How to shoot... Winning sports shots!

From tennis to track-and-field and swimming to soccer, sports supremo and Nikon Ambassador Joel Marklund shares his secrets for gold-worthy images

- Joel Marklund

The summer of sport is finally upon us! By the time you read this, the delayed Euro 2020 football championship will be in full swing and into the knockout stages, Wimbledon will have just started, having taken a year out, and the Tokyo Olympics will be on the near horizon, once again being delayed for a year thanks to you-know-what. I will be covering many of the major highlights on the sporting calendar, and after a fallow year followed by photographing sporting events almost completely absent of supporters, I can’t wait to capture the great sporting moments to come, and the atmosphere of the crowds that follow them.

The path to becoming a sports photographer isn’t easy; on a professional level, it demands fast telephoto lenses and top-end cameras, neither of which come cheap. And getting accreditation to shoot at professional games is a chicken-and-egg situation where you need a proven track record to get access to shoot and, realistically, you need to work for a sports photo agency or a newspaper to get the gig in the first place.

But it’s not impossible, and starting off small – covering your local amateur team or events – can lead to bigger and better things. Hopefully this advice will stand you in good stead, no matter what level or discipline of sport want you shoot.