Virtual Meeting, 'The Power of Sport' - Tuesday 13th April 2021.

On Tuesday 13th April 2021, Morpeth Camera Club held a virtual meeting to welcome guest speaker, Peter Milsom
EFIAP/Gold PAGB BPE4* with a presentation entitled ‘The Power of Sport.’ An accomplished award winning sports
photographer, Peter only took up photography seriously in 2006, following many years of competitive athletics and
coaching. He began his presentation by asking ‘What makes a good sports photograph?’ The answer, he said, is
Effort, Drama and Emotion. This is what Peter strives for in his images; he aims to capture special moments during
the highs and lows of sport and the efforts and emotions shown in achieving a world class performance.

Peter went on to show images taken at motocross meetings capturing dramatic speed and height, at the Le Mans 24
hour race where the sport of Drifting takes place, with high drama and dust. This dramatic sport is not timed; drivers
score points on how long they spend moving sideward’s and the amount of smoke they can emit. He went on to show
championship pole vaulters, steeplechasers, sprint hurdlers, shot put, javelin, wheelchair basketball and racing. He is
always aware of maintaining the integrity of the experience; he will for instance clone out extraneous distractions like
foliage but not the position of the implement used. Continuing, he described the varied conditions he has to consider
before a shoot. For instance at white water canoeing events, he studies the water flow rate and position of the paddle
in relation to the face, and with jet ski racing, his aim is to capture the plumes of spray, cornering style and determined
expressions of the contenders. Taking action shots of swimmers in hot humid conditions, making sure of the correct
direction of light when photographing kite surfers, establishing the correct focus for cycling races, keeping safe in the
discus throwing arena, are all elements of which Peter has to take into consideration before proceeding.

Peter is often granted media accreditation to major events which allows him to capture images of world class athletes
from the best vantage points. At international standard, the stakes and emotions are higher and one is able to capture
greater power, facial determination and reactions, he said. He used to take part in track and field events so he is very
aware of how much commitment it takes to achieve the grades required. After a short break Peter explained how he
had reached this point which was due to a lot of hard work. Initially working at his old athletics club, using images for
press reports he gained access to bigger events. Diamond league meetings, indoor championships, competitions at
Stoke Mandeville led to the London Olympics which Peter acknowledged, inspired a new generation.

Peter then began taking photographs of up and coming athletes in training. Over the years he has grown to know and
have a rapport with many of the athletes and has provided training photographs to help them improve their technique.
Such is the relationship with these very committed record breakers, we saw images of them pulling faces and grimacing
for him, even during an event. We also saw ex armed forces practicing javelin and shot for the Invictus games and at
world championship events he has been given permission to place a remote camera in the shot throwing cage which
could only be retrieved after the event. At the World Paralympic Championships, which he described as the best week
of his photographic life, we enjoyed low viewpoint images of wheelchair races, off the block shots, and the emotional
reactions at the end of the race. We not only saw the ecstasy of the winning athletes, Peter also recorded the distress
and heartbreak when all that was strived for came to nothing.

Throughout the evening he explained the techniques used in individual sports, shutter speeds and conditions together
with anecdotes of his experiences with elite, world ranking athletes. These were the highest standard of athlete and it
was his aim to take the highest standard images. Over the past 10 years Peter has learned that photographing sport
can be dangerous and the hours can be long. Although he has taken on the athletes’ work ethic and attention to detail,
sport and photography should always be fun, he said. It was evident that Peter had followed his golden rules, capturing
Effort, Drama and Emotion, in his excellent presentation. Chairman John Barnes thanked Peter for showing us his work,
telling us of his experiences and how his career has progressed.

Steph.