I am often asked why I would rather squat down in the corner by myself taking pictures of a game instead of sitting in the stands with my friends enjoying the game and having a fun time. My usual answer is because being a sports photographer is fun, but there is a larger and more underlying reason why I enjoy the job.

For the majority of sports fans, their only view is a slightly above angle, sometimes sitting far enough away to where it would be necessary to invest in a pair of binoculars to be able to see what is happening below. On the other hand, sports photographers can be within mere inches of players as they fight for a win. This closeness between the player and the photographer almost makes it feel as if you are a part of their game. That feeling of closeness becomes ever stronger when a ball bounces oddly and flies directly towards you and there is not enough time to react and to remove yourself from the situation because your view of the game isn't both of your eyes, it's a small rectangular viewfinder attached to a lens. Being hit by a rogue ball or landed on by a player is just a part of the job

Also, I want to show people a different perspective of the same game that they are watching and the easiest medium that I have found to achieve that is through photography. Photographers at sporting events are everywhere and have the ability to capture the sport at every angle imaginable in hopes that a moment in time will be remembered. Ali defeating Liston was shot ringside, an area for media only. This blip of time was shot by dozens of different cameras at a multitude of different perspectives in the hopes of capturing this round knockout. Phelps out touching Cavic by one hundredth of a second was taken underwater. This perspective helped to fuel the controversy surrounding the finish of this race.

This ability to show someone a totally different angle of a game that they were spectating or an emotion on the face of one of the athletes helps to keep me going when I'm up in the wee hours of the morning editing pictures and sunburnt while taking pictures at a soccer game. This as well as the closeness that you feel towards the game are two major reasons why I enjoy sitting off by myself trying to find the perfect shot that captures the entirety of the game.