© Philip Brown

The photographs of India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik diving and stumping England’s Michael Vaughan were taken on September 5, 2004 at Lord’s during a one-day series.

The shots were taken with a Canon body with a 500mm lens and a 1.4 teleconverter. I had in 2004 changed to Canon equipment as I believed Canon had overtaken Nikon with their range of digital cameras. In 2008 Nikon overtook Canon again and I changed back. Both very expensive decisions for me! Anyway Nikon and Canon both make great cameras and lenses while both charge thousands of pounds for most items. I would estimate that well over 99% of professional photographers who turn up at sporting events use one of these two brands. I still question how a 600mm telephoto lens, which is basically just some metal and some glass can cost the same as a brand new car. Answers on a post card please. (No, I’m not going to be diverted again and explain what a post card is.)

Photographers are very well treated at Lord’s and normally have a large choice of positions from where they can photograph major matches. Usually I sit at the Nursery End of the ground underneath the media centre but occasionally I may choose one of two positions beside the famous Lord’s pavilion.

Continue reading "A stumping to remember at Lord's"

© Hamish Blair/Getty Images

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I wanted to welcome my good friend Philip [Brown] to this blog. It’s great having him to be a part of it. If you don't already know his work, he's a fantastic photographer as you will see with his posts here. I've spent a lot of time shooting alongside him and his sense of humour and fun make an already enjoyable job even better.

The photo I've chosen for this post is a shot of Adam Gilchrist from the opening match of Australia's 2005 Ashes tour of England against the Professional Cricketers Association Masters XI. The Ashes tour traditionally opens with a match at the incredibly picturesque Arundel Castle ground in southern England. It is set in the grounds of the castle and is a perfect place to start a tour of England as it is a great example of the beautiful cricket grounds that can be found all over the country.

Shooting a tour match as opposed to a Test, ODI or T20I is a little different. While there is still interest in the result, the focus isn't always on exact incidents and highlights. It can often be a good opportunity to try and take some different and sometimes a little more interesting photos.

Continue reading "An action shot in the English countryside"

© Philip Brown

Hello, my name is Philip Brown (please call me Philip), and I’ve been photographing cricket for a long time, well about 25 years, in fact. I’m really pleased that I’ve been asked to share some of my cricket images with you in Shot Selection in the coming months.

I first photographed cricket in Australia before I moved to England in 1989. I received a lesson in covering cricket when I was sent to my first Test match at the SCG in 1988. Chris Broad (Stuart’s father) scored a century (139) but “lost it” after he was dismissed by Steve Waugh. He knocked over his stumps with his bat before leaving the field. I missed the photo, but the doyen of cricket photography, Patrick Eagar, a lovely bloke, captured this moment perfectly and was welcomed with open arms by my newspaper’s picture editor back in the office. Patrick’s images graced the pages of Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph the following day. Lesson learnt, concentrate Philip!

This black-and-white image is from June 1989. I was covering the Ashes tour for newspapers back in Australia (including the Sunday Telegraph who must have forgiven my earlier incompetence). The tour started in early May and the Aussie team didn’t leave the UK until the end of August so it was a long trip.

Continue reading "Shooting the PM"

© Getty Images

Hi again everyone. The next photo I've chosen to share is a bit different from the action in and around the matches of most of my other posts. I¹ve picked a studio portrait I shot of current Australian captain Michael Clarke last year.

Prior to the start of each season, all of the contracted Australian players gather for a player camp, to take care of number of meetings, media commitments etc. There are also a number of photos that need to be taken, headshots in Test, ODI and T20 uniforms, sponsor photos etc. There is also an opportunity to take some more creative portraits while we have them in the studio.

Photographing in a studio is almost the complete opposite of photographing a sporting event. Shooting a sporting event is about recording what happens. Obviously there is no control as to when and where the action happens. Most of the action in cricket usually takes place somewhere on or near the pitch, but the role of the photographer is one of an observer, anticipating and reacting to the action, with no direct input.

Continue reading "Capturing Clarke"

Glenn McGrath takes his 500th Test wicket, against England at Lord's in the first Test of the 2005 Ashes (shot from a remote camera in the stands) © Hamish Blair/Getty Images

The photograph chosen for this piece is from the famous 2005 Ashes series in England. Going in to the series Glenn McGrath was on 499 career Test wickets, meaning his first wicket of the series would be his 500th, a significant milestone. The first Test was played at Lord's and I thought that presented an opportunity for a nice photo to capture this moment.

This photo was shot using a remote camera. A remote camera is a second camera I set up somewhere different from where I am shooting. Normally, as I've mentioned previously, I shoot from ground level, usually at fine leg or long-off to a right-hand batsman. I set a remote camera up in the stands somewhere. A typical setup would be with the TV cameras looking straight down the wicket. This camera is set up with a shorter lens than the one I use to shoot action from ground level, taking in a wider view of everything happening on and near the pitch. It has a radio controlled trigger attached to it that links to another trigger attached to my camera, which means when I fire my camera at ground level, the remote camera fires too.

The exact angle etc of the remote camera is usually determined by what is available in the stands at each ground. Every ground is a different size with a different setup. The best photos from a remote camera are, usually, significant wickets; that is when a lot of players from the fielding team are likely to run around in the centre wicket area celebrating. It may be the wicket of a key opposition batsman, a wicket to win a match or series, or a milestone wicket as was the case with this photo.

Continue reading "A remote camera captures a McGrath milestone"

© Getty Images

I thought given Australia's recent success and my last photo was of Australia losing, that today's photo should be of an Aussie looking happy!

This photo was taken during the Third Test between Australia and India a couple of weeks ago. As is probably still fresh in most cricket fans memories, David Warner made a blazing century off only 69 balls. Warner is the sort of cricketer that is a photographer's dream. Big hitting, fast scoring and it is always obvious how much he enjoys playing.

I wasn't covering the Test in Hobart against New Zealand, where he scored his maiden Test century, but was watching it on TV and saw my colleagues’ photos of his amazing leap when he reached three figures. I was covering T20 Big Bash League match at the MCG a few days later when he scored another century, also celebrated with a big leap. I wasn't quite on the right angle for that one, so when he neared his century in Perth I wanted to make sure I got it right.

Continue reading "Warner's leap of joy"

© Getty Images

It's been too long since my last blog - not as much cricket in my working life for a while - but I'm back again.

For my first blog in a long time, I've picked a photo from the end of the 2010-11 Ashes. As an Aussie photographer, particularly during the final Ashes Test in Sydney, I had a lot of time to think about the fact that Andrew Strauss and the England team would, during the post-series presentation, be celebrating on the podium as the Australians looked on.

I wanted to try and sum that up in one photo. Video, as opposed to a still photo, can change focus or pan from one subject to another to show two different subjects over a few seconds of footage. There is always the opportunity to show winners and losers in two separate photos, but I was hoping for one photo that told the whole story.

Normally, for these presentations, the standard position to shoot from is head on, looking straight at the winning team to capture the celebrations straight down the barrel of the lens. The losing team normally stands to one side. I was fortunate as I had a few Getty Images colleagues with me, a couple of them were shooting the 'straight' shot, giving me the freedom to try something different.

Continue reading "Ashes emotion: jubilant England, dejected Australia"