Sublime: The Sports of Photography
Aaron Finch
I shoot regular portraits of the Australian cricket team and I’m always putting pressure on myself to keep them fresh with new ideas. I found this piece of lighting kit online that creates a customisable light beam – a ninja-like effect with plenty of impact
Michael Voss
This is one of those lucky pictures that you can never plan for. It’s nice when you get one of these but, honestly, these days I much prefer sports pictures that you can plan for or work on a little bit to make them come to fruition. This picture won AFL photo of the year
Red Bull cliff dive
One of the craziest events I’ve ever shot. I positioned myself under the lip of the cliff to get the divers jumping over me. Looking back on it, it probably wasn’t the safest position to shoot from, but it created a very different angle of this event to what we are used to seeing. I still remember the noise and gusts of wind from the divers as they twisted past me right before the entry point into the murky Hawkesbury River.
Australia v Pakistan, third Test
Cricket is a game of patience, especially when you spend a number of overs pre-focused on a flock of pigeons waiting for the ball to scatter them. When this finally happened the birds formed a perfect shape around the batsman playing a shot.
Novak Djokovic
This is one of those moments when taking a big risk pays off. I shot this Australian Open final from a position in the TV pit under centre court. The catch is you have to shoot through thick soundproof glass. This is a risk in itself because if you shoot on the wrong angle the pictures will be out of focus. This epic match went for almost six hours and I was stuck in this small dark booth. Come match point, Djokovic ripped his shirt off and screamed right in front of me, giving me the perfect angle
Scotty James, snowboarding
I was positioned just past the finish line to capture standard reaction shots as the snowboarders finished their runs. When Scotty James came through he stopped suddenly, creating this big cloud of snow that created a perfect background for his celebration.
Virat Kohli
Everywhere Virat Kohli goes people want something from him. After this match he stopped for a group of fans who had only one goal – to get a selfie. They all had a chance to have a quick chat with King Kolhi but they chose instead to take photos. The joy in the face of the only fan looking at him says it all
Commonwealth Games track cycling
The velodrome at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was not the most photogenic, so I rigged a remote camera in the roof for one of the races. I knew a large pack of bikes would be around the Glasgow sign on the track. Bigger events like this are all about nailing a scene setter first before you can get a little more creative
Winter Olympics, figure skating
At big events you are always trying to look for something different. Shooting multiple exposures on digital cameras gives you much more freedom to perfect an idea. This is an in-camera five-frame sequential multiple exposure shot formed by shooting four frames of the Olympic rings framing the outside, then the last frame is shot by trying to centre the ice skater in an interesting pose. If you get it wrong you have to shoot all the frames over again. You need a lot of patience and good timing to get these right.
Australia v England, fifth Test
For a sports photographer, access and relationships are everything. I’ve been travelling with the Australian cricket team for the past six years and over that time have forged lifelong friendships with some players and staff. It is connections like these that open doors for you when you need it the most. Straight after Australia crushed England 4-0 in last year’s Ashes series, I was allowed into the SCG change rooms to capture the celebrations. This is a privilege I never take for granted.
Victoria Derby Day
There is always a crush of spectators and photographers on ground level at the Melbourne Cup carnival, so when I was given the opportunity to shoot one of the races from a helicopter, I jumped at it. I used the different colours and layers of the outside tracks to create a graphic view from above. You never grow tired of shooting from above in good light.
Surfing at Bondi
I was shooting another assignment from a helicopter in Sydney, and on the way back to the airport we flew over Bondi. The surf was huge and I asked the pilot to hover over a group of swimmers and surfers. A big set came through and I was able to capture a surfer being dwarfed by the swell.
New Zealand v Australia, first Test
Photographing Test cricket is a game of patience mixed with a splash of luck. In more than 75 Test matches I would have captured only three or four caught and bowled pictures. This is one of them, but to be up in the grandstand at the time on pretty much the perfect angle to have bowler and batsman in the same frame, really makes this a special image
Australia v South Africa, first Test
We have access to the old concrete light towers at the Waca Ground in Perth, which take about 20 minutes to climb up vertical ladders. I usually go up for the last hour of play when the light is soft and the shadows are long. Due to the absence of a grandstand on the western side of the ground, you get full value right up until the sun dips below the trees, making the grass look very dark with the cricketers glowing in their whites. I turned this image black and white to demonstrate the contrast created by shooting in this light on a steep angle.
2018 World Cup final, France v Croatia
The World Cup is by far the world’s most-watched sporting event. It is also one of the most heavily photographed. For the post-game celebration I was looking for something different, so I went up into the throng of French fans as I knew players would gravitate towards them. Sure enough, star player Paul Pogba slid across the ground in my direction as the heavens opened during the trophy presentation.
