Tom Smith is a young photographer from Taunton. A year ago he joined the rapidly growing sports photography agency Focus Images, for whom I also shoot. Tom has had a ball in the last year, and he’s put his thoughts down on digital paper.
Tom writes:
On March 19th 2013 I was sent on my first assignment for Focus Images and now it is a year on and it is absolutely crazy to look back on and think about all the great experiences I have had over the past 365 days. I never thought it would be possible for me to make it this far but I owe achieving that to some fantastic people including my parents, family, friends and everyone at Focus Images who have given me unbeatable support, and especially Daniel Hambury, MD of Focus Images, who had the trust in me to take me on and give me such a fantastic start. Without all of them I would not have been able to become a sports photographer covering huge sporting events, so thank you to all of you!
There have been many ups and downs during the last year. My highlight was having the amazing opportunity to go to Greece in February to photograph the Champions League match between Olympiacos and Manchester United. This was such a great experience for me as it allowed me to see that I could travel abroad and navigate around successfully as well as produce good work from the biggest club tournament in the world. I also have to mention the atmosphere at the Karaiskakis Stadium on the night of the match, something I will never forget it was absolutely unreal especially as Olympiacos won the match.
It is difficult to sum up my experiences of the past year in words and it is said by many that ‘pictures are worth a thousand words’ so I will try and let my favourite pictures of the last year do the talking!’
Tom Smith (left – no relation!) of Middlesex Panthers takes a catch during the Yorkshire Bank 40 match at the County Ground, Taunton.
Kevin Dawson (left) of Yeovil Town brings down Chris Cohen (right) of Nottingham Forest during the Sky Bet Championship match at Huish Park, Yeovil.
Daryl Murphy of Ipswich Town celebrates scoring his side’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Goldsands Stadium, Bournemouth.
Dan Murphy of Gloucester Rugby runs with the ball during the Aviva Premiership match at the Recreation Ground, Bath.
Alastair Cook of England plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy match at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Simon Francis of Bournemouth slides in on Calum Woods of Huddersfield Town during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Goldsands Stadium, Bournemouth.
Olympiacos F.C. and Manchester United line up before the UEFA Champions League match at Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece
I think Tom has come a long way in his first year. To jump from non-league to Champions League in such a short time is impressive progress from the young lad. I recall lending him my 400mm 2.8 lens to cover the ICC cricket and meeting Tom for the first time as he came to collect it. What a refreshingly polite and well mannered young man he is, and it appears he can take a picture or two as well. If that’s year 1, let’s have another look at the end of year 2 and see how he’s been getting on. Good work Tom!