Behind the action: a guide to sports portraiture

While some sports photographers work in exotic, glamorous locations, sports portrait specialist Łukasz Skwiot can often be found in a small dressing room with just a few minutes available to capture a striking cover image.

Łukasz's career has taken him from the sidelines of football, handball and basketball games to intimate portrait sessions where, with time usually limited and expectations always high, he must produce compelling pictures in any setting. "It is up to me, as a photographer, to create a concept that will produce an amazing final effect," he says.

"I like working with harsh, contrasting light, to create sharp, saturated photos," he continues, "and I often use special effects like smoke, dust or water to create images that are difficult to pass by without noticing."

However, Łukasz emphasises that each shoot concept is shaped by both the sport and the personality involved. "Each sport is different, each discipline is different, so each session is created from scratch," he says. "I try to capture the dynamics of both the athlete and the discipline."

While his images have a distinctive, bold look, they are always personal. "In my opinion," he says, "emotions are 60% and light is 40% of a perfect photo."

How does he capture the emotions and the personality of his subjects, though, especially under pressure of time?

"I work with athletes, not models," Łukasz admits. "It is different from working with professional models. Athletes don't know what to do with their hands or how to stand, so it can be hard to capture natural emotion. The most important thing is to build trust, then it's easier to control and pose the player."

As his confidence grew, Łukasz was tasked with increasingly demanding commissions, including the ultimate test – front-cover shoots. "I tend not to tell athletes that we are taking a front-cover photo, because it usually stiffens them up, which I want to avoid," he says. He has also learned not to focus too much attention on shooting with a particular layout in mind. "You have to remember your framing and leave space for the magazine title and coverlines," he explains. "But it has happened that the planned cover shot wasn't the most interesting and editors can change the magazine layout, so I try to keep all my material at the same level."

When image size isn't the priority, Łukasz opts for the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III. "Its amazing speed of 16fps combined with fast studio lamps helps me create incredibly dynamic images," he explains.

Lately, however, Łukasz has been opting for Canon's full-frame mirrorless EOS R System technology, with his favourite combination being the Canon EOS R5 with the Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens. "The 45MP sensor provides the brilliant resolution needed for advertising campaigns, and great tonal dynamics," he says. "The biggest difference for me, though, is the autofocus, which allows me to concentrate on framing rather than on the focus. I can put the athlete in the corner of the frame and be sure it will focus perfectly. Having autofocus points across the whole frame is so much easier – I now have to think only about the framing, and because of this I work faster.

"The RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens gives me the perfect distance from the model to help communication, and it has no distortion, which makes the proportions perfect. More importantly, it is a brilliant optical design – I love the sharpness of this lens. I also use strong counter light directed towards the camera, so I appreciate the lack of glare and flares."

When a moving subject is involved, Łukasz adds, the AF's ability to follow the subject across the entire frame, combined with the EOS R5's 12fps continuous shooting speed, "gives me the biggest chance to succeed at the first attempt."

Successful shoots with the captain of Poland's national football team Robert Lewandowski and Polish American Football League champions Panthers Wrocław have certainly boosted Łukasz's profile. But he's not slowing down.

"If you want to achieve something, you have to believe in it and keep improving," he says. "At the moment, the market is very dynamic, so you can't rest on your laurels. I try to make each successive session better than the previous one. I'm constantly trying to broaden my knowledge, improve my use of light and perfect my way of processing photos in order to provide my clients with the best quality."

Łukasz's passion for photography is matched by his pursuit of new challenges and opportunities. "I haven't had a chance to photograph athletes with a disability yet, but it's very important to show diversity in sport. I hope in the future I'll have a chance to work with one or two disabled athletes from different disciplines, perhaps as part of a personal project. I think it would create very powerful images."