Portraits, stories, action: Behind Simon Bruty’s photographs

MANILA, Philippines – Whenever world-renowned sports photographer Simon Bruty talks action photography, you’re in for a rare glimpse of a real pro’s technical expertise. However, it’s the stories behind the photographs that will leave you more inspired and passionate than ever about cameras.

Bruty’s works have been published in Sports Illustrated, The Players Tribute, and FIFA. One of his photographs was awarded by the London Observer as one of the World’s Greatest Sports Photographs in 2003.

His other awards include the L’Equipe Sports Photographer of the Year (2003), World Press Photo (1989 and 1999), SSF Sports Photo Contests, Canon Prize (1998), IOC Best of Sports Folio Winner (1984).

He is also a Canon USA Explorer of Light, which means that he belongs to that elite group of highly acclaimed photographers and cinematographers using Canon EOS photographic equipment who regularly share their photographic passion and technical expertise.

Thus, when Canon Philippines launched the EOS 1D-X Mark II and the EOS 80D recently, Bruty graced the event, sharing his images, his stories, and his passion to the country’s top professional photographers, camera enthusiasts and students.

The Mark II is Canon’s new flagship professional EOS DLSR and the long-awaited successor to the EOS-1D X. The EOS 80D, on the other hand, is the predecessor of the EOS 70D, with new impressive improvements.

Covering sports, Bruty says he gets to photograph portraits, stories and action. And obviously, it isn’t a walk in the park. From many years of experience handling challenges in sports photography, his insights are noteworthy.

Magic Bullet

“In sports photography, there are no second chances,” he says. “Definitely, there is an element of luck involved. What I’ve come to understand over time is that if you are prepared enough, and when luck is on your side, you can take advantage of it.”

He says tackling sports photography could seem deceivingly easy. You think you can just show up at a prescribed time, shoot what’s happening in front of you, and walk away with something in your back pocket.

“The reality is a little different,” he says. “You show up at the stadium or the arena and you realize you don’t know where the best action is going to be. You have to predict or visualize where it is going to happen.”

His best advice: always be prepared for the action, for surprises, for the sidelights.

“I use a very complicated scientific equation to make that happen,” he says. “It’s called the 6P principle: Proper preparation prevents poor performance. That’s my magic bullet to taking photographs.”

Toughest Sport

For Bruty, the toughest sport to photograph is Alpine skiing.

“One, you have to ski the course designed by athletes,” he says. “And they like it stiff and icy. You are skiing to survive. Though they have made improvements to those cameras with big lenses, you would still be skiing carrying packs of 25 to 35 pounds.”

In skiing events, he says, organizers always have a tendency to push you further and further back so that means you need longer and longer lenses.

“For slower events, you can sneak in a little closer but trust me, those skis were like razor blades. So you want to stay away from getting hit by it,” he says.

Long And Short Lenses

Bruty believes that to be a really good photographer, you have to have the ability to make that transition from a long lens to a short lens.

“I am an Englishman and I love football,” he says. “I like photographing football. It’s an action-packed sports shot mainly on long lenses.”

But not all great photographs happen in stadiums and not every sport has to be taken with long lenses. Bruty is a great fan of local color and doesn’t encourage photographers to limit themselves to the action in the stadium or arena.

“It doesn’t have to be an Olympic-size event for you to have a good photograph,” he adds. “It can literally happen in your backyard. I saw this scene early on in the Olympics – a beach volleyball game with the background of the government building. I didn’t use the bells and whistles, I used my brain.  It is important to remember: the camera is an extension of your vision.”

Losing Control, Sometimes

Bruty shares that when photographing sports events, a remote camera could be useful as it gets you where you are not allowed to be.

“The problem with that is you focus so much of your energy trying to get the camera set up…only to find after the event that you forgot to turn the thing on,” he says. “It takes away the control from you, which is the camera in your hand.”

Sometimes, too, the weather can get in the way. In extreme weather conditions, a photographer needs to wear the right clothing because one needs to be out there.

“I don’t know of any a great photograph taken when you are sipping tea inside the press room,” he says in jest.

Slow Sports

Think about Tiger Woods on the top of his back swing. It is about him against the ball and nothing else.

Bruty says the slower the sports, the tougher it is to photograph because you should never get it wrong.

“The thing with golf is you need to worry about composition,” he says. “When you are walking around with these guys you would have to predict, anticipate where the tee shot is going.”

Sometimes, he says there could be too many rules. You can’t run, you can’t breathe.

Split Second

A split second can mean a lot to professional photographers, especially those in sports, journalism and wildlife fields. You just need to be there in the right moment to capture that one unique shot.

Bruty recalls missing that one shot in the Beijing Olympics when Michael Phelps was about to win his 8th gold medal.

“I’m in the right position, with the right lens. I kept shooting and I know he’s going to throw his arms up. I knew it would look great. Then I hit the buffer. Then, nothing. You can just put the camera and jump and down. Meanwhile I was looking at Phelps and I was telling myself: “that was a good photograph. I basically missed it.”

With the new camera (Mark II), he says he is not going to have that heartache again. 

“I love the buffer. It’s absolutely clean, but the other important thing about the camera is reliability. I also like to keep everything simple. I love sports and I love photography. It’s a good marriage.”

Vinchy Sanchez, director for consumer group of Canon Marketing (Philippines) Inc., adds that like Bruty, best-in-class imagery is what every Filipino photographer looks for in the EOS-1DX Mark II.

He says that this next-generation flagship model was designed to push the capability of professionals to deliver the best still and moving environments under challenging environments.

“Today, everything exists to end in photographs,” writes Susan Sontag in her book “On Photography,” published in 1977, long before the World Wide Web, digital cameras and social media existed.

That may be truer today than in the ‘70s but even if a snapshot can be taken today very easily by smartphone cameras, handy DSLRs, and all types of prosumer and consumer type digital cameras, it still helps to listen to the pros.

As American photojournalist Dorothea Lange also once said: “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”