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Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers takes a photograph throughout a batting follow in 2018. | Credit: Jennifer Stewart / Getty Images
This rising development of sports activities stars making visitor appearances as photographers at skilled video games outdoors their self-discipline doesn’t sit nicely with me.
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Take Olympic ski champion Mikaela Shiffrin, for instance, who not too long ago spent an evening photographing an NBA sport between the Nets and the Hornets, kitted out in an official media vest with a professional mirrorless rig in hand.
Shiffrin is not the one athlete to briefly discover themselves on the opposite aspect of the digital camera. Gymnast Suni Lee, for example, photographed the Vikings’ win over the Lions in Minnesota on Christmas Day final yr.
It’s laborious to not see why these athletes get that honor. Shiffrin’s look behind the digital camera, for instance, was arranged as part of her press tour.
My fear is that these athletes could also be getting one of many restricted spots over an aspiring photographer who’s spent years honing their craft, or over the professionals who’ve invested blood, sweat, tears, and 1000’s of {dollars} to earn a courtside place.
Olympic ski champion, Mikaela Shiffrin, not too long ago labored as a “pro photographer” at a Nets NBA sport.
This isn’t a “bash Mikaela Shiffrin” piece – I truly assume a few of her photos are fairly good. Nor am I speaking about athletes who finally go on to turn into critical sports activities photographers, like Ken Griffey Jr., for instance.
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But giving a restricted press spot to a sports activities star looks like a intestine punch to images as a complete, no matter whether or not these athletes are genuinely within the artwork.
Sports stars are having fun with an evening of images, then strolling away with a stage of publicity 99.9% of working photographers might solely dream of. And sure, I get that that is the purpose. It’s probably not about images. It’s about driving consideration to celeb athletes and income to the organizations that invite them to play photographer.
Serbian skilled tennis participant Novak Djokovic takes photographs with a digital camera throughout a charity occasion forward of the 2013 China Open | Credit: Visual China Group through Getty Images
But there’s a greater technique to method it. Instead of changing professionals, why not have these athletes collaborate with them? Imagine a setup the place a professional athlete works alongside an skilled sports activities photographer throughout a dwell broadcast. That would shift the main focus again to the craft and provides images the visibility it deserves.
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The finest sports activities photographers perceive the game intimately – what higher technique to increase each sports activities photographers and athletes than by having them work collectively behind the digital camera?
Olympic gymnast, Suni Lee, additionally determined to be a professional photographer at Viking’s NFL Christmas Day 2025 win.
It might even encourage followers of these athletes to select up a digital camera themselves, or a minimum of take a deeper curiosity in how sports activities imagery is definitely made. It would additionally present images for what it truly is: a self-discipline constructed on years of follow, timing, and technical talent, not an off-the-cuff passion you possibly can dabble in and count on first rate outcomes, not to mention acquire a media move.
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As a large NHL fan, I’d like to see professional athletes from different sports activities rinkside, working alongside seasoned hockey photographers capturing the motion. These athletes won’t be photographers, however their expertise in high-stakes video games might give them a singular eye for what makes a compelling sports activities picture. And with correct steering from professionals, the outcomes could possibly be genuinely fascinating.
Commanders quarterback, Mike Sainristil, was invited to {photograph} a Washington Capitals NHL sport.
To be clear, this isn’t a name for celeb images segments or gimmicky TV codecs the place athletes are handed cameras. I can already think about it turning into some unusual Instagram Live sequence the place solely essentially the most well-known and handsome of athletes are invited to look good pitchside, solely with a digital camera in hand.
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But if sports activities organizations are going to ask celebrities to shoot video games anyway, then one thing must be finished to make sure working photographers get a chunk of the pie too. And having them take the invitee beneath their wing for a one-night mentorship could possibly be a means of doing it whereas additionally shining a limelight on images as a complete.
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