a police officer. Randy stood his ground, pointed his long outstretched arm and tape wrapped finger at me, and shouted: 'Don't you EVER take her picture!'

While the crowd showered the rabid Savage with jeers for chasing after a scrawny photographer, Buchanan "stayed far, far away, not really sure what to make of the very real aggression I had just innocently become a part of."

ABOVE: To non-wrestling fans, Savage might best be known as the Slim Jim spokesman

After the event, he tiptoed his way to the backstage area trying to avoid the irate wrestler. He found the promoter, Jack Tunney, and explained the situation, asking if Randy was serious about coming after him.

Tunney explained that Savage is incredibly protective of his wife, and that if he'd interrupted his match then he must have been truly furious, advising Buchanan to be careful and not to let the wrestler get his hands on him.

The poor photographer was checking round corners at their shared hotel that night, and at the airport the next day on the way to the next arena – where he would again be photographing Savage's match from ringside.

Summoning the courage to straighten things out, once he arrived at the venue he tracked down the wrestler's dressing room. He sheepishly explained that he was the photographer from the previous night in Toronto and, stumbling over his words, asked if there was a problem.

"Randy thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, looking skyward, muttering: 'Photographer, photographer, Toronto, Toronto, photographer… OH YEAAAAH, YOU RUN FAST! THAT WAS GOOOOOD!' And in that instant I was schooled in the ways of the wrestling world."

Ever the showman – and ever the intense performer – Savage had seen an opportunity to generate "heat" with the crowd and decided to made Buchanan part of the action. He just didn't smarten him up to what was happening!

The skit was such a success that the pair would repeat it around that loop of live events – culmninating at a show in Chicago, where none other than The A-Team star Mr T was in attendance, who also got involved in the action!

There are dozens of great stories from in and around the wild world of professional wrestling, and if you're a fan I highly recommend following the Book Pro Wrestlers page for more of them.

ABOVE: Check out Savage's 10 greatest moments

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As I watched the boxing match of the year so far, Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn, I was hit with a worrying revelation: it probably wouldn’t be that hard to fully automate boxing photography.

I’ve long considered sports photography one of the genres most safeguarded from the rising tide of artificial intelligence. But we’re not talking about a football field with 22 players on it or a speedway with scores of stock cars here.

A boxing ring is roughly 16 x 24 feet and is inhabited only by the boxers and the referee. So here’s a bold claim: fully automated photography would severely impact boxing. And not positively.

While boxing might be the sweet science, the concept is beautifully simple. Love it or loathe it, it’s fundamentally human. Not only is it one of the oldest sports in existence, it’s arguably changed the least.

Sure, the pomp and grandeur have grown tenfold, and both training advancements and sports science have revolutionized boxers' technique and conditioning. Still, at its heart, it all boils down to a pair of athletes and their relationship in and out of the ring.

Photography has played a huge role in conveying the brutality, character, respect, drama, and humanity of this incredible sport.

Legendary sports photographer Neil Leifer’s photograph of Muhammad Ali, standing over a downed Sonny Liston, isn’t just the most famous photo in boxing – it’s one of the most famous photographs, period.

Sports photography isn’t just about capturing the action, it’s about conveying a narrative. It’s essentially documentary photography. Leifer’s shot of Ali is beautifully exposed and beautifully composed, but it’s the narrative that has endured.

Leifer pressed the shutter button the moment Ali famously yelled at his downed opponent: “Get up and fight, sucker!”

The iconic fight remains one of the quickest knockouts for a heavyweight title, was marred by confusion as both men resumed fighting after the bout had been called, and Liston appeared to hit the canvas so easily that rumors swirled it was fixed. And Leifer experienced it all.

He was immersed in the action that night. The sound of 2,434 braying spectators ringing in his ear. Ali – a man Leifer had already built a working relationship with – danced around the ring as the 22-year-old photographer sighted him through the viewfinder of his Rolleiflex. Leifer even admitted to GQ: “Ali was my favorite subject.”

How could an AI ever compare to Neil’s experience, passion for the sport, admiration for ‘The Greatest’, and humanity? And I wonder, what moment would an AI-controlled camera have immortalized that night?

I don’t know. But I doubt it would have been that moment. Logically, the connecting punch was the photo to capture. But Neil captured the emotion, the humanity: “Get up and fight, sucker!”

Back to the long-awaited grudge match between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn. In a world where short-form video content is king, it’s the photography by talented sports photographers such as Richard Pelham (@dickiepelham) that’s been etched into my mind post-fight.

A poignant image of the two fighters entwined in battle on the cover of Boxing News. Freeze frames of leather connecting with face, giving me shades of Herb Scharfman’s famous photo of Rocky Marciano’s knockout blow to Jersey Joe Walcott.

An exhausted Eubank Jr rising from his corner to go another round with an unshakable Conor Benn. And perhaps the photograph that will forever be associated with the bout, an elated Eubank Sr hoisting a triumphant Jr into the air as father and son celebrate the win.

This generational boxing saga of the Eubanks and the Benns is a perfect example of sport’s human element. A fight that goes back to the elder Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, duking it out on two occasions in the early Nineties.

No title was on the line last weekend. It was a fight billed entirely on a clash of personalities and two men’s pride in their respective family names.

Photography has played a huge part in delivering that narrative. Boxing isn't averse to AI involvement, with last year’s Usyk vs Fury II featuring boxing’s first AI judge (not that it contributed to the overall outcome of the fight).

But I think we need to remember that sport is about the human element, first and foremost – and sports photography is about capturing it. Let’s not remove the human element from sports photography. Trust me, the sport will suffer.

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I never would've thought that an NBA photographer would need a head for heights. Well, try telling that to New Orleans Pelicans photographer, Layne Murdoch Jr (@murdograph).

A Reel posted via @pelicansnba provides a knee-knocking and leg-wobbling insight into the NBA photographer’s packed schedule on gameday, including climbing up into the 150-foot ceiling of the Smoothie King Center to set up a remote camera with a 70-200mm zoom and 16 strobe lights.

Layne manages a whopping eight cameras at a time, explaining “we build our own triggers”, so that the cameras on his person will trigger the other cameras, ensuring that he doesn’t miss the moment. Of course, that means there are cameras everywhere, including a camera under the basket, on the floor, on the backboard – shooting through the clear perspex so as not to impede any hoops – on the catwalk – high up in the ceiling – with three cameras on Layne at all times.

Not only does he have to set everything up before the game, but he also has to photograph players interacting with the fans, player reactions after the game has ended, locker room celebrations, and of course, the game itself. It’s not surprising that he can go through at least ten memory cards during the day, totalling 800-1,200 photographs. And all of that happens before he has to pack up after the game and edit the images, before finally leaving the venue at around midnight.

I don’t know about you, but that’s one hardworking photographer right there!

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At the opening ceremonies of the 2025 Master’s Tournament, a familiar face hid behind a Sony camera: Ken Griffey Jr. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and 13-time All-Star legend took to the green during the first major golf tournament of the year as one of the official Masters.com photographers as the tournament opened on April 10 at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia, USA.

While Ken Griffey Jr.’s camera is no stranger to professional sports photography, including MLB games where he once graced the fields rather than the press pit, the 2025 tournament marks the first time The Kid has photographed The Masters. The reason? Superstition. “I said I’m not going to go to The Masters until I play it,” he told Morning at the Masters. “And I got the opportunity to play a couple years ago, and then got the opportunity to shoot it, and it’s been unbelievable and wild.”

Griffey says he first got into photography to focus on his kid's sports games without getting interrupted by fans. “My daughter literally stopped dribbling a basketball and just looked at me, when she was five, and I was like, ‘OK I’ve got to pay more attention to what’s going on.’ And I figured nobody’s messing with the photographer, well let me pick it up.”

Griffey then borrowed some cameras and lenses from some friends, who didn’t give him any pointers besides this one: “Just don’t put it on auto.” Griffey seems to have taken that advice to heart, as the EXIF data from his Masters photographs all indicate the images were shot in manual mode. One image was shot at f/22 to show off the course, although that meant an ISO 12800 to keep a quick 1/2500 second shutter speed.

When Griffey first picked up photography as a hobby in 2015, he started with a Nikon DSLR but now shoots with Sony. His first shots from the Masters were shot with a Sony a9 III and an assortment of different lenses, including the 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS, 600mm f/4 GM OSS, and 28-70mm f/2 G.

Photography and baseball carry a number of similarities for Griffey, including being focused and present in the moment and having a constant desire to improve. “I don’t think that baseball players or photographers are ever really satisfied with what they do,” he said in an interview with Sony last year. “The pursuit of excellent fuels both disciplines.”

The Masters continues through April 13 in Augusta, Georgia, USA.

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I often listen to Jared Polin (aka FroKnowsPhoto)’s RAWtalk podcast of an evening, while smashing a few laps on F1 23 – Stephen FTW – and while I was browsing through some old podcast episodes the other night, I came across Fro’s interview with sports photographer, Neil Leifer, which originally aired on his YouTube channel.

I’m a bit of a boxing fan, so I might be a tad biased, but I think Leifer’s 1965 photograph of an enraged Muhammad Ali, standing over Sonny Liston, is not just the most famous sporting photograph of all time, but one of the most famous photographs of all time, period.

I’m talking right up there alongside Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day in Times Square, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, and Charles Ebbets’ Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, to name but a few.

And the story of how Neil captured the photo is as riveting as the image itself. But why I keep coming back to this interview again and again is to remind myself of when Neil talks about luck. He admits that sports photographers have to be in the right place at the right time, but “when you get lucky, the good ones don’t miss (...) that’s what your job is.”

It’s at that point he mentions fellow sports photography legend and Neil’s Sports Illustrated colleague, the late Herb Scharfman, who captured another – almost equally famous – boxing photo of Rocky Marciano connecting with Jersey Joe Walcott.

ABOVE: Watch Jared Polin's interview with Neil Leifer

In Neil's Ali vs Liston photo, Herb can be seen on the opposite side of the ring, right between Ali’s legs. This is why Neil says: “He’s looking up Ali’s butt, there’s no way he’s gonna get a great picture”.

This perfectly illustrates Neil’s point. He obviously admires Herb tremendously and, despite the elder sports photographer’s experience, Ali and Liston gifted the young Leifer a rare opportunity that night – and, such was his talent, he took it. The rest is cultural, sporting and photographic history.

Now, I don’t want to spoil anything else. Whether you’re into sports or photography (or both!) make sure you grab a cup of joe, take 40 minutes out of your day, and enjoy the fantastic video interview (embedded above). Maybe you’ll come back to it again and again, like me.

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Richard Prince (@richardprincephoto) has been working as an automotive photographer for over three decades, during which time he’s amassed a formidable list of clients including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Chevrolet. And it’s his prolific work with the latter that spawned the exhibition, ‘Speed Captured: The Photographic Works of Richard Prince’, at the National Corvette Museum, Kentucky. Hailed as a “celebration of Corvette’s racing heritage”, revellers are invited to experience Corvette’s on-track dominance through Richard’s lens.

But one image in particular stood out to me – a keen fan of motorsport photography and motorsport in general – a shot from the historic Sebring International Raceway, Florida. The image was captured with a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II and Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM lens. It delivers a unique perspective of the Corvette Racing pit crew servicing a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, during the 12 Hours of Sebring.

• Do you have an image that should be Photo of the Day? Send your image to: digitalcameraworld@futurenet.com for the chance to be featured.

This low-down, wide-angle perspective, with the hose from the wheel gun contorting in midair, is a bit of a signature shot for Richard, but this particular example stands out for its pitch-perfect execution and narrative. The yellow of the Corvette complements the blue sky, while the looping hose adds interest to the negative space. But what I like most is the story conveyed here; it tells you everything you need to know about a pitstop. The wheel-gun mechanic froze, mid-rush, to change a second tire, another mechanic refueling in the midground, and a driver waiting to swap.

When asked about the challenges of operating in the pit lane, Richard replies, “staying out of the way of the Corvette pit crew as well as the crew in the adjacent pit, and keeping the subjects well-framed.” That in itself was no easy feat, “the camera was at ground level and I therefore wasn’t looking through the view finder,” he explains.

As is usually the case with sports photography, editing was minimal. Richard “brought out details in the shadows on the side of the car, increased saturation a little bit, and added some sharpening”, within Adobe Photoshop.

Richard's top tips for automotive photography

When it comes to panning and other images of on-track action, Richard suggests using “slower shutter speeds to accentuate the sense of speed.” He will also “use elements in the environment, including people, trees, buildings, and whatever else is available to frame the subject car, to help define the setting, tell the story, and otherwise enhance photos.” Finally, he says to “think beyond simply capturing the car and look for ways to capture the emotions involved.”

Tickets for 'Speed Captured: The Photographic Works of Richard Prince' at the National Corvette Museum are available now. The exhibition will run until the end of the year, and alongside Richard's incredible work, five iconic racing cars will also be on display.

To see more of Richard's work, visit his website.

Check out previous Photo of the Day images, and the stories behind them. If you have an image you'd like us to consider for Photo of the Day, email it to us at digitalcameraworld@futurenet.com

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The Los Angeles Chargers YouTube channel released a video almost a year ago called Everything An NFL Photographer Does On Game Day | LA Chargers. And, as a keen sports photographer myself and with Super Bowl LIX just a sleep away, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this fly-on-the-touchline deep dive into what sports photographer, Mike Nowak (@mikenowakphoto), does on game day.

Despite the game starting at 13:00, Mike arrives at the Bolts’ SoFi Stadium at 07:00 to check over his gear and set everything up. He refers to photography as “problem solving” and it looks like Mike makes sure as many problems are solved before the first whistle.

ABOVE: Watch the video and get hyped for the Super Bowl!

The American Football photographer is a Canon professional and, as you can imagine, he has some serious gear in his kitbag. It looks like his main camera is a Canon EOS R3, which he pairs with the mighty Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM – but it’s not all about the on-field action.

What’s really fascinating is how Mike sets everything up, and the smaller photography errands he has to do before a game. At one point he mounts some remote cameras over the tunnel – a pair of Canon EOS-1D X DSLRs – which is blocked by a wall of smoke, making some pretty dramatic-looking photographs of the team heading out onto the field. The tricky bit is anticipating the exposure for photographs that will be remotely captured hours into the future.

He also goes through how his photos get instantly transmitted to the team’s photo editor, so images can be posted online while the game is taking place. Mike even does a little product photography in the locker room, for social media, to show the uniforms the players will be wearing.

Obviously, the meat of the video is when the game starts. But I’ll let you enjoy that in peace. Go Bolts!!!!

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The number of cameras used to broadcast, record and photograph Super Bowl LIX will number well past 200. Sony, the official technology partner of the NFL, has revealed that more than 240 cameras will be used during the February 09 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.

That 240 number comes from the cameras used to broadcast the game to the cameras used for still photography by Associated Press photographers. Sony says that 14 cameras will be used for streaming the game, positioned in the end zone, sidelines and throughout the stadium. And yes, the SkyCam delivering the overhead views is a Sony too.

The number of cameras used for broadcasting the game tip over 100, starting with 97 Sony HBC series cameras. A trifecta of Sony FX6 cinema cameras, as well as a Sony FR7, Sony Venice 2 and a Sony A7 III are planned for the broadcast, from pre-game to post-game.

Fox Sports will broadcast the game this year, with Game Creek video aiding in videography for the event that traditionally winds up as the most-watched broadcast of the year in the US. Even Sony monitors will be used for color gradation for the Fox broadcast.

Sony estimates more than 60 cameras will be on the sideline for photography. Why so many from one brand? Sony is the exclusive imaging product and support provider for the Associated Press, with 14 photographers and 9 editors from that team scheduled to cover the NFL championship. Sony’s PDT-FP1 transmitter will deliver photos from cameras to editors to quickly publish throughout the game.

Sony’s support team will also have 65 additional full-frame cameras on hand, along with a selection of 140 Sony lenses. The company notes those loaners will include the new Sony A1 II, along with 600mm (14 of them), 400mm (numbering 10) and 300mm (a total of 6) telephoto lenses.

For the halftime show, Sony counts 13 Venice 2 cinema cameras and a Venice extension system, plus a Sony Burano cinema camera. Sony notes that Funicular Goats is the technical producer for the halftime show and that the team has, for the last four years, chosen Sony gear.

“There are less than five minutes to set up and deliver a cinematic concert to millions of people,” James Coker, head of engineering and technical management at Funicular Goats, said, “and the Sony Cinema Line cameras provide the perfect combination of full-frame sensor with broadcast compatibility to work seamlessly within the show’s structure and achieve this challenge.”

Reading those numbers, I no longer feel like the only one eyeing the cameras on the sideline throughout the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 18:30 EST on February 09. The game will air on Fox with streaming on Tubi.

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Watch video: Game, set and flash!

The art of stroboscopic photography involves firing a rapid burst of flashes at the subject, creating a staccato effect that is well suited to sports, action or all sorts of moving subjects. Although often overlooked, most flashes have a stroboscopic mode – even many of the most basic of Speedlites. However, it can be a challenge to make the effect look polished.

A common pitfall is to attach the flash to the camera hotshoe. This tends to result in rather bland lighting, with spillage onto the backdrop that dilutes the effect. You’re much better off firing the flash off-camera for directional light from one side. But this brings its own challenges in terms of positioning and triggering the flash, not to mention the fact that it all needs to be captured with a long exposure in the dark. 

In this project I’ll explain how it’s done, with advice on the best camera and flash settings for stunning stroboscopic sports shots. You might have noticed with our tennis action shot here there’s more going on with the lighting than a straightforward one-light strobe. To complement the stroboscopic effect I’ve added in a second flash, set to fire at the end of our second-long exposure. This second light is optional, but it can elevate the effect to another level by lifting the subject from the opposite angle, resulting in a bold cross-lighting effect that freezes the subject in their final position. 

1. Set the hertz

When set to Multi or Stroboscopic mode your flash will show a Hertz setting. This determines the speed of the pulses per second. With a high Hertz the pulses will be closer together, so the subject will be captured in closer increments. 

2. Set the number of flashes

Alongside the Hertz setting in your flash’s Multi-mode you’ll also see a setting that determines the total number of flashes (here called Times). If the Hertz sets the flashes per second and then for a second long exposure I want the flash to fire 15 times.

3. Experiment with timings

Part of the magic of the stroboscopic effect is that you never know quite how it will turn out. With good timing and a bit of luck the effect could be sensational, but it’s also very likely to turn out an abstract mess like this. Keep tweaking until it all comes together.

4. Watch for spillage

Keep the background as dark as possible and ensure that no light from the flash spills onto it. Here both flashes are angled away from the background. A barn door attachment is ideal for this as it let you fine-tune the spread of the light to suit your needs.

5. Pose with the light

The edge lighting here – with both flashes placed slightly behind the subject and angled back towards the camera – creates a halo effect. Capture the subject as they move swiftly from one side to another so that the pulses don’t overlap too much.

6. Playing singles?

Roger Federer was busy so I opted for the next best thing; a tennis self-portrait! Place a stand in the shot and focus on it then switch to Manual Focus. Make a mark on the floor so you know where the focus point will be. Use a 2-sec Self Timer, and get swinging…

7. Add the ball in Photoshop

It’s easy enough to add a tennis ball in the perfect position for your shot. After capturing a ball under the same lighting, open the shot and make a loose selection around the ball with the Lasso tool. Copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) then go to another image and paste (Cmd/Ctrl+V). Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to transform and position the ball then change the Blend Mode to Lighten.

8. Boost contrast with dodging and burning

There may be areas that look overly bright or dark, or parts of the backdrop that come out messy. The Dodge and Burn tools are ideal for tidying up. Set the Burn tool to target Shadows and use it to burn in any parts of the dark backdrop until they/re fully black. Switch to the Dodge tool and use it to lighten dull areas that need a boost.

9. Balance the light

It can be tricky to get the light perfectly balanced in-camera so you may find areas of the frame come out overly bright or dark. As such it’s best to shoot in RAW to give you more latitude for lighting or darkening areas. The best tool for this is the Adjustment Brush in Camera Raw/Lightroom. Paint over areas then use the sliders to lighten or darken them.

10. Flash delay

To match up our two flashes, I need to set a delay. After some trial and error, I set our flash to the right of the camera to a delay of 0.80 sec so it would fire at the end of the exposure.

In normal circumstances this could be done by using rear-curtain sync, but that won’t work here because I need our other flash (the one set to stroboscopic mode) to begin pulsing at the start of the exposure, then carry on until the end so that the final pulse matches seamlessly with the burst from the other flash unit.

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Photographer Heinz Kluetmeier is perhaps best known for his more than 100 Sports Illustrated cover photos, including an iconic shot of the 1980 'Miracle on Ice' US Olympic hockey upset over the Soviet Union and the 2008 underwater photo that proved Michael Phelps’ seventh gold medal finish.

But to many, Kluetmeier was also considered a pioneer in the technology behind those iconic sports images, after becoming the first to experiment with underwater cameras during swimming competitions.

Kluetmeier, a sports photographer who spent more than 30 years of his career with Sports Illustrated, died aged 82 on January 14 after a fight with Parkinson’s disease, according to his family.

Kluetmeier worked as a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated from 1979-2009, including the title of director of photography, and continued contributing until 2016. He was known for his photographs of iconic moments in sports history. But Kluetmeier was also the first to apply a number of different technologies to the field of sports photography in his career that spanned 50 years from film to the digital heyday.

During the world swimming championships in 1991, he experimented with an underwater camera – making him the first to bring underwater camera technology to the world of sports photography. The following year, he was the first to use an underwater camera to photograph the Olympics in Barcelona.

Kluetmeier continued to integrate underwater photography into his career for decades. In 2008 he captured an iconic image that proved Michael Phelps win in the 100m butterfly, an underwater shot looking up as Phelp’s fingers bent with the impact on the wall just as the second place swimmer’s fingers touched. He was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2017, the only photographer to receive the honor so far.

But the technology behind the 2008 Phelps shot was perhaps almost just as iconic. That year, Kluetmeier worked with his assistant Jeff Kavanaugh to create an underwater camera setup that was tethered, automatically sending the images to a computer above the water. The technology is a key example of how the industry changed throughout Kluetmeier’s career, as the photographer actually earned his pilot's license and flew his own film rolls back to the office in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Sports Illustrated.

In addition to his pioneering work in underwater sports photography, Kluetmeier is also considered the first photographer to use strobes at an indoor football game during the 1981 Sugar Bowl.

Photography changed drastically from the time that Kluetmeier was 15, photographing the Green Bay Packers, until his retirement in 2016. At those first NFL games, the young photographer used a Nikon S. Kluetmeier’s own personal list of his favorite photos would later be heavily dominated by the Canon EOS-1DS Mark II, along with the Canon EOS-1V film camera.

While Kluetmeier had many technical firsts during his career, the photographer was once quoted as calling the technical stuff irrelevant. “I think that technique and technical stuff is absolutely irrelevant to the picture in terms of what you do as a photographer,” he said. “I think the most important thing is to have a vision, to have an emotional feeling, to care about what you’re photographing, and to have something that’s already there in your heart, in your eye.”

Kluetmeier arguably owes much of his start to his parents, who immigrated to the US from Germany when he was nine years old. His mother worked for the Associated Press, and one of her pictures of him at age 13 is said to have sparked his interest in photography. His father encouraged him to study engineering in college, dubious of the stability of a career as a photographer, a background that would help Kluetmeier later modify his underwater cameras.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim remembered the photographer as an athlete who would take risks with his photos. “There are no hard, fast rules about making it in America. But when you have a portfolio featuring Vince Lombardi and John F Kennedy before you’re old enough to drink one of Milwaukee’s Finest, you’ve done well finding a sense of place,” Werthiem wrote.

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Eddie Keogh has been in sports photojournalism in the UK for over three decades. While he’s worked at the top of his game capturing the England football and rugby teams in some of their biggest sporting moments, he says he gets just as excited documenting the antics of a grassroots match on a Sunday morning. Eddie doesn’t just focus on football, and he has covered horse racing, tennis, athletics, and even shot for Rolls-Royce.

There are several elements to consider in sports journalism. There’s the action and the fast-paced camera settings. Then there’s the drama, the intrigue, and considering how to tell your story. Eddie is a creative sports photographer, whose signature style blends humour and emotion to connect you with his subjects – no matter their perceived status or celebrity. But what else drives his career, how does he still find inspiration after such an impressive length of service, and how has he seen sports journalism change in that time? I caught up with him at home to find out.

A longer version of this interview originally appeared in Issue 219 of Photo Plus magazine. Click the link below to see our latest special subscription deal!