Our evolution of sports photography
While thinking of a topic, I started to think of about blogging and how it is yet another technology/communications tool that we are adapting to and how things have changed.
Both Larry and I started out as newspaper photographers and we both photographed quite a few sporting events, from t-ball to the pros. Working for newspapers, shooting black and white film (which we processed and printed ourselves), we shot a roll or two of 36-exposure film and were happy to produce two or three photographs worthy of publication. Which was usually decided by a very picky photo editor.
Sports photography generally requires telephoto lenses. They were very big and very heavy then. Manually focusing telephoto lenses was a skill and photographers who mastered it were rewarded with the best sports assignments because they could consistently produce the best images. It is very hard to describe the difference the fast and accurate autofocus function made in sports photography.
Most sports photographers resisted switching to autofocus early on because they could actually outperform the early versions of these lenses and there was a certain bravado to it. The lenses quickly became better and better. Younger photographers adapted to them more readily, as with most new technology.
When I spoke to one one photographer, who I consider one of the best in the country, what he thought of the new autofocus, he just shook his head and said “Al, it’s just not fair.” He was afraid of being replaced because he thought everyone would now be able to shoot sports. More and more people were able to shoot sports, but the new technology in the hands of a great photographer made him an incredible photographer.
Early digital cameras produced images comparable to what can be made on today’s camera phone. And they cost $18,000. Each. The internet was something you read text files on using a service called Compuserve.
Soon we were able to send images using a laptop. No more setting up a darkroom in a hotel bathroom. Now, if we need to, we can transmit photos from our cameras on the sideline directly to a laptop. I’m betting that soon we will be able to send photos and video to your phones while you are watching the game. We’ll then get a text message “be sure to get #22!”
When I thought of this I laughed. Today with digital cameras we shoot hundreds of images and post 50 or more images from each game. We, and others, are able to capture action shots that we could only dream of. How we get them into your hands will be the next wave for us. - Al Fuchs
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