I’ve decided to take a break from sports photography, hence the distinct lack of recent blog posts. It’s probably a permanent break – we’ll see. There are a number of reasons for this decision.
Firstly, I’m unable to do it full time and therefore will never be good enough to compete with the absolute best in the business. Those who know me will know I have a slight (!) competitive streak. Sport photography is an art which you can get competent at, then start to actually get good after a few years, but its that last bit at which you start to excel is mighty tough to get to. To reach this top level involves total immersion and dedication, and I simply cannot afford to do that.
Speaking of affordability, the combination of not being full time, the decreasing pay rates for publications, and the sheer volume of photographers, means that the economics of having £25,000 of equipment simply don’t add up for me. While many other non-sport photography jobs have paid for this gear several times over, using a 400mm 2.8 or 14fps is slight overkill for a fashion clothing shoot.
And lastly, I’m afraid to say that the enjoyment of shooting football and rugby has slipped away from me. This is a bit distressing as I love all forms of sport, and pitchside at top events is a phenomenal place to be.
I can hear now the hoots of delight from some full time sports photographers who’ll be chanting “hurray, one less weekend warrior”. To them I say fuck you. I am personally very comfortable with my work ethic, image quality, delivery speeds, and professionalism and have too many great quotes from happy customers to list. When one of the world’s biggest sports PR agencies says “we love your pictures” several times over the years, I know I’m doing things right. Let’s leave it at that.
So, what next? I’ve decided to swap over to the antithesis of sport action, and spend time slowing down and doing the photography I really love, landscapes. This is more to do with being out and about in some beautiful countryside, during which I may take a photograph, than just pursuing images for their own sake. The big white lenses are gone as are the 1D bodies. The money has gone into a new motorbike which I ride at the weekends when I’d otherwise have been at a match. I’m left with a Sony A7R, a very light camera bag, and a big smile on my face. I’ll post my progress on here as I go along.
Since I started taking sports photography seriously in 2007, I’ve been privileged (through lots of seriously hard work and the assistance of some great friends) to see and do some amazing things in amazing places with amazing people. Things that others often dream about doing, but don’t put the effort in to actually achieve. I’m happy beyond belief to have done these things, and happy to now move on and try something different.
Thanks for reading along and I hope you stick with me to see what happens next, and while you’re digesting all this, here are some pictures I’ve particularly enjoyed taking over the last few years…
Saturday, May 22nd 2010: Joel Hicks of Leicester in action during the World Custard Pie Championships at Coxheath near Maidstone, Kent.
The crazily located football pitch at Eiði on the Faroe Islands
17/04/12 Mikele Leigertwood of Reading is carried through the crowd as they win 1-0 to be promoted to the Premier League during the Npower Championship match between Reading and Nottingham Forest at the Madejski Stadium, Reading, UK
Chris Ashton scores his fourth try during the RBS Six Nations match between England and Italy at Twickenham, London, UK on 12th February 2011
6th June 2009. Jamie Morrison (L) and Kirsty Craig (R) ride off hard in the Polo in the Park World Polo Series in Hurlingham, London.
3 young men play football on Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 21st June 2014.
13 April 2009 Brands Hatch, Kent: Julien Da Costa of the MSS Kawasaki team at 120mph during round 1 of the British Superbike Championship.
25th October 2011: Aldershot take on Manchester United at the EBB Stadium, Recreation Ground, Aldershot.
3rd November 2012: Action from the Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide AFL pre-season maatch at the Kia Oval in London, UK. This was the first professional AFL match in London in six years.
13/7/2014 Germany’s Mario Götze celebrates scoring their first goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final match at Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
23rd August 2013: Bicycles hang from a tree as the riders party during the Cycle Messenger World Championships held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Oh, and lastly, to the formerly highly respected photographer who said to me in a very sneery voice at Twickenham in March “Oh, you’re here again, you’re just doing the internationals now are you? Not bothering with the smaller stuff?” after saying something similarly insulting the game before at Twickenham. Well, you can fuck off as well. And you can keep fucking off. Then you can fuck off some more. The fact that I had been working for over 7 hours by then, shooting for a very important and well paying client, and kept on shooting for 6 hours afterwards long after you’d dragged your moaning arse back home, made me particularly incensed about your inane drivel. As well as delivering a comprehensive set of images for my client, I had the front page of the Sunday Telegraph Sport (again) the following day. I’m delighted I’ll never have to listen to your snide pathetic mockery ever again.