There’s a big difference between taking a great picture, and taking a great picture of the game. In sports, the outcome is all that matters, and no matter how pretty a shot you took, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t affect the game.
Covering the Big Game
Feb 5, ’13
1:24 PM
The Z-Man Covers His Sixth Super Bowl
Jan 29, ’13
9:29 AM
Fun, short piece on San Francisco 49ers team photographer Michael Zagaris who is in New Orleans to cover the team for his, and their, sixth Super Bowl appearance. Not bad for a guy who convinced a coach to create a job for him years ago.
(Thanks to Rober Bain for the link via the NPPA Facebook group.)
Leifer on Football
Dec 31, ’12
11:00 AM
Anyone shooting football should be a student of Leifer’s work. Or boxing. Also, any Olympic sport. Heck, just any sport …
Burnett Fan Club Post #317
Sep 6, ’12
10:54 AM
You’re probably sick of me linking to stories about David Burnett.
Tough, here’s another one from Film Is Not Dead. And, aside from a massively wrong word choice in the second graf (arrogation in place of inauguration), it’s pretty good as it has Burnett talk about his experience covering the Olympics.
Loved this quote:
The one worry of the Olympics is that you end up at the Finish line with 50 or 100 of the worlds best sports photographers.. so you have to be rigid in trying to tell yourself.. “go somewhere else…. do something else… take a chance…” I was lucky .. when I did that I ended up in front of the place where Mary Decker and Zola Budd collided, and with that, I was “officially” a sports photographer.
When I switched from stringing for the Associated Press to Agence France-Presse, that same advice was given to me: Don’t stand with the other shooters, go someplace else. I’ve tried to be someplace else for nearly 20 years now.
How Reuters Covered Track and Field in London
Aug 14, ’12
3:45 PM
Reuters produced the video below to give us an idea of how they covered track and field at the Olympics. Think about this: for the 100 meter final, that lasted 9.63 seconds, they had 15 photojournalists covering it. The race started at 9:52 and they had their first photo on the wire at 9:55.
Egads.
(Thanks to Stephen Terry for the link.)
Nailing the Shot: Practice, Practice, Practice
Aug 7, ’12
3:34 PM
The image has gotten a strong response because of its clean background and great moment, but how you make a frame like that is simple: Practice.
A lot.
The Irregular Olympian
Jul 24, ’12
7:53 AM
You could pretty easily accuse me of being a David Burnett-fanboy. I would be okay with that.
I have a lot of friends and colleagues who are headed across the pond and they’re all going to do great work. But there’s one shooter who will see it just a little bit differently, who looks at the games as history not a string of events.
“Getting Prepared for Luck”
Jul 18, ’12
11:45 AM
The Chicago Tribune’s Scott Strazzante talks about the anatomy of a sports photograph. That one-line – “getting prepared for luck” – really says it all.
AP Goes Robotic, Too
Jul 17, ’12
11:45 AM
Not to be out down by their colleagues at Reuters, the Associated Press is also setting up a phalanx of remote controlled cameras for the Olympics according to the British Journal of Photography.
Sweet ….
Naw, Shooting Sports Isn’t Dangerous
Jul 9, ’12
10:44 AM
Except, you know, when it is …
(Thanks to Alicia Wagner Calzada for the link.)