Sports Photography is About Capturing Emotion

Sports photography is all about freezing the moment, getting the shot at the peak action and capturing emotion. Not as easy as it looks when the highest levels of amateur and professional golf do not show a lot of emotion. They are trained to keep their feelings from getting too high or low- unlike other sports like football and soccer where celebrations are common. I followed Stephanie Lau and her opponent, Gabi Ruffels, around the golf course all day for the last round of the 2018 Women’s North and South Amateur Championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina. All day I was looking for emotion after a good shot or a bad shot – but did not get much. I was able to capture some great shots of the action – but no emotion.  

Stephaine Lau reacts to sinking a putt to take the lead on the 16th hole of Pinehurst No. 2. She would go on to win the 2018 Women's North & South Amateur.

That all changed at the 16th hole of the match when Stephine calmly sank a 5-ft eagle putt to take the lead. No fist-pump, no high-fiving her caddie just a slight wave of her hand. The takeaways of this example are to be prepared, know your sport, study your subject and be patient. To see all my shots from the 2018 Women's North & South Amateur Championship held in Pinehurst, North Carolina between Stephanie Lau and Gabi Ruffels, pleas visit www.JohnDPatota.com.