Capturing Emotions in Sports Photography

Never easy…

These photos are sometimes the hardest to capture right – even if you are not part of any team as a photographer, I do talk to the players from all teams and have known some of them for couple of decades.

So, to capture the moments when their season ends in a defeat, or a tournament comes to an end with a bitter defeat.

These are the moments that tell a story, but you also want to be considerate when you capture them and how you present them.

Keep you distance, but also get close

This is the tough one for me, how to get close enough to capture the emotions – but not get in their way.

Yes, I know most photographers don’t really have qualms about this – especially if they are there on an assignment for an agency/newspaper/website ..

And no, I don’t mean that they are rude – they just have a more ‘professional’ look at the event – I am here to capture A, B and C .. and that is it..

Case : Vilpas 2025

The photos in this post are from Salon Vilpas last game of the season 2024-25, as they lost in the semifinals (series 4-0) to Seagulls from Helsinki.

At the end of the game – I noticed that there really wasn’t going to be any celebrations from Seagulls – so turned my cameras to the Vilpas team and their emotions.

Knowing the venue also helped as I knew that after capturing the images on the court, I can run and have head on view as the team walks back to the locker room.

As well as knowing I can sort of stay ‘hidden’ behind a door frame so no to get in their face..

For me personally, the images from the corridor with the team walking back to the locker room – they are some of the ‘best’ I feel I have captured this season. Not because there is a stunning slam-dunk or anything – but just because there is the emotion – BEFORE the player noticed the camera, so it is real and genuine.

Would love to hear your thoughts on these and how you would capture these situations?