Shutterstock Shot Of The Month: Nov 23
‘Shot of the Month’ is brought to you by FEVO Sport Industry Awards partner Shutterstock. In this ongoing image-led series, we turn the spotlight on those behind the lens. Telling the story of the standout photos that grace newspapers, magazines and digital screens around the world from the photographer’s point of view.
GARNACHO WONDER GOAL!
PAUL GREENWOOD, Shutterstock Photographer
Photographing the Premier League is a privilege. It is the best league in the world attracting some of the world’s best players and millions of spectators. It’s important to tell the story of every match and to capture the big moments.
As soon as I saw Alejandro Garnacho leave the pitch to perform the overhead kick, I wish I could say that time went into slow motion and I had time to compose the shot perfectly. However, this is real life and not the movies. It all happened really quickly and before I could process the magnificence of what I had just witnessed, Garnacho was running towards me celebrating so I had to make sure I captured those celebrations. Checking what I had captured on my camera was nerve-wracking as I usually shoot the goal mouth action differently to my peers. I shoot on a 135mm lens with a wide open aperture of f1.8, so my depth of field is not as great and my focus has to be absolutely perfect. When it works, the results are spectacular.
As you can see, Garnacho really pops off the page as the background melts out of focus.
I am probably one of only a few sports photographers in the country, if not the only one in the Premier League, who uses a 135mm f1.8 lens. Shutterstock is all about capturing the action differently and the beautiful, shallow depth of field really works in these situations.
The spectacular goal silenced the stadium which had been pretty raucous up until that point as it was the first Premier League game since Everton had received a 10 point deduction. I was listening to a match radio and the commentators were gushing about what a spectacular goal it was and how it was possibly the goal of the season and a Puskas award contender.
The next day the TV and newspapers were full of reports on the goal. It will be talked about for years, just as the Wayne Rooney goal of 20 years ago is still referenced now.
I am really pleased that I was able to successfully capture such an important part of the Premier League story.
Subscribe to the Sport Industry Daily for regular updates on the biggest stories and latest news in the sport industry.
