A passion for sport and an understanding of it, the ability to perform under pressure, fast reflexes and physical fitness: the skillset required of a professional sports photographer isn't dissimilar to that required of an athlete.
Sports photographer Tom Jenkins can often be seen sprinting the length of a pitch as he follows the action. With three cameras attached to three sizeable Canon L-series lenses in tow, it's no mean feat. "I've got a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens that has this amazing lightweight technology in it, and it has made such a difference!" says the Canon Ambassador. He's been shooting sports professionally for more than 30 years, and on contract with British national newspapers The Guardian and Observer for over a decade. "I can get up and down a bit quicker, which means I'm not so exhausted towards the end of the match when the most crucial events might happen."
Every second counts when you have lots of photographers – and a bank of long lenses – vying to create something unique, or to catch a split-second expression that will capture the imagination of the world in a viral flurry. Getting the 'money shot' is what Tom's job is all about – "there are photographers all around me, and we're all out to get the best shot." You're under pressure to take a risk with exposure or shutter speed to get something different, but the stakes are high: "You're standing at the end of the 100m straight, and you've got Usain Bolt coming towards you, at quite a speed. It's nine seconds, and it's gone. You've been there all day setting up those cameras. It won't be repeated. That is pressure."
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There is no set rule about what the defining moment of a game looks like: it could be the match-winning goal, but it could equally be a fight on the sidelines. A large part of Tom's job is to identify the news angle, to anticipate what the writers will hone in on, and ensure he covers it. Tom approaches a game with both eyes open: "I focus through my right eye the whole time. But I've taught myself over the years to keep my left eye open to see what is going on. I might see a manager going loopy on the touchline, and then, 'Bang!' Over to the manager."
Describing himself as a "failed sportsman" at heart, Tom draws performance pressure comparisons but admits, with pitches spanning 100 metres and access restrictions, sometimes it's down to luck and perseverance. "When I miss the shot, it's quite hard to take," he says. "I suppose when I was younger and less experienced, I would be pretty angry but you have to be philosophical about it. Tomorrow is another day."
It took 25 years photographing the Grand National, one of Britain's most famous horse races, for Tom to get the 'money shot' he was after. "There's one fence called The Chair – it's the biggest on the course and I started setting up there in the 1990s," he says. He knew one year he'd get a good picture there, but didn't anticipate it'd take him decades…
"In 2016, it was raining, pouring, and I thought, 'Shall I put the remote cameras out? They're likely to get really wet. Is it worth it?'
"I knew I had to – I was due some luck at this fence. That year, all sorts of things happened: the horses were really tired, so they didn't jump the fence properly, and there were fallers. I got this picture on a remote camera and thought, 'Wow, I've cracked it, after all these years!'" It won first prize in the Sports Singles category of the 2017 World Press Photo awards (see the winning image here).
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Tom is now preparing for what will be his fifth Rugby World Cup, in a career that's also taken him to seven Football World Cups and five Summer Olympics. "Rugby makes fantastic pictures because it's such a physically intense sport – there's a lot of ferocity. You can get some crunching action pictures," he says.
"You feel like you're in the centre of the world when you're shooting a World Cup final and you know that half the world is looking." But he does still find himself at local matches – jobs he says are refreshing, owing to the comparative freedom you have at grassroots games, where your position isn't restricted by advertising boards or TV cameras, and off-beat moments such as dogs running across pitches can still be chanced upon.
Big games aren't needed for great sports photographs, he insists, and nor are expensive lenses: "I know I'm very lucky that I can afford to have really fantastic kit and big lenses, but you don't need them to take great sports pictures. I started off with just one plain camera and a 50mm lens – that taught me how to frame things, and how to go in close."
Many sports fans would say it's a dream job, but Tom is covering events rain or shine and he admits there are days where he gets frustrated. He says the weather sealing in his kit is "critical". "They need to withstand the hurly-burly of my profession. I can't make the excuse that my camera's not working." A chamois leather cloth is his must-have accessory.
The pressure to deliver is clearly higher than ever, with live sports coverage and increasing consumer expectations and competitors' standards. His images are transmitted via Wi-Fi to his laptop, and then straight to the news desk. "One of the first things I do when I get to a stadium is work out how I'm going to get the pictures sent as quickly as possible," he says. "It's vital."
It's hard to imagine how you can stand out in a crowd of photographers, penned in together. There are tricks you can learn, but much of it is instinctive. Tom can't explain why he frames like he does: "It's in-built; how it feels nice to me."
Tom also ensures there's no room for technical failures and places great importance on caring for his tools. "I use CPS a lot," he says, of Canon Professional Services – the technical support network for Canon-shooting pros. "In the rare circumstance that something goes wrong, they fix it as soon as they possibly can." CPS also attends the world's most significant matches with a team of technicians. "As a professional photographer, that support is really important," he says.
Camera manufacturers often test their top-level cameras on sports photographers because they get pushed to extremes. "We shoot in poor conditions with bad contrasts that are really hard for autofocus and we want fast shutters and really quick motor drives." With a fast-moving subject, it's essential to have a fast and precise autofocus. "It is the biggest game changer and the most important development in technology over the past 30 years," says Tom, who started his career manually follow-focusing his subjects.
During a typical game, Tom will have three cameras on him: a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens, and another two bodies with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens and a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. "Those lenses cover me for all situations, from shooting action tight-in to tries in the corner, which are absolutely crucial."
When the moment comes, it's not whether his camera will work that's playing on Tom's mind, it's missing that key shot. "One of the most memorable nights of my career was in November 2003 in Sydney, Australia," he says. "It was the final of Rugby World Cup 2003, and England were playing Australia. I'd never seen England win anything big, be it cricket, football, rugby…
"It was a tight game, and it went to extra time. I was running up and down the sidelines photographing everything, and I was incredibly tired by extra time. It was pouring and I was sweating like mad, but I knew that it would probably come down to just one kick.
"The ball came back to Jonny Wilkinson. For some reason, I still don't know why, he turned and kicked it off his right foot, which is his weak foot. The ball looped up, went through the posts and England had won the World Cup. It was an incredible feeling.
"All the players were celebrating with the trophy, but I knew the story was Jonny Wilkinson. He is quite an introverted character, and the one player from the whole England team who didn't go near the trophy.
"So I'm thinking: 'how can I illustrate this?' Then I saw him heading towards the dressing room. He was the first player to leave the pitch that night. I saw all these fans draped over the tunnel with their arms out waiting to greet him. I rushed after him with a wide-angle lens, and I got one frame as he walked down the tunnel before the press officer walked in front of me and said, 'No more'.
"I didn't need more than one frame – it told the story. I knew the instant I took it."
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The key kit pros use to take their sports photographs
"The autofocus on the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II is amazing," says Tom, who often carries three camera bodies. Canon's flagship pro DSLR with 20.2MP full-frame sensor, 61-point AF system, up to 14fps and ISO to 409,600.
Fast, flexible and built for any assignment, this is the one lens Tom says he couldn't be without: "It is a brilliant action lens – I take more pictures with this lens than with any other."
A compact, high-performance zoom lens ideal for those shooting sports, action and wildlife photography. Tom says: "This has amazing lightweight technology in it, and it has made such a difference!"
A professional-quality standard zoom that offers outstanding image quality and a fast f/2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range. "I would always take this on feature and action shoots," says Tom.
An ultra-wide angle compact lens with an added Image Stabilizer for ensuring superb results in low-light conditions.
Engineered for fast frame-rate shooting, this flash performs in the most demanding situations. Used off-camera or in the hotshoe, its versatility allows you to take complete control over lighting.
Fire compatible Speedlite flashguns over distances of up to 30m. Radio-frequency control provides reliable operation even when direct line of sight is not possible.
This compact extender increases the focal length of Canon L-series telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses by a factor of 1.4x.
"I learned years ago that one of the most crucial items in a sports photographer's kitbag is a chamois leather," says Tom. "This might seem weird considering all the technology that's in the bag, but if there's a sudden downpour, I can get the chamois leather out and put it over my kit. It protects it and is also then ready to get rid of any water splashes on the front elements. I buy new chamois leathers every year so they're nice and soft and fluffy."
As well as the three cameras he has on him, Tom will set up remote cameras in the corners of the pitch for moments he might otherwise miss.
An 80cm remote release for EOS cameras featuring an N3-type socket.
A 60cm remote release for EOS cameras featuring an E3-type socket. Its two-stage control button behaves in the same way as a camera's shutter release, activating AF on a half-press.
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