Sports photographer. Sports photography: all areas of study for narrow profile specialists

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

Diving in Alberta

Chris Burkard photographs kayaking, northern lights and surfing in the Arctic. Adventure carries from each of his images.

Chris is a California based self-taught photographer known for his creative outdoor compositions. It has an extensive collection of photos that will keep your attention for hours. Here are a dozen of them:

On distant shores

Morning in Alberta, Canada

Riding horses in Vestrahorn

Cold nights in Alberta

sunset in the air

snow surfing

Kayaking in Alberta

conquering the waves

Caught air

Snowboarding with Elena Haight

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

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

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

Parkour in Utah

Skiing

Mountain biking in the Wasatch

Mountain climb in Indian Creek

Sunset Run in Utah

Oars! Oars!

Skiing

Friends surfers

Biking down the 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.

It seems that Kirill shoots skateboarders on the ground, surfers in the water and snowboarders in the air with equal ease.

A photographer of few words prefers to let his pictures speak for themselves.

sunrise line

Oops!

Snowboarding backcountry 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 amazing light painting sports photography.

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

Dave Lel spent the next 7 years filming winter sports. He eventually became a staff columnist 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 recklessness

Bjorn Leines

Spencer Semin

Lucas Gilman, who grew up in the mountains of Western Colorado, has always been close to adventure.

Traveling the world in search of pristine 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

Abikuah waterfall

brazilian skating

Sunrise at Blacktail Butte

Black water

66 degrees north latitude

dynamic flow

Flight time

kentucky derby

Descending Tomato Falls

Skiing in the Arlberg

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

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

black and white snow

Ski path selection

Aggressive and powerful skiing

Walking shadows

No pain - no wins

Telemark skiing in Austria

Cyclist at sunset

Downhill skiing on untouched snow

in too deep

Uphill.

Rage

Take a break from snowsports with photographer Jeff Dotson's surf shots, which easily inspire viewers to travel to the ocean shore to sign up for surf lessons.

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

Shot from the film "Kainos" by Sarah Lee and Jeff Dotson

California 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 featured in Mountain Climbing Magazine. Since then, he has come a long way, becoming a member of Pro Team Phottix, receiving various awards, including from Red Bull and National Geographic.

Husky

Storm

Jura of Krakow-Czestochowa or Polish Jura

Belo

The fall

snowmobile

cogollos

Climbing in the Duron Valley

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

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

Just a few weeks ago, Nikon announced the cancellation of production compact cameras premium . In other words, smartphones, thanks to improved software, compact size and quite good quality images have turned digital cameras into a little-demanded and gradually dying out type of photographic equipment. sports photography- this is perhaps one of the few genres of photography in which smartphones cannot yet replace cameras, and probably never will. After all, in order to get any satisfactory result from photographing sports events, one cannot do without specialized photographic equipment.

Sports photographers tend to be on the cutting edge of equipment, and it's much easier to take great sports photography when you use a high quality camera and lenses. However, a great DSLR doesn't make a professional photographer, and in this tutorial we're going to be talking about learning the basics of sports photography, not how much and what kind of photography equipment you have.

I took my first sports photos with the 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 the focus was on capturing the moment rather than getting images where every pixel is perfect. All you need to get started shooting sports is a DSLR or mirrorless camera with an interchangeable lens focal length at least 200mm (or its 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 got involved in the school or university newspaper, or because their child signed up for some kind of sports section. At such moments, newcomers are overwhelmed with enthusiasm and inspiration, with which they hope to create spectacular sports photographs. But it's not as simple as it seems. Before you start shooting sports photography, you need to carefully prepare.

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

Having dealt with your photographic equipment, you can proceed to the second stage of preparation - establishing contact with the organizers of the competition. It is good manners to obtain consent for photography from the organizers of sports events, regardless of their level and status. In most cases, of course, you can take pictures without the consent of the organizers, but with their consent, you will get access to the most convenient and profitable shooting points. The larger the sporting event, the more important for successful photography is a well-established contact with its organizers.

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

How to photograph sports: Shooting

So, you are ready to shoot, and you feel confident and fully prepared to take great photos. AND practical advice below will help you with this.

• Follow the field (ring, track, etc.) as long as there are athletes on it - at any moment an event can occur that can give you an unforgettable shot.
• Respect athletes, coaches, support and service personnel. 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 hurt because your head was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Do not use a camera flash. Do not use the built-in or external flash either. It is very distracting to those around you.

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

One of the most common questions aspiring photographers ask is, “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 will be suitable for shooting most sports events.

Excerpt: try not to use shutter speeds slower than 1/1000 sec. When shooting in a poorly lit room, it will be difficult to maintain such a shutter speed. On a sunny day, outdoors, you can use even faster shutter speeds.

Diaphragm: open apertures (smaller f-numbers) are generally good for sports photography because they allow the camera's sensor to hit more light, and also contribute to blurring background Images. The best option would be an aperture between f/2.8 and f/5.6.

ISO: Start with your camera's base ISO (probably ISO 100) and work your way up until you get the correct exposure. Try to avoid a value above ISO 6400.

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

Sports Photography: After Shooting

When you return home after shooting, download the received photos to your computer and evaluate them (read how to choose a computer for a photographer). Whatever the purpose of shooting sports, you should always analyze the results of your work in order to gain experience. Did all the photos come 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 on your next shoot?

When viewing photographs on the monitor, you may notice details that you did not see on the camera's LCD. Here are a few things you should be aware of (and options for fixing them):

• Are the photos blurry? Try using a faster shutter speed next time.
• Did you capture the climax of the action? Try to react faster and learn to anticipate the actions of the subject being filmed.
• Too inexpressive photos? Try to change the point and / or angle of shooting.
• 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 satisfied with the results of your sports photography, then you have reached your goal, congratulations! Keep shooting and hone your skills! Try to take as many photos as possible that would please you not only with quality, but also with emotional richness!

If you are disappointed with the result, then do not lose heart, and in no case give up sports photography. Just next time, pay more attention to those moments, because of which your pictures seem unsuccessful to you.

Sports Photography: Conclusion

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

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

More useful information and news in our Telegram channel"Lessons and Secrets of Photography". Subscribe!

Dmitry Kurkin

IN THE CATEGORY "CASE" we introduce readers to women of different professions and hobbies that we like or are simply interested in. This time, Daria Konurbayeva, sports photographer and journalist, author of the London Eye blog on sports.ru, talks about how to capture the emotions of winners and losers, football trips and how Russia is ready for the World Cup.

How to get from the fan stand to the photographers area

I never planned to be a sports journalist, let alone a photographer. But it so happened that she became a football fan with all the consequences: she went to matches, rode on trips, sang songs on the podium.

I am the type of person who always needs more and more at some point. If you like a performer, you can't just listen to him in the player - you must definitely go to a concert, even if he is in another city or country. You need to look at your favorite actor not only in the cinema, but also in the theater, and then shake hands and say how cool he is. Read all books and interviews from your favorite author, sign new book at the presentation. This is not about closeness to idols, the story is about maximum emotional immersion. If you are so rushing from something, then you cannot worry about it at home, you need to pour out all your internal energy on some stupid and at the same time cool deeds.

Then such an adrenaline rush struck that mom do not grieve. Absolutely hunting excitement: to have time to catch the moment

The same happened with football. Up to a certain stage, it was great to cheer on the podium, but I wanted more. At that time, Lokomotiv had a rather popular fan site, on which I slowly began to write some texts, travel reports. I brought photos from other cities, but I understood that there were not enough shots of the game. And, it seems, at the match in Novosibirsk for the first time I accidentally hit the edge of the field with a camera. The camera then was stupid, almost a soap box, I almost did not understand how everything works, where to stand, what shots to shoot. But then such an adrenaline rush struck that mom do not grieve. Absolutely hunting excitement: to have time to catch the moment. And that's it, you get addicted to it like a drug.

So everything turned around. I got a new camera and started shooting a lot. Trained "on cats" - the youth team. I came to the matches, some training and filmed. More for myself and on the table, but then the guys cut through - and after each match I had about a dozen personal messages: “Dash, and throw off the pictures?”

About the specifics of the work of a sports photographer

I almost never made a living from photography. This is a completely ridiculous story: my own versatility is ruining me. I work as a correspondent and a photographer at the same time, so I illustrate most of the texts with my own photographs, for which no one ever pays separately. For individual frames they paid five times: they asked for frames for newspapers like Sovetsky Sport, there a fee of 2-3 thousand rubles per frame for the cover. But that was four years ago.

I shoot mainly football, because it is the most and it is more accessible in many respects, but whenever possible I catch everything I can. Last year I filmed water views when the European Championship was in London. In the fall, I tried tennis at the Final Tournament - it's generally a delight, I really want to work with him more. But in general, new species are difficult process. Starting with the specifics of the sport itself and ending with the shooting points that you are given. Everywhere has its own characteristics, and I know very few photographers who are generalists and can shoot football, rowing and biathlon with the same quality. If we are talking about high-quality and artistic shooting, and not just about “a person runs with a ball”.

You can earn a living. Not millions - but in journalism, in principle, only a few earn millions, especially in sports. Dream job - Getty Images, of course. No one shoots sports cooler than them. It's a very right balance between pure sports photojournalism and artistry.

About professional growth

You pay more attention and time to texts, and most of the shots go to the table. There is some unsolvable problem in this. I equally love writing texts and taking pictures, this is a different professional buzz. Plus, this greatly simplifies the life of editors, although they do not always realize their happiness: where in ordinary life you need to send a team of correspondent photographers, I manage alone and bring full-fledged materials with text and pictures.

But because of this dichotomy professional personality it is impossible to grow dramatically within the same genre. To start taking better quality pictures, you need to work as a photographer 24/7, shoot a lot of different things, try yourself in different formats, get your hands on it. It's the same story with lyrics: the more you write them, the better they get.

The ten thousand hour rule always works, but as long as I try to sit on two chairs, it comes out to a maximum of five thousand each. Therefore, I am not the best photographer in the world, the country and even the city, and not the best journalist. But by the sum of these skills, it turns out well. At least I don't know another person in Russia in sports journalism who would shoot and write reports at a level similar to me. So I'm like this Thomas Muller (forward of Bayern Munich and the German national team. - Approx. ed.) from his profession. No megastrengths, all kind of clumsy, no impact, no speed - but the sum of the qualities turns out to be a world champion.

About moving to London and traveling

I ended up in London almost by accident. I have never been to Britain in my life, but almost suddenly decided to go there to study, in a few months I collected all the documents and entered. She flew to cold winter London on the third of January, and on the fifth, her studies had already begun. As a result, she graduated there for eight months pre-masters (preparatory courses preceding the magistracy. - Approx. ed.) and a year and a half of master's degree. At the same time, she worked as a journalist for local and Russian publications, led tours of London.

And in two and a half years, the main thing happened. First, I fell head over heels in love with London. Although this is not even love: you just understand that you belong to this place as much as possible. You feel good and happy in it, regardless of the weather, life's difficulties and world news, you are in it - like a piece of a puzzle that has found its place.

And secondly, I saw how beautiful sports can be. Perfect aesthetic delight: the British are obsessed with sports, and any event, even boring cricket or rowing, is hundreds and thousands of fans with painted faces, in paraphernalia and with sincere emotions on their faces. It's actually my favorite genre. I dream of someday making a big photo project about the fans of the most different types sports from the most different countries. They are all equally beautiful and similar in their experiences.

Life in England teaches you planning. And accreditation for matches - and I, as a rule, tie most of my trips to them - needs to be taken care of in a couple of weeks, and in principle, life is so busy that all personal schedules for a month in advance are agreed upon. I travel a lot. England is small, from London to Manchester two hours by train, to Liverpool - three. It’s very convenient with football: I left the capital early in the morning, arrived at ten or eleven o’clock, walked around the city for a couple of hours, you arrive at the stadium by three, and in the evening before the train there is still enough time for a local pub and a pint of cider.

About the value of the moment caught in the lens

The championship parade in Leicester was cool, it happens once in a lifetime, but there the whole day was more valuable, there were no direct mega shots. Maybe because I don’t work as a photographer, I have the opportunity to choose which events to go to. Still, if you are tied to an editorial office or a photo agency, then at some point you will be sent to a boring press conference, where there is not much history.

All my shootings are also a story about personal experiences. So yes, everything related to Leicester is seasoned with my emotionality. I filmed all their Champions League matches last year: the story is unique in itself, so every frame is a kind of historical record.

I love almost all the footage from [Leicester's] home match against Sevilla. This is generally the brightest and most powerful football experience in life, probably. There, the chances of winning were small, a lot of scandals around the team (The day before, Leicester sacked coach Claudio Ranieri, who the season before made the club the champion of England, for the first time in its history. - Approx. ed.)- and they came out and won. Favorite frame - with Mark Albrighton at the very end. He rushed to the gate, and at the moment of the final whistle, when the game ended, Leicester won - he still runs forward, does not slow down, but this knocking happiness is already on his face. Or in the same place - Jamie Vardy, who, after a missed moment, began to prescribe himself with his fists in the face. Such emotions are the juice of any game.

In general, I don’t really like “technical”, as they are called, frames. A football player in wrestling, a tennis player with a racket, a swimmer in the water - this can be filmed beautifully, but it's all a little protocol. Why do we love sports? For emotions.

Last year, she filmed the Final Tennis Tournament, and in the final it was decided who would become the first racket of the world at the end of the season: Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. Most valuable personnel since that match, not beautiful swinging of the racket, but the very moment when Andy wins match point, drops the racket - and the whole range of emotions from this is on his face. Or five minutes later, when he is already sitting on his bench, waiting for the awards ceremony - and there are tears in his eyes from fatigue and emotional overstrain.

I shoot a lot and different things: travel, concerts, I do ordinary event reporting. But only from sports inside turns on incredible excitement and even needles at your fingertips. Because the Eiffel Tower has stood and will stand; the concert will be given again; speakers at the event with an unsuccessful frame can be asked to smile again. And if you missed a goal, kick, jump - that's all. There is really one chance to record history, there will be no repetitions.

On gender bias in sports journalism

Most often, the answer to the question “why was the report entrusted to that guy, and not to me?” lies in the plane not “because he is a man, and you are not”, but “because he is the best journalist”. I do not focus on considerations like "everyone sees me only as a beautiful girl and does not appreciate my brain." Plus, you can’t really emphasize with photographers: it will be physically inconvenient for you to work in heels and with a decollete, so you come to matches in winter in three sweaters and a hat - and who will make claims against you there?

Maybe I'm so lucky with my colleagues and editors, but I've never heard from someone "go cook borscht." On the other hand, the phrases “oh, you have heavy equipment, and you are a girl, let's help” are also not often heard, but this is not scary. We are for equality, so if I apply for a place in the profession, then I can carry my 10-15 kg of cameras myself. Male athletes, other things being equal, will be much more polite in answering questions from a female journalist. When I worked at a football club, I was responsible, among other things, for taking the players out to the press after the match. Even after losing matches, there were almost never any refusals: psychologically, it would be much easier for them to send a guy from the press service, and you won’t be particularly rude to a girl.

With recognition, by the way, everything is easier. There are hundreds and thousands of guys writing about football. Girls - dozens. Both readers and colleagues remember you much faster and better - precisely because “what a miracle!”. And then it depends only on you whether you reinforce this recognition with the quality of your work or not.

About the Confederations Cup and preparations for the World Cup in Russia

Honestly, I didn’t intend to work on it at all and planned to ignore this tournament and the World Championship in next year. Such a long story, since the days of Sochi: they say, a big tournament is great, but “this is Russia, everything is not ready, we will be disgraced, I don’t want to be part of this shame.”

And then I unexpectedly ended up in Moscow on the dates of the tournament, quite by accident I got accreditation two weeks before the tournament, although the official acceptance of applications ended in the winter. Quite unexpectedly, they called me to a special reportage project. And it turned out that the Confederations Cup is excellent and wonderful. Everyone was worried that no one needed football in Russia, that the stadiums were half empty. But it seems that the average attendance of 39 thousand viewers is a success.

I was lucky, because the first city was Kazan, where it is delicious, beautiful, authentic - and they know how to hold sports tournaments. I told all my colleagues who happened to be based in Tatarstan: "You are incredibly lucky." Kazan since the Universiade and the World Cup water sports Sports taught volunteers to work quickly and positively, and police officers to speak a little English and smile. They say that in St. Petersburg and Sochi it was a little worse, so before the World Cup, I would advise all host cities to go to Kazan and urgently learn from them.

Foreign fans spoke about the organization best of all: they were surprised at the benevolence and good level of security, cursed at the language barrier and difficulty with transport logistics. The main impression: how many people came and came. Fifteen thousand Chilean fans, several thousand Mexicans - and hundreds, hundreds of thousands of locals who came to football for the first time in their lives.

My most vivid impression of Euro 2016 in France is the fan zone in Paris. I arrived there on the opening day, when all the fans were just gathering in the capital and leaving from there. And now, on a huge field in front of the Eiffel Tower, there are fans from all 24 countries. Drunk, sunburnt already, singing songs, fraternizing. My favorite moment of any tournament: when everything is about to start, everyone is in anticipation, but there are no scandals, no problems, no losers and winners yet.

Sports have always been and will be one of the most interesting objects of photography. Live genuine emotions, team spirit and competitive struggle, feelings on the verge of collapse, bitterness of defeats and dizzying joy of victories - all this makes sports photos clear examples of the most powerful human emotions. Today, especially for the XXII Olympic Winter 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: the first time - as part of a team of five Associated Press photographers for reporting on the 1991 coup, the second - for photographs of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who danced at a rock concert in 1996.

• Consciously, I started shooting in high school, but I think then it was all a game, nothing more,- Alexander recalls. - Then, already studying at the university, I began to cooperate first with the student newspaper, then with the regional one, and after graduating from the institute, the 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 single out the conscious adherence to the news and the desire to tell about what I saw in my own language, the language of the picture. A photographer, a photojournalist should always be in the subject”, he says.

As a real news photojournalist, Alexander has shot sports events during his career. In one of the interviews, he spoke about the features of this type of shooting:

• Here is done a large number of personnel, because sport is a movement, and it is better to have a choice than not to have. But the experience of editing is, firstly, just an experience, and then, during any shooting, you need to know what you want, whether it's 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 oppositionist, you need to know for what purpose 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 shoot this match and what is the sports journalist going to write? If you shoot a beautiful flight of a football player with a ball, but in fact, no one needs it: yes, it will be wonderful to hang on the wall, but no one will write about it, but they will write about such and such an attacker, because tomorrow he will be resold; that is our specificity.

According to Alexander, for him, first of all, a person is always interesting:

• With it, I can show the event. If you are shooting an athlete who has just won a hundred meters race, then if possible, take into 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 contemporary photographers, describes himself as follows:

• 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 began later. How is it - to serve in the border troops and not be the coolest of all. Something hooked me when I saw the guys who came from Afghanistan to finish their service, in a tank regiment, in the rear, with us. They sat at the bus stop in Afghan cotton - a strange little thing in the Union at that time - and saw off our GAZ-66 with a smile with an alarming group, looking out of the back in the same cotton, only camouflaged. My war dragged on 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, I have traveled a lot. I wanted to tell something not only in pictures.

He is best known for his photographs taken on Chechen war, however, in sports, he reached a very influential level.

Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images. Tennis Tournament "Kremlin Cup - 2010", final, Viktor Troitsky vs. Markos Baghdatis

Yuri Kadobnov

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

Grigory Dukor

Grigory Dukor is the editor-in-chief of the photo service of the Reuters agency in Russia and the CIS countries. He does not like to talk about himself personally, for him it is inseparable from the story of the work:

For a long time I have been in charge of the Reuters agency, I love to shoot. The volume of work is increasing, the competition is becoming more intense. Now we are changing, like the whole world, we want to continue to be recognizable. If earlier the task was to tell the story with one picture, now we are doing more and more photo reports.

Gregory speaks unambiguously about the work of the photographer. Here is what he answered in an interview with the Chelyabinsk branch of the Union of Photographers of Russia to the question about the civic position of the photographer:

• You should have such a position: come home - and say what you want. But on the set you must be absolutely impartial, otherwise you won’t be able to work, there are many confirmations of this. Sometimes sports photographers, taking advantage of the fact that they have accreditation, come to sports events to cheer, and they do not shoot, but get sick. I'm not saying this to condemn them, but you can't do these two things at the same time, it won't work out that way. In the same way, if you go to some event, for example, a meeting of the communists or someone else whom you personally do not like, you will not get a good picture. If you are a supporter of what is happening, you will again miss everything interesting, so your emotions should be left aside. If you can't be impartial, ask someone else to take the photo.

Gregory loves to shoot sports, “because something happens all the time, there is action all the time. There are nice photos, are simply successful, 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 double, no one will repeat for an encore, so the photographer is ready for everything to happen very quickly. And luck, of course, is needed: something can happen that will make the shot good. Let's say people just ran - there will be a photo of people running; if one ran, and the second jumped, it would be already funny; one ran, and the second fell - a completely different story, not everyone will take it off, someone is lucky, someone is not. But if this did not happen, then no one will take it off, no one will be lucky, and ordinary photographs will turn out.

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. Dedicated to his profession, he spends all holidays and weekends at work.

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

Evgeny Tumashov

Evgeny Tumashov is a recognized professional in biathlon photography. He started photography at school. His career began with the newspaper "Vechernyaya Moskva", where he was first taken 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 Sovetsky 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 camera lens and collected a unique collection of pictures. In autumn 2012, on the eve of the start of the pre-Olympic season, a personal exhibition Evgenia Tumashova "Biathlon. 10 years in the lens.

• I've always wanted to take beautiful pictures,- Evgeny told the Moscow Sports portal, - and biathlon gives such an opportunity, because competitions usually take place in the mountains. No 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... Lanterns are installed along the route, so you can shoot in the evening and in the fog.

Sergey Ilnitsky is one of the best contemporary 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.

• More and more people have good photographic equipment,- he shared his thoughts with the correspondent of 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 in one, the whole essence of what is happening, and here you need both an address plan, and that very decisive moment, and a thought, then you get that same photo icon - icon picture. And now this is not so easy to do, very few people now own it, and for a photo agency, such a skill is the most important thing.

The World Press Photo award was awarded to Sergey for a series of photographs of fencers.

• I was very surprised by the emotionality of this sport when I filmed,- recalls Sergei. - I had foreign colleagues with me, more experienced in shooting fencing, and I asked: “And these guys, are they always so emotional? Shouting, crying, jumping, throwing masks? And the photographers made some kind of joke, like: “So this is in your favor, bro,” and neighing. An athlete sitting next to us and not participating in the competition that day reacted to our conversation. He explained that he had been preparing for these Games all his life: from childhood he dreamed of winning an Olympic award, even if not gold - it doesn’t matter, the main thing for him was to climb the podium. And he trained continuously for 15 years. He won, of course, European and world cups, but he was preparing specifically for the Olympic Games. And now he has the only chance, one for his whole 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 happens in this sport. Once distracted - and a blade was thrust into you. Your whole life is focused on the tip of this sword. One touch, one prick - and you are either a winner or a loser. Therefore, 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. The most famous projects of Dmitry are devoted to critical reflection political situation in Russia. Some of his most famous works are the series "Doubling the Personality" and "The Four Seasons of Vladimir Putin." The photo book about the Olympians “Near Ring, 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 Secretary

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

Ivan Sekretarev began his career as a photojournalist in 1991 in the children's newspaper Glagol, later he worked in Moskovskaya Pravda, Russian newspaper and Izvestiya. How to use the camera, his father explained to him. “This is a lens, and this is a button,” he said, “and you need to press it like this,” Ivan recalled.

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

When shooting sports, Ivan feels himself “involved in the game process”, and therefore cannot “objectively evaluate these pictures”:

• I only wish that, peering into them, one could remember and feel the surge of emotions that hit me once a year later. There is drama, beauty, and a variety of feelings in sports. I like it both as a viewer and as a photographer. I try not just to capture some phase of a sporting event, but to capture such a moment in the history unfolding in front of me that can become decisive or reveal to us something that we are not even able to guess, he says.

Oleg Naumov

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

Oleg is a graduate of the Russian State Academy physical education, he 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. - He showed the resulting pictures to his friends, and when he began to hear more and more enthusiastic reviews about his work, he became interested in how professional photographers become. Combining my sports background with my newfound hobby, I have dedicated myself to sports photography.

According to Oleg, this is not without luck, a sense of a good frame and skill.

• A sports photographer must work according to the rules of the sport he shoots,- says Oleg. - The most interesting thing on the hockey rink happens in the goal area, where the players fight, push, the puck flies or, conversely, the goalkeeper makes a beautiful save. Good shots are also obtained near the bench - only there you can convey through photography the real emotions of the players and coaches, 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 of the training program qualified specialists to ensure high-quality photography of sports events, winner of international, all-Union and all-Russian exhibitions and competitions of sports photography. He has devoted more than 40 years to sports photojournalism.

• Over the years I have participated 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 in 1980 in Moscow, albums and books on the Olympic theme, in particular, the illustrated two-volume "Olympic Age", 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 have managed to win awards at the most prestigious photo contests in Russia and abroad: World Press Photo, Adidas AIPS Canon, Inter Photo, Nikon and others. They collaborated with Newsweek, Ogonyok, Cosmopolitan, Burda, PROSPORT, TV Park, Los Angeles Times and New York Times. Now their photographs continue to be happily printed by the Russian Reporter, Sport-Express, Soviet Sport, and Itogi publications. They cooperate with news agencies Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, IMAGO, AFLO.

Andrey and Sergey cannot imagine working alone. Here is how they commented on their decision to work as a pair to 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 right frame. In general, tactics joint work we started using it long before we created a common brand: just when we were still working in the magazine " Soviet Union”, I, Andrei and our good friend Evgeny Miransky began to be accredited to all sporting events as a threesome, and then, submitting a topic to a magazine, sign photos with three names. Such a collective report always turned out to be more interesting than if everyone worked alone. We occupied different positions, shot from different points and could cover the competition as fully as possible. But soon the Soviet Union collapsed and the magazine too, for some time we worked separately: Andrey - in Kommersant, in Faces, I - in the American editions of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, and Zhenya stopped professional photography altogether .

• In 1996, we met at the Atlanta Olympics 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 besides, the two of us get more done.

Alexander Wilf

RIA Novosti correspondent.

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

Follow our news! You are waiting for exclusive interviews with the best sports photographers in Russia, materials about their work and the best photos from the Olympics in Sochi!

And we want to finish the material with the words of Sergey 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 another matter.

We wish our athletes worthy performances!Cheer for ours!

For help in preparing the material, the editorial staff expresses special gratitude to the curator-coordinator of the All-Russian annual open project Best of Russia,postgraduate student of the Department of Photojournalism, Moscow State UniversityMary Vaschuk.