SHOOTING SPORTS
The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat
By Lou Jones
As the prolific critic, Susan Sontag stated, “While there
appears to be nothing that photography can’t devour,
whatever can’t be photographed becomes less important.”
If you are brave enough you can photograph just about
anything. Portraits, architecture, still lifes and landscapes
can be painted or written about in good measure but sportsthat’s another matter. Photography and sports are made for
each other.
Unless you are there, no illustration, no radio announcer, no
newspaper account, not even word-of-mouth can substitute
seeing the game-winning touchdown, momentum-shifting
play, promethean effort, and sudden-death score except the
eyewitness photograph. It is as if sports and photography
are siblings from the same deity. Only a few diehard fans get
to witness the action firsthand but millions can experience
competition through skillful pictures.
The ephemeral moments throughout sports history have
become legend because of press photos. Great photographers have been drawn
to the potential for drama that games offer. Wire services have transmitted
peaceable contests and violent mash-ups in the past, but today technology has
caught up and made everybody with a DSLR, point-and-shoot camera or cell
phone a “reporter with a press pass”.
For decades the best photographs were often taken by guys with tons of
expensive equipment and cannon-sized lenses (see last article on lenses, February
2014). But camera manufacturers have shrunken the size and weight so that the
average interested party can “reach” the contestants from the sidelines or stands.
Access has always seemed a major obstacle but everybody has access to their
children’s teams or local college games. There are myriad opportunities to hone
your craft and perfect the split second timing necessary to capture peak action.
Playgrounds, community pools, ski slopes and neighborhood parks are the places
both you and your subjects practice the finer intricacies of sport.
8 | PicsArt Monthly