Community Post: The Work of a Sports Photographer

Compared to the runner sweating, struggling to keep up with the others, grimacing as they get to the top of a hill, it looks simple. Through gritted teeth the athlete tops the hill, only to see a photographer sitting comfortably there waiting to capture their pain.

Sometimes the photographer is seen sitting in a chair in the shade with a cold drink. He has the gall to call out asking the struggling runner to jump or smile!

“I wish I had your job” I’ve been told numerous times.

A typical day is a long day

Let’s unpack this scene and see what really goes on. Most runners and sports (with the exception of the ultra-runners doing 100km plus or the multi day cycling and adventure racing events) are competing in an event that is over in a few hours, at most a day.

The job of a photographer begins often days before the event with scouting trips, sometimes early morning starts to find the same conditions expected for the event. I look for the best locations for lighting, photographer positioning, background and scenery as well as safety.

The day of the event I am onsite earlier than most competitors. I organize my other staff; ensure they are in the right locations. I account for gear and staff and deal with last minute course changes or weather changes that force a change to the shoot plan, and then prepare to take my own photos. I usually cover the pre start and start – providing photo journalistic-style images for event organisers as well as the smiling hopefuls, the excited underprepared entrants and the seasoned campaigners.

Finally I head out to the on course location; often the first of many. Navigating rough terrain, often running or mountain biking into spots with my gear on my back. One recent event included several hundred metres of vertical climb to get to the location where I was shooting. Once there I work out the best spot, take numerous test shots for lighting and conditions and remove rocks, sticks and bugs from the chosen spot. Typically I end up on the ground or under a bush or in some horribly uncomfortable position.

Then I prepare for the runners, cyclists or athletes to come through. Sometimes I will sit for hours in the same spot, switching batteries and cards as needed and changing settings as the sun slowly moves through the sky. One recent shoot I was shooting obstacle racers jumping over a fire pit. For 12 hours as they completed a 1.5 hour event I battled smoke and ash blowing into my eyes, heat from the fire and the sun, a broken lens one competitor landing on me, and shade from a tree that first gave me shelter from the sun and then changed my lighting conditions.

The gift of encouragement

Why do I do it?

I love the interaction with the competitors. I have built a reputation for cheering and encouraging many competitors on. Many photographers shoot in a bubble and have no interaction with competitors – some even wear headphones and listen to music. I love to talk and cheer them on, and I get smiling photos and jumping photos as a result.

I love the opportunity to capture people at their best and worst. One recent competitor bought all his images and wrote a blog post telling about his worst race ever as a reminder to himself on what not to do. Others buy their images to celebrate their experience, to remind them of the joy, the excitement and the elation of meeting a goal or finishing.

To me this is my High Calling. I have been blessed with the spiritual gift of encouragement and I love to cheer them on when they are doing well and to prop them up when they are struggling. To be able to capture that moment in an image is an incredible blessing of technology.

And finally, a day out in the field shooting runners (my kids always laugh when I say I am off to shoot runners) beats sitting in an office shuffling paper any day. Then there’s the forgotten stuff. After I finish, pack my gear, send staff home and get home myself the editing starts. I’ve fallen asleep at my desk many times pushing deadlines while eager fans are waiting on social media for announcements of when the photos will be ready.

So the next time you see a photographer “doing it easy” on the side of a trail or road, half way down a hill or lying in a ditch taking your picture remember that you don’t see all the story and thank them for being there. And buy a photo!

Tim Miller is a husband of one woman, father of four women, and a professional geek. He is passionate about sport and has competed at all levels from social to national in a wide variety of sports. As a Christian businessman running a successful sports photography business he gets the opportunity to shoot many different athletes and sports. He currently runs and cycles in both on and off road events with his family and enjoys movies, sci-fi and fantasy novels and theology. He can be found online periodically at www.spyjournal.biz @spyjournal and on Facebook far more frequently.

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Sports for the Glory of God

If God has created humanity with bodies that are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” we need to develop a Christian way of living that incorporates play and recreation, leisure and competition, sports and athletics. Faith in the Creator and Redeemer should lead us to identify the way sports and athletics are meant to be, discern when something is wrong with sports in our broken and sinful culture, and imagine ways to be instruments of redemption in this sphere. In this series, Sports for the Glory of God, we engage with stories of people who are working through these issues on a daily basis.

Image by Tim Miller. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.