Eamon MacCabe is a sports and celebrity photographer. This is a photograph of four men finishing a sprinting race in a major sporting event. The purpose of the image is to document this event in a graphical form. The image is to

be distributed online and physically (for a price). The lighting comes from natural means, in this case, the Sun. The photograph is taken at an angle that exploits the sunlight to allow the participants to be lit properly without interrupting the race or needing artificial light. The image is most likely cropped to emphasise on the sprinters, however it is not likely that manipulation had been used. The greyscale used in the photograph, either done artificially or due to the photograph’s age, eliminates nearly every need to change the white balance of the resulting photograph. The rule of thirds may have been broken, but there is a reason for this. The sprinters are running at a pace that only allows a certain number of shots, so MacCabe was probably focusing more on how the photograph emphasises on the sprinters rather than how the camera and subjects will be positioned.

This is another photograph from Eamon MacCabe. It shows tennis player Björn Borg during a tennis match. The purpose of this image may have been to document the tennis match Borg was in, however this image can be bought on Eamonn’s website. The lighting could come from either natural means, like the Sun, or from artificial light such as the lights in the stadium. Because of the photo being

presented in black and white, one may not be sure if the match was done in the day or night time unless they saw information about the photograph. The photograph was taken in portrait orientation, so Borg’s body could be shot into the entire frame. The greyscale used in the photograph, either done artificially or due to the photograph’s age, eliminates nearly every need to change the white balance of the resulting photograph. I think the rule of thirds was used on this photograph. The subject takes up most of the frame, and positioning the subject was vital for this photograph, however he may not have thought about it much for the tennis ball as it wasn’t the subject (although it was a required prop for the photograph).

Adam Pretty is a sports photographer from Sydney, Australia. He has worked in photography at many Olympic games, including the 2012 London Olympics. In this photo by Pretty, several people are running and jumping in a hurdles race at an Olympics-related event in Singapore, and it was most likely a rainy day as the participants run through a

puddle. One of the participants seems to have tripped and has fell upside down/face first into the large puddle that everyone is going through. Another racer seems to be jumping on the hurdle and about to jump into the puddle from it. Other racers are running in the puddle, creating splashes around their feet. Pretty’s photograph intends to document and capture a moment in the race at Singapore, however the moment of the falling participant was not planned, which could enhance or ruin the photo, depending on what the viewer thinks. We can show that the falling racer was not intentional, as the photo centres on another racer’s legs. The photograph does not use the rule of thirds, as many people are racing and seen in the photo from left to right, not following the rule of thirds at all. This is justified, much like MacCabe’s photograph, as they could not properly plan a photograph of fast-paced action. Also similarly to MacCabe’s photograph, the shutter speed was faster, allowing a photograph that properly captures a freeze frame of what is going on. This also allows the water to look “frozen” while the participants splash their feet in the puddle. The viewpoint of the camera is near the floor, looking slightly up. This creates an illusion that makes us feel like we are smaller than the participants of the race in the photograph. This viewpoint also creates the illusion that we are on the track. The background shows the location and that this photograph is of a public event. The background contains city buildings, showing the viewer that the event was in a populated Singaporean city. The audience shows that the event intends to be seen by many people. Other photographers and journalists in the photograph could potentially ruin the mood, however. Finally, the image may have been cropped, not manipulated. This may be to add more focus on the race rather than what is around it. The photograph shows a story of people participating in a Singaporean sports event, possibly in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2012, and how a racer may have embarrassed himself falling face-first into the puddle. Due to the viewpoint, the photograph creates a mood of immersion and adrenaline while the viewer feels like they are in the running track… until they see the falling racer, where they may find the photo amusing. Adam Pretty’s photograph does meet its purpose of documenting and capturing a moment of the race, however the capturing of the unpredictable moment was not what the photo intended.

This was another photograph taken by Adam Pretty. This photograph, which shows Usain Bolt racing ahead of other racers in the Men’s 100m Final, was shortlisted for a Sony World Photograph Award in 2013. The purpose of this image was to capture an event – in this case, the

Olympics. Unlike the last photo where one runner was found falling head-first into a puddle, this photograph properly conveys what Pretty had intended: a photograph of the four Olympic sprinters, running. Because the four were very close to each other, it creates a line of sight, making people see the left-most sprinter to the right, or vice versa. Lighting was very obviously provided by natural light sources, which is seen by the strong shadows and their direction. Artificial lights from the stadium would angle the shadows differently. Rule of thirds may have been used for this photograph, The sprinters take up the first two rows while the Olypmic logo on the ground takes up the third row. This shows that a picture taken during a live event can use rule of thirds, as this photograph was taken in 2013. Eamon MacCabe’s photographs were taken in the 1980s, with cameras that had less technology than the ones we and professional sports Pretty use today.

 

Martin Rickett is a photojournalism photographer that takes photos of important news and events for several news outlets, particularly (and in this case) the Press Association. This photo by Rickett shows

British Olympics runner Mo Farah communicating to the audience with his body language and facial expressions whilst running in front of a Brazilian and Kenyan runner. As we can see on Farah’s name sticker, this photograph takes place in the 2012 London Olympics. This photo intends to capture the success of Farah in his events at the Olympics, and to show his feelings through his facial expressions. I think it meets this purpose, as the photo shows him in front of several other runners participating in the event, and his facial expression is clearly seen, showing surprise and relief as he finishes the race covering the faces o the other two runners. The photograph uses rule of thirds, unlike the other two photos were the rule of thirds had to be eliminated. Aperture and focus were set so the background is blurred a lot, allowing emphasis on Farah. The camera is near eye level, to show a professional picture of Farah and further emphasise him as a subject of the photograph. We also see the front of the runners, instead of their side like in the other two photographs. The photo may have been zoomed to create an illusion that we are on the track. The background was heavily blurred, as we have said, however we can still make out that it is an audience, showing how popular the Olympics is as an event. The photo does not seem to have been cropped, as there is a substantial amount of space on the left and right areas of the photograph near Farah’s hands. The other racers don’t fill the space, either. The image is unlikely to have been manipulated with editing software. In contrast to the other two photos, I don’t think this photograph is intending to have meaning or mood. It was intended just to accompany a news report relating to the runner, whereas the photos create meaning using a variety of composition methods. The photo is to be seen on professional news outlets, which was why it may not intend to have mood or meaning.