Sports Photography

The pros in action.

If you followed the London 2012 Olympic Games at all, you surely could not help but be impressed by some of the extraordinary images produced both on video and by still photographers. Check out some of them here.

At the various sports venues, the authorised photography contingent could be seen huddled along their special court-side benches, cradling lenses as long as their arms, dressed in the ubiquitous beige multi-pocketed photographer's jackets. They each sported a four-digit number on their  jackets. Some had laptops with them - they could be seen downloading their digital pics and sending them off to wherever they were sending them, before the matches had even climaxed.

Looong lenses.

In our seats, not always very close to the action, and with a small compact digital camera, we couldn't be expected to compete with the pros. We were at least three feet of lens too short. However, that didn't stop us trying. Some sports leant themselves to pretty good shots - Weightlifting and Archery, for instance, where the competitor stands still, except for a bit of straining and trembling. Others, such as gymnastics, tempt the photographer with the balletic grace of the moves but foil with the speed and movement.

Peering over the judge's shoulder - Table Tennis.

Seat location matters, of course. Row five at the Water Polo provided unsurpassed views of the butts...er, musculature...of the athletes. Row fourteen for Athletics in the big stadium, though far from the finish line, was right on the relay start lines. The Hockey was hot, the Swimming was too far away, the Fencing was dimly lit. The Table Tennis was nigh on impossible to photograph, so incredibly fast do they pelt that tiny light ball around. Volleyball and Basketball look great through the camera lens, but all too often the great shot is over before you can click the shutter.

So it is with just a little preening that I present here an album of some of our amateur efforts at Olympic sports photography.

Swimmers on their marks.

en garde in the fencing

Men's Floor Exercises in the Gymnastics

Men's Pommel Horse - "hello boys"

Elegant...Men's Gynmastics

Volleyball

Table Tennis - concentration

Italian Water Polo players
(they model for Armani, I'm told)

Water Polo action.

Eyeing the ball - Table Tennis

New Zealand in the Men's Hockey

Women's Basketball (France v Russia)

Ready in the relay.

Victory lap.

Women's Hammerthrow.

Lined up for the Women's 1500m

Oscar Pistorius, the South African 'blade runner'.

Victorious Bahamians.

Women's Basketball:
finally managed to snap the ball in flight.