Sports photography. How I became a sports photographer and moved to London How to photograph sports: Photography

This lesson will be the first of three on sports photography and sports photography in general. In it we will touch on the very basics, which will be useful, first of all, to beginners and amateur photographers taking their first steps in sports photography. The second part will be focused on developing the experience of amateur photographers who have mastered the basics of sports photography, and finally, in the third lesson we will collect information for those who decide to prepare a portfolio with sports photographs.

Just a few weeks ago Nikon announced the cancellation of production compact cameras premium. In other words, smartphones, thanks to advanced software, compact size and fairly good image quality, have turned digital point-and-shoot cameras into a little in demand and gradually dying out type of photographic equipment. Sports photography is perhaps one of the few photography genres in which smartphones cannot yet replace cameras, and probably never will. After all, to get any satisfactory results from photographing sporting events, you cannot do without specialized photographic equipment.

Sports photographers tend to own top-of-the-line equipment, because taking great sports photography is much easier when you use a high-quality camera and optics. However, a cool DSLR does not make an amateur photographer a pro, and in this lesson we will talk about learning the basics of sports photography, and not about how much and what kind of photographic equipment you have.

I took my first sports photographs with a Nikon D3300 ( Nikon review D3300 read ) with Nikon lens 55-200mm f/4-5.6. Looking back at those first images, I'm glad that I focused on capturing the moment rather than making every pixel perfect. All you need to start shooting sports is a DSLR or mirrorless camera with an interchangeable lens that has at least a 200mm focal length (or full-frame equivalent).

NIKON D3300 @ 200mm, ISO 3200, 1/640, f/5.6

Sports Photography: How to Prepare for a Shoot

Most people start photographing sports because they get involved in publishing a school or university newspaper, or because their child is enrolled in a sports section. At such moments, beginners are filled with enthusiasm and inspiration, with which they hope to create spectacular sports photos. But everything is not as simple as it seems. Before you begin sports photography, you need to carefully prepare.

The first thing a beginner needs to do is master his camera and! There's nothing more frustrating than looking back at your photos and seeing that they're all blurry, out of focus, or over/underexposed. It is extremely important to know exactly what works in your camera before you decide to start shooting. Learn how the camera works in automatic modes, focus and white balance settings, exposure control methods, and other key features of your camera.

Having sorted out your photographic equipment, you can move on to the second stage of preparation - establishing contact with the competition organizers. The rule of good manners is to obtain consent for photography from the organizers of sports competitions, regardless of their level and status. In most cases, you, of course, can take photographs without the consent of the organizers, but having secured their consent, you will have access to the most convenient and advantageous shooting points. The larger the sporting event, the more important it is for successful photography to have good contact with its organizers.

Finally, it is advisable for you to understand the rules and intricacies of the sport you are going to film. The better you know the game, the more impressive your photos will be.

How to Photograph Sports: Shooting

So, you've prepared for the shoot, and you feel confident and fully prepared to take great photos. AND practical advice below will help you with this.

• Keep an eye on the field (ring, track, etc.) as long as the athletes remain on it - at any moment an event can occur that can give you an unforgettable shot.
• Respect athletes, coaches, support and support staff. Their work is more important than your photos!
• Refrain from unsportsmanlike behavior (I hope this is obvious).
• Be attentive to what is happening around you. You don't want to get injured because your head was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Do not use on-camera flash. Don't use built-in or external flash either. This is very distracting to others.

NIKON D810 @ 24mm, ISO 2500, 1/500, f/2.8

One of the most common questions new photographers have is something like, “What camera settings should I use for sports photography?” There can be many answers to this question, so below are the settings that we think are suitable for shooting most sports events.

Excerpt: try not to use shutter speeds longer than 1/1000 sec. When shooting in a dimly lit room, maintaining this shutter speed will be difficult. On a sunny day, outdoors, you can use even faster shutter speeds.

Diaphragm: Open apertures (smaller f-numbers) are generally good for sports photography as they allow more light to reach the camera sensor and also help blur the background of the image. The best option would be an aperture ranging from f/2.8 to f/5.6.

ISO: Start with your camera's base ISO (probably ISO 100) and gradually change it until you achieve the correct exposure. Try to avoid settings above ISO 6400.

Another tip: don't get distracted while shooting. As tempting as it may be to only check the photos you've taken on your camera's LCD, try not to do this. After all, while you are looking at the camera's LCD monitor, you may miss an interesting shot.

Sports Photography: After the Shoot

When you return home after shooting, download the resulting photos to your computer and evaluate them (read about how to choose a computer for a photographer). Whatever your purpose in shooting sports, you should always analyze your work to gain experience. Did all the photos turn out the way you wanted? What went wrong with some? What can be improved? Which techniques would you repeat and which would you give up the next time you shoot?

When viewing photos on a monitor, you may notice details that you couldn't see on the camera's LCD. Here are a few things you should pay attention to (and how to fix them):

• Are there blurs in the photos? Next time try using a faster shutter speed.
• Did you capture something other than the climax of the action? Try to react faster and learn to anticipate the actions of the subject you are shooting.
• Too expressionless photos? Try changing the point and/or shooting angle.
• Are your subjects out of focus? Try using the continuous autofocus mode or equivalent available on your camera.

NIKON D4S @ 420mm, ISO 900, 1/1250, f/5.0

So, if you are happy with the results of your sports photography, then you have achieved your goal, congratulations! Keep filming and hone your skills! Try to do as much as possible more photos, which would delight you not only with quality, but also with emotional richness!

If you are disappointed with the result, then do not lose heart, and under no circumstances give up sports photography. Just next time pay more attention to those moments that make your photos look bad to you.

Sports Photography: Conclusion

Sports photography is an amazing genre that allows you to take spectacular and unique photographs with a little experience and a little patience. We hope you found useful information in the first part of the lesson. Stay tuned to our website so you don't miss the second part of the sports photography lesson.

And as a bonus, we invite you to watch a video on sports photography:

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The list is not limited to the names listed; there are many other gifted photographers on the resource of this photo community.

Dive in Alberta

Chris Burkard photographs kayaking, the northern lights, and surfing in the Arctic. Each of his images exudes adventure.

Chris is a self-taught photographer from California known for a variety of creative outdoor compositions. He has an extensive collection of photographs that will keep your attention for hours. Here are ten of them:

On distant shores

Morning in Alberta, Canada

Horseback riding in Vestrahorn

Cold Alberta Nights

Sunset in the air

Snow surfing

Kayaking in Alberta

Conquering the waves

Caught air

Snowboarding with Elena Hight

Multifaceted works Kevin Winseler include everything from studio portraits to heart-stopping sports action. He describes himself as a commercial photographer inspiring activity in a sedentary world.

Kevin Winseler's clients include renowned brands including Adobe Systems, Columbia Sportswear, Skiing Magazine and Skullcandy.

He lives in Utah but frequently travels around the world. Winzeler's images are imbued with a sense of freedom, energy, movement and activity.

Parkour in Utah

Skiing

Mountain biking in Wasatch

Mountain climb to Indian Creek

Sunset Run in Utah

Oars! Oars!

Skiing

Surfer friends

Biking down a road in Utah

Skiing

Surfing underwater

Kirill Umrikhin is another photographer with a solid list of clients, including Quicksilver, Roxy, DC, Nike, Nissan and Red Bull.

Kirill seems to shoot skateboarders on the ground, surfers in the water and snowboarders in the air with equal ease.

The photographer of few words prefers to let his photographs speak for themselves.

Sunrise line

Oops!

Backcountry snowboarding in Austria

Line

Reflection in sunglasses

Rise to the sky

Snow and sun

Kelly Slater

Jump into the Sunset

Line

Path of Light

He is best known for his sports photographs with amazing light painting.

Dave Lehl is originally from Denver, Colorado. He began a career in sports photography, seeking to earn money on his way to New York, where he planned to become a fashion photographer. But stop at ski resort Summit County to earn a few dollars was the end of the trip.

Dave Lehl spent the next 7 years filming winter sports. He eventually became a staff writer for Future Snowboarding Magazine, Rome Snowboards and Sims Snowboards.

Michael Ash

Speed ​​of light

Path of Light

William Rogers

Louis Vito, Chicago

Path of Light

Rachel

Road rashness

Bjorn Leines

Spencer Semin

Growing up in the mountains of Western Colorado, Lucas Gilman always had an affinity for adventure.

Traveling the world in search of untouched places and new experiences, Gilman captures extreme images from kayaking in India, Brazil, Uganda and Costa Rica to backcountry skiing in Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Alaska and South America. His clients include Nat Geo, Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, New York Times and Mens Fitness.

Frozen Hell

Abiqua Falls

Brazilian skiing

Sunrise at Blacktail Butte

Black water

66 degrees north latitude

Dynamic flow

Flight time

Kentucky Derby

Descending the Tomata Falls

Skiing in the Arlberg region

Christoph Oberschneider lives in Salzburg, Austria, where he primarily photographs winter sports. Looking at his pictures, you just want to go skiing or take up a snowboard.

Oberschneider also photographs mountain trail cyclists and landscapes, but his winter sports photographs are the most impressive.

Black and white snow

Selecting a ski trail

Aggressive and powerful skiing

Walking Shadows

No pain - no gains

Telemark skiing in Austria

Cyclist at sunset

Skiing on untouched snow

Too deep

Uphill.

Fury

You'll be distracted from snow sports by photographer Jeff Dotson's surf shots, which easily inspire viewers to travel to the ocean coast to sign up for surf lessons.

Based in Southern California, Jeff Dotson is not only a photographer, but also an award-winning visual effects artist and director. His images run the gamut from intense sports footage to incredible Photoshop creations.

Still from the film “Kainos” by Sara Lee and Jeff Dotson

California's golden surf

Sunset

Fire

Frozen

Blur

Fall from the sky

Gold

Surfing on a cloudy day

Heartbeat

A pharmacist by training, Adam Kokot prefers to spend his time clinging to rocks and wading through the snow with a camera in hand to capture amazing footage.

The Polish photographer's career can be traced back to 2007, when one of his images was published in Mountain Climbing Magazine. Since then he has passed long haul, became a member of Pro Team Phottix, received various awards, including from Red Bull and National Geographic.

Husky

Storm

Jura Krakow-Częstochowa or Polish Jura

Belo

Fall

Snowmobile

Cogollos

Climbing in the Duron Valley

James Rushforth only joined 500px two months ago, but his work is every bit as impressive as the other creators. Like Adam Kokot, he often photographs climbers scaling rocky mountains or ice walls.

Sports photography is a hobby or profession for the most hardcore fans. Capture movement, dynamics and highlights highlights A sporting event, be it a football or hockey match, rugby, running or tennis, is not as easy as it may seem at first. If you've ever noticed photographers at a football stadium, their equipment can inspire both envy and amazement - huge lenses that require their own tripod, lots of accessories and continuous tracking of every movement.

But before you advance to the Premier League of photographers, you need to learn and best way- These are small matches and events where you can practice shooting.

What will you need?

In order to film sporting events, of course you will need a camera. A DSLR is, of course, good, but modern mirrorless cameras are sometimes faster in burst shooting. This, of course, comes from not having to constantly raise the mirror. Therefore, the fps value of mirrorless cameras is always higher. The main need, however, is the ability to manually set the shutter speed. Because you will need to shoot quickly and get clear, sharp photos.

Upon arrival at the competition site, do not forget to ask whether it is possible to film. It’s best to always stock up on resolution, and then move on to filming.

The lens must have a focal length of at least 200mm

The focal length of your lens is of fundamental importance. Since you can't shoot from right in the middle of the action, right on the field, you'll need a telephoto lens. Yes, that’s why professional photographers around stadiums have such huge lenses. In this case, the more the better. But the optimal length is exactly 200mm. You will be able to enlarge the image sufficiently, isolate the subject from the surroundings and, of course, if necessary, shoot anything - from a portrait to a group composition.

The best options for Nikon cameras are Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR II DX or Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S Nikkor.

It is not customary for more or less professional photographers to be reminded of this, but it is always worth noting that in photography it is extremely rare that the automatic mode comes to the rescue, and it is not without reason that we are offered a lot of manual settings. To understand how and what works, the first thing you need to do is read the instructions for the camera. Then you will be able to understand each indicator separately, and will not be at all intimidated by the concepts of ISO, aperture (or aperture), white balance, etc. So forget about automatic modes, even if they are called Sports or Action. We will need manual mode.

Use a fast shutter speed

This is a mandatory rule that should not be forgotten at all. You'll be shooting fast, fast action, so it makes sense that we'd need a fast shutter speed to get clarity and avoid shadows and blurry frames. Minimum 1/500 sec. will be enough to capture a moving object; if you set the shutter speed longer, all the associated risks will appear.

Use Aperture Priority Mode

First, let's look at the classic shooting modes that the average DSLR or mirrorless camera offers us. In addition to automatic and manual, there are also modes such as Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority.

Aperture is a value denoted as A or AV, measured in f/, or steps, and means how much light is allowed through the aperture directly onto the sensor. If you set the settings to aperture priority, the camera will automatically set the shutter speed. This is an ideal mode for shooting on a sunny day, and it is used by many professionals in sports photography. But what exactly needs to be done in order to set the aperture correctly? We need to set a high value, that is, the number should be the opposite, lower. For example, f/2.8 or f/4. This way, maximum light will hit the matrix, and for the correct exposure, the camera will independently set a short shutter speed.

Don't forget about ISO

It is clear that shutter speed and aperture are important, but the third important exposure value is ISO or light sensitivity. When we shoot in semi-automatic modes, be it aperture priority or shutter priority, we have to set the ISO manually. To do this, we take into account the location and weather conditions, and even time. For example, in sunny daytime ISO 400 is sufficient, but if the sky is overcast, ISO should be set in the range of 800-1200. You can learn more about this meaning, of course, from the instructions.

If aperture priority mode is not available, choose shutter priority mode

Why is a comfortable low angle important? It gives the frame more drama, creates an additional mood, in addition, you can not only shoot a player against the grass, you can shoot the stands, the sky or spotlights, which also allows you to get interesting angles. This technique is often used by professionals, and this is exactly what you need to learn from them right away.

You will need a tripod to stabilize and balance your camera when you are shooting from different angles and angles, especially from low heights. Therefore, make sure that the minimum tripod height is comfortable.

The Cullmann Concept One 628M OT38 tripod is convenient because its minimum working height is only 27 cm, while the maximum is 189 cm. The combination of price and quality will leave no doubt that it is ideal for shooting sports events.

Fujifilm X-T20 is a great camera for sports photography, with all the available settings and an impressive 14fps, it can be an excellent companion for sporting events. In addition, the camera is equipped with long-time focusing, shoots in RAW format and has 4K video capabilities.

Sports have always been and will be one of the most interesting subjects for photography. Live genuine emotions, team spirit and competitive struggle, experiences on the verge of a breakdown, the bitterness of defeats and the dizzying joy of victories - all this makes sports photographs visual examples of the most powerful human emotions. Today, especially for the XXII Winter Olympic Games, we present a review of the best sports photographers in Russia.

Alexander Zemlyanichenko

Alexander Zemlyanichenko is one of the most famous modern Russian photojournalists, head of the photography department of the Moscow bureau of the Associated Press agency. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice: once as part of a team of five Associated Press photographers for his coverage of the 1991 coup, and again for his photographs of Russian President Boris Yeltsin dancing at a rock concert in 1996.

• I consciously started filming in high school, but I think back then it was all a game, nothing more.- Alexander recalls. - Then, while already studying at the university, I began to collaborate first with the student newspaper, then with the regional one, and after graduating from college, the very next day I went to work as a photojournalist.

Alexander himself counts himself among “a small number of professionals who claim to be called photojournalists”: “I would highlight the conscious following of the news and the desire to talk about what you see in your own language, the language of a photograph. A photographer, photojournalist must always be on topic,”- he says.

As a true news photographer, Alexander has also photographed sporting events throughout his career. In one of his interviews, he spoke about the features of this type of shooting:

• A large number of shots are taken here, because sport is movement, and it is better to have a choice than not to have one. But editing experience is, first of all, just experience, and then, during any shooting you need to know what you want, be it a press conference or a football match; again, you need to know the background. If this is a press conference, for example, of a Syrian opposition leader, you need to know for what purposes he came, what is the result of the negotiations that he has already held, and based on this, shoot and select pictures. It’s the same in sports: if Spartak plays with Dynamo, then maybe it’s not the action itself that is important, but the coach’s reaction is interesting, you also need to know this in advance. Why are you going to film this match and what is the sports journalist going to write? You will film the wonderful flight of a football player with the ball, but in fact, no one needs it: yes, it will be great to hang on the wall, but no one will write about it, but they will write about such and such a striker, because tomorrow they will resell him; This is our specificity.

According to Alexander, he is always interested first of all in the person:

• With its help I can show the event. If you are photographing an athlete who has just won a hundred-meter race, then, if possible, also include in the frame the one who took second place, although he was counting on the first: they will have different facial expressions, this will create depth and volume of the event, so any topic I try to solve with the help of a hero,- he emphasizes.

Alexander Nemenov

Alexander Nemenov, one of the most prominent photographers of our time, talks about himself like this:

• He served in the border troops of the KGB of the USSR in 1987–1989 as a senior MEP at the outpost, but the most interesting things began later. How is it possible to serve in the border troops and not be the coolest? Something struck a chord when I saw the guys who had come from Afghanistan to serve in a tank regiment, in the rear, with us. They sat at the bus stop in Afghan cotton - a strange thing in the Union at that time - and smiled as they saw off our GAZ-66 with an alarming group looking out from the back in the same cotton, only camouflage. My war lasted throughout the nineties and continues to this day, fortunately, less and less often. Since 1990 I have been a photojournalist for TASS, since 1997 - for the France Presse agency, and have traveled a lot. I wanted to tell something not only in pictures.

His photographs taken during the Chechen war were most famous, but he also reached a very influential level in sports.

Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images. Tennis tournament "Kremlin Cup - 2010", final, Viktor Troicki vs. Marcos Baghdatis

Yuri Kadobnov

Yuri Kadobnov is the head of the photo service of the Russian bureau of Agence France Presse, a multiple winner of sports photojournalism competitions, and has held dozens of competitions in all sports.

Grigory Dukor

Grigory Dukor is the chief editor of the Reuters photo service in Russia and the CIS countries. He doesn’t like to talk about himself personally; for him it is inseparable from talking about his work:

I have been running the Reuters agency service for a long time, and I love filming. The volume of work is increasing, competition is intensifying. Now we are changing, like the whole world, we want to continue to be recognizable. If previously the task was to tell a story with one picture, now we are doing more and more photo reports.

Gregory speaks unequivocally about the photographer’s work. This is what he answered in an interview with the Chelyabinsk branch of the Russian Union of Photographers when asked about the photographer’s civic position:

• You should have this position: come home and say what you want. But when filming, you must be absolutely impartial, otherwise you won’t be able to work, there is a lot of evidence of this. Sometimes sports photographers, taking advantage of the fact that they have accreditation, come to sporting events to cheer, and they do not take pictures, but cheer. I’m not saying this to condemn them, but you can’t do these two things at the same time, it won’t work. In the same way, if you come to any event, for example, a meeting of communists or someone else whom you personally do not like, nice shot it won't work. If you are a supporter of what is happening, you will again miss everything interesting, so you need to leave your emotions aside. If you can't be impartial, ask someone else to take the photo.

Gregory loves filming sports, “because there is always something going on in it, there is action all the time. There are nice photos, there are simply successful ones, because they were lucky,” he said in an interview with the Rostov.ru portal. Grigory is sure that luck is important in sports photography:

• There will be no take, no one will repeat the encore, so the photographer is prepared for everything to happen very quickly. And of course, you need luck: something can happen that will make the shot good. Let's say people are just running - there will be a photograph of people running; if one ran and the other jumped, it would be funny; one ran, and the second fell - a completely different story, not everyone can film this, some are lucky, some are not. But if this doesn’t happen, then no one will take a picture of it, no one will be lucky, and the results will be ordinary photographs.

Alexander Fedorov

Alexander Fedorov is a special photojournalist for the Sport Express newspaper, who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to sports photojournalism. Devoted to his profession, he spends all holidays and weekends at work.

So, in 2012, on his 50th anniversary, Alexander went to his fifth European championship. Football is his favorite sport, but he has filmed a wide variety of competitions throughout his career. The gallery of Fedorov's works contains emotional, bright, memorable shots of football, hockey and other sports competitions.

Evgeniy Tumashov

Evgeny Tumashov is a recognized professional in biathlon photography. He started taking photographs while still in school. His career began with the newspaper “Evening Moscow”, where he was hired first as a laboratory assistant, and a year later he was transferred to photographers. Since 2001, he has worked at biathlon competitions as a photojournalist for the Soviet Sport newspaper, and since 2011 as a photographer for the Russian Biathlon Union. For 10 years, he followed the races and their heroes through the lens of a camera and collected a unique collection of photographs. In the fall of 2012, on the eve of the start of the pre-Olympic season, a personal exhibition Evgenia Tumashova “Biathlon. 10 years in the lens."

• I always wanted to take beautiful pictures,- Evgeniy told the Moscow Sports portal, - and biathlon provides such an opportunity, because competitions usually take place in the mountains. No other sport, in my opinion, is surrounded by such beauty. I don’t know where else you can find such a variety of colors and shades... There are lights installed along the route, so you can shoot in the evening and in the fog.

Sergei Ilnitsky is one of the best modern reporters. His photographs are published by leading publications not only in Russia, and in 2013 he entered the golden fund of world photojournalism, becoming one of the winners of the competition.

• All more people has good photographic equipment,- he shared his thoughts with a correspondent from the portal Colta.ru. - Everyone can now make a technically competent shot, that is, technical skill is no longer a criterion for success. You need to be very fast, be able to put into a picture, preferably one, the whole essence of what is happening, but here you need an address plan, and that very decisive moment, and a thought, then you will get that same photo icon - an icon picture. And this is no longer so easy to do, very few people know this now, and for a photo agency such a skill is the most important thing.

The World Press Photo Award was awarded to Sergei for a series of photographs of fencers.

• I was very surprised by the emotionality of this sport when I was filming,- recalls Sergei. - There were foreign colleagues with me, more experienced in filming fencing, and I asked: “And these guys, are they always so emotional? Are they screaming, crying, jumping, throwing masks?” And the photographers made some joke, like: “So this is good for you, bro,” and laughed. The athlete sitting next to me and who did not participate in the competition that day reacted to our conversation. He explained that he had been preparing for these Games all his life: since childhood he dreamed of winning an Olympic award, even if not gold - it doesn’t matter, the main thing for him was to get on the podium. And he trained continuously for 15 years. Of course, he won European and World Cups, but he was preparing specifically for the Olympic Games. And now he has the only chance, one for his entire life: he may not participate in the next Games, since the peak of his physical and mental form will pass, hence the emotions. I understood him so much at that moment that it became much easier for me to shoot. I just felt everything that was happening in this sport. Once you were distracted, a blade was stabbed into you. Your whole life is centered on the tip of this sword. One touch, one injection - and you are either a winner or a loser. That's why the series is called The Golden Touch.

Dmitry Azarov

Dmitry Azarov is a photojournalist for the Kommersant newspaper, part of the so-called Kremlin pool, and a student of Vladimir Gurgenovich Musaelyan, Brezhnev’s personal photographer, who later wrote the book “The Secretary General and the Photographer.” Dmitry's most famous projects are devoted to a critical understanding of the political situation in Russia. Some of his most famous works are the series “Double Personality” and “Four Seasons of Vladimir Putin.” The photo book about the Olympians “Okolokolets, or Canadian Lessons,” published by Dmitry together with journalist Andrei Kolesnikov, gained great popularity.

Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko (left) and Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi (right) / Photo by Dmitry Azarov

Ivan Sekretarev

Ivan Sekretaryov is an Associated Press photographer. During his creative career, he took a huge number of reportage photographs - sports competitions, hot spots, political and cultural events.

Ivan Sekretaryov began his career as a photojournalist in 1991 in the children's newspaper "Glagol", and later worked in "Moskovskaya Pravda", " Rossiyskaya newspaper" and "Izvestia". His father explained to him how to use the camera. “This is a lens, and this is a button,” he said, “and you have to press it like this,” Ivan recalled.

• In my development as a photographer,- he noted in an interview with the Moscow Sports portal, - Two of my father’s friends played a big role: Alexander Grigorievich Kurbatov, who was a role model for me when I worked in newspapers, and the chief photographer of the Associated Press agency, Alexander Vladimirovich Zemlyanichenko. It was he who later picked me up, taught me and nurtured me under his wing. And in May 1998, I became a photographer at the Moscow bureau of this news agency.

While photographing sports, Ivan feels “involved in the game process”, and therefore cannot “objectively evaluate these pictures”:

• I only wish that, looking at them, I could remember and feel the surge of emotions that once struck me a year later. Sports have drama, beauty, and a variety of feelings. I enjoy it both as a viewer and as a photographer. I try not just to capture some phase of a sports action, but to capture a moment in the story unfolding in front of me that can become decisive or reveal to us something that we cannot even guess about,- he says.

Oleg Naumov

Oleg Naumov is called one of the most sought-after sports photographers. He collaborates with the Russian Olympic Committee, Bosco Sport, Forward and Ice Symphony companies, LED and Olympic Panorama magazines, Russian sports federations - rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, figure skating, hockey and synchronized swimming.

Oleg is a graduate of the Russian State Academy of Physical Culture, he himself was engaged in wrestling and sambo. He became interested in photography as a child.

• When the children appeared and I wanted to capture their every step, I picked up the camera again,- he said in an interview with Nikon. - I showed the resulting photographs to my friends, and when I began to hear more and more enthusiastic responses to my work, I became interested in how one becomes a professional photographer. Combining my sports background with my newfound hobby, I dedicated myself to sports photography.

According to Oleg, this cannot be done without luck, an instinct for a good shot and skill.

• A sports photographer must work according to the rules of the sport he is photographing.- says Oleg. - The most interesting thing on the hockey rink happens in the goal area, where players fight, push, the puck flies in or, conversely, the goalkeeper makes a beautiful save. Nice shots They also happen near the substitutes' bench - only there can the real emotions of the players and coaches be conveyed through photography, everything that is so interesting to the fan. These moments need to be felt, the sports photographer needs to be half a step ahead of the action.

Robert Maximov

Robert Maksimov is a member of the International Association of Sports Journalists, a member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, one of the authors and developers of a program for training qualified specialists to ensure high-quality photography of sporting events, a laureate of international, all-Union and all-Russian sports photography exhibitions and competitions. He has devoted more than 40 years to sports photojournalism.

• Over the years I have taken part in 14 Olympic Games and most of the World and European Championships in athletics and other sports,- he says. - My archive contains hundreds of thousands of photographs of these events.

Robert Maksimov took part in the preparation of the final album “Moscow-80”, the official three-volume report of the organizing committee of the XXII Summer Olympic Games of 1980 in Moscow, albums and books on Olympic topics, in particular, the illustrated two-volume “Olympic Century”, published in 2002.

Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin

Photojournalists Andrey Golovanov and Sergey Kivrin have been working together for more than 25 years. During this time, they managed to receive awards at the most prestigious photo competitions in Russia and abroad: World Press Photo, Adidas AIPS Canon, Inter Photo, Nikon and others. They collaborated with the magazines Newsweek, Ogonyok, Cosmopolitan, Burda, PROSPORT, TV Park, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Now their photographs are happily continued to be published by the publications “Russian Reporter”, “Sport-Express”, “Soviet Sport”, “Itogi”. They cooperate with news agencies Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, IMAGO, AFLO.

Andrey and Sergey cannot imagine working alone. Here's how they commented on their decision to work together in Itogi magazine:

• This is due to the specifics of working at sports competitions,- said Sergei. - It is very difficult for one person to run around the entire stadium and catch the desired shot. In general, tactics collaboration we started using it long before we created a common brand: just when we were still working in the magazine “Soviet Union”, me, Andrey and our good friend Evgeniy Miransky began to accredit the three of them to all sporting events, and then, submitting the topic to the magazine, sign the photographs with three names. Such a collective report always turned out to be more interesting than if everyone worked alone. We occupied different positions, filmed from different points and were able to cover the competition as fully as possible. But soon the Soviet Union collapsed and the magazine too, we worked separately for some time: Andrei - in Kommersant, in "Faces", I - in the American editions of the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, and Zhenya stopped working professionally in photography altogether .

• In 1996, we met at the Olympics in Atlanta and decided not only to work together, but also to create a common brand,- Andrey added. - We have developed a certain shooting style that we like, and together we get more done.

Alexander Vilf

Correspondent for RIA Novosti agency.

He began his career at the Sport Express newspaper, became actively involved in photography during Soviet times - he photographed banned opposition rallies for Western publications, after which he became interested in photographing sports.

Follow our news! Exclusive interviews with the best sports photographers in Russia, materials about their work and the best photographs from the Olympics in Sochi await you!

And we want to end the material with the words of Sergei Kivrin: “For me in sports, the main thing is to give 100% and perform honestly and with dignity. Whether there will be medals or not is a second matter.”

We wish our athletes worthy performances!We are cheering for ours!

For assistance in preparing the material, the editors express special gratitude to the curator-coordinator of the All-Russian annual open project Best of Russia,postgraduate student of the Department of Photojournalism at Moscow State UniversityMaria Vashchuk.

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