MPB Meets: Sports Photographers Morgan Treacy & David Gray

David Gray and Morgan Treacy are the top two overall winners of the 2022 World Sports Photography Awards. In this interview, both photographers speak to MPB about their equipment, their advice and their prize-winning imagery.

Learn more about the World Sports Photography Awards, sponsored by MPB.

MPB: Can you tell us about your journey as a photographer? What made you want to pursue sports photography as a career?

DG: I started out photographing my school friends, when they were either playing or practicing sports, for the school paper. I’d managed to get a hold of a camera—a Nikon FM—from the art department. Black-and-white film was difficult to get at the school, so I just went to the local Kodak Fast Foto lab—there was plenty of those back then!—and bought a few rolls. The art department also had a very small darkroom, which I managed to keep open after it was almost shut down due to lack of use. I fondly remember seeing the images I had taken, and hand processed, slowly appearing on the photographic paper in the tray. I was immediately hooked. 

Once I left school, I managed to get a job as a ‘copyboy’—a general do-it-all for any body type job—in the photographic department of the News Limited group of newspapers in Sydney, Australia. From there, I got a cadetship and became a full-time newspaper photographer in 1990. I definitely got interested in photographing sports because I played cricket, tennis, golf, rugby and soccer when I was young. 

MT: I originally studied journalism in college, and photography was a module on the course. I really enjoyed the photographic side of journalism, and this led me to attend Swansea University in Wales to study photography. 

Upon completion of the course, I freelanced for local newspapers. I shot quite a bit of sport, which gave me an interest in the sports side of things. I then met a photographer from Inpho Photography at a pre-Olympic shoot in 1999. The photographer invited me to submit a portfolio, which led to working with the company for the next 22 years.

MPB: David, can you tell us about your winning tennis image, which was the overall winner for the World Sports Photography Awards? Which kit do you use to capture the image?

DG: The image of Naomi Osaka and the butterfly was one of the surprising moments when photographing sporting events. Any kind of animal appearing on a tennis court is unusual, let alone one that actually gets that close to a player. I was in the roof, concentrating on getting a nice shape from Naomi's shadow as she was serving, when I noticed that she had stopped.  She was touching something on her dress. And, thankfully, the butterfly came onto her hand facing just the right way to show its shape in the shadow. I must add, that this is a good example of what I tell people about photographing sport: always be ready for the unexpected.

MPB: Morgan, can you tell us about your Water and Urban and Extreme images, both of which placed Gold in their category? Water won overall Bronze for World Sports Photography Awards, too. Which kit did you use and how did you capture these images

MT: For the last couple of years, I’ve been using the Canon EOS 1DX Mark III. I’ve found it to be an excellent and robust camera. For the Urban and Extreme winning image, I was on assignment for Red Bull at the Irish leg of the Cliff Diving World Series in County Mayo, Ireland. It was an amazing location and I had super access to all the photographers.

The Water winning image was taken at the Tokyo Olympics. I was there with three colleagues from Inpho Photography to cover the games from an Irish perspective. That was my fourth Olympic Games to cover, and probably the most difficult with the Covid constraints and heat. Having previously shot Canoe Slalom at different games, I volunteered to travel out and photograph our Irish competitor Liam Jegou.

Canoe Slalom is not a sport we would cover regularly. So, if at all possible, getting in some practice is essential. I would have positioned myself in the best place to get a clean shot, trying to avoid the blue plastic ‘obstacles’, while also keeping to the positions allowed for photographers at that particular event. Shooting the athletes before my country competitor, I would be looking to fine-tune my position and angle in order to give the best sense of ‘action’. The athlete should be seen clearly, but also with the greatest splash of water, or potential to capsize, while also being aware of a celebration or dejection shot. 

That is how I shot the Czech Republic's Lukas Rohan, with a healthy dose of good luck needed to get the right fall of water and a clear shot of his face—using a Canon 500mm f/4 L IS II USM, a super lens that allows you to really close in on your subject.

MPB:  What does winning the World Sports Photography Awards mean to you?    

DG: Winning the award has generated some very generous and kind feedback from lots of people, many of whom I don't know. With very few awards dedicated to sports photography—a field of photography that is highly competitive—I hope it has raised awareness among those who previously were not so interested in this type of photography. 

MT: It means a huge amount to me, particularly in light of the winning images. The quality of photography and photographers in evidence in the 2022 edition really makes me proud to be up there among the world’s best.

MPB: What camera and equipment do you use? And how important is the equipment to you as a photographer?

DG: For most of my career, I have used Canon equipment. They were the best to develop in the late 90s previously manual-focussing cameras, to the extremely fast and accurate autofocus system. This dramatically increased the quality of sports photography, enabling you to concentrate more on the action and when to press the shutter button, rather than stressing about whether you had it in focus or not. 

But now, with even more technological improvements over the years, my main camera is the mirrorless Canon EOS R3. This camera further assists with capturing those quick-action moments in sport, with its greatly improved auto-focus facial recognition system. Plus, with the mirrorless system, you are able to have more than 20 frames per second. Obviously, having such good equipment is both helpful and important.

MT: I have always shot with Canon cameras, and I’m currently using the EOS 1DX Mark III. I carry with me a Canon 500mm, 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM, 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM and a 16-35mm f/4 L IS USM. The equipment I use is not overly important to me. But advances in technology do make previously difficult shots more commonplace and easier to get. Having shot with the new Canon EOS R3 and dedicated lenses at the World and European Championships this summer, I really see a big jump forward—particularly when shooting individual sports.

MPB: What is your favorite sport to photograph? And what tips do you have for capturing this sport?

DG:  I don't really have a favorite sport to photograph, as they each offer a unique set of challenges. But if I had to choose my favorite sport—mainly because I played a lot of it when I was younger—it would be cricket. The main reason for this is that it is extremely fast, and you must be always ready, which I find a fantastic challenge. You’re always trying to anticipate, as much as possible, what is going to happen.

I have photographed many games of cricket over the last thirty years, more than 120 test matches. So, I like to think that my experience helps with both these elements. Of course, I also have to mention tennis, which in my experience has always presented many surprising moments.

MT: Probably athletics. I like the simplicity of it—the strongest, the fastest, the highest. The only tip I could give is to stay away from the obvious head-on positions, which offer an easy picture that everybody gets. Look for a different angle and be prepared to gamble. It can sometimes pay off. 

MPB: How important is it to understand the sport you are photographing?    

DG: I am a firm believer that knowing more about whatever subject you are photographing—whether it be sport or anything else—will greatly benefit your photography. But with regards to sport, firstly and before anything else, knowing all the rules for the particular sport you are covering is essential. 

Secondly, watching as many games as you can before photographing a sport is useful. It will potentially give you the ability to anticipate what could happen next, giving you the advantage of being ready for that important moment.

MT: I think that it is important in team sports and can help you to anticipate pictures. While it is useful for individual sports, the photographer looking at a new sport can see things that maybe more experienced photographers don't. They can frame the competitor in a wholly new light, which might by missed by photographers familiar with the sport.

MPB: For photographers looking to get into the industry, what advice would you give them

DG: The best way to get into the industry is to try and photograph as much as you can, showing that you are enthusiastic and hardworking. But also, you must prove to potential employees that you can not only take a good photograph, but you can also edit quickly and well.

Many forget that editing is extremely important when covering sports. The very nature of sports photography is that you take many frames to capture moments of interest. At the end of the day, many of the shots are not needed. So, it’s essential to make sure you have a good editing workflow, especially now as the latest cameras have the ability to take more than 20 frames a second.

MT: The obvious traits—which help people get on in any industry—like working hard, punctuality and common sense. Just look for that different picture, something that a picture editor or agency boss might not have seen before. There's no point in showing a portfolio with the same shots as everyone else, taken from the same position. Even though they might be good pictures, lots of people can get good pictures with technology these days. 

Also, think about crops of pictures, and experiment with different crops. Sometimes this can radically alter a picture and make something ordinary into something great.

MPB: What projects are you working on at the moment? Is there anything else you would like to add? 

DG:  I am normally based in Sydney, Australia, but am currently in Europe after working for three weeks at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. I am currently covering SailGP yachting races in the UK, Denmark, France and Spain, and will return to Australia for the T20 Cricket World Cup in October. Over the next few years, I very much hope to see many aspiring photographers who can continue to show everyone that the coverage of sport is best displayed when it is a moment captured as a stills photograph.  

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This article is part of the MPB Guide to Sports Photography, our comprehensive look at how to create sports photography, with camera recommendations, advice and interviews with experts.