There’s nothing easy about photographing an NBA game. That’s what Christian Petersen tells me, and he would know. He’s been employed by Getty Images for the past 17 years, and has shot professional sports in Phoenix since 2009.
“I hear a lot from sports photographers that anybody can shoot basketball. ‘Oh, basketball’s easy because you sit there and it all happens right there in front of you,’” Petersen said. “But I disagree with this.”
I noticed Petersen for his work covering the Phoenix Suns. There is a lot of basketball photography, and because it all takes place within the same 94-feet-by-50-feet dimensions, it starts to look the same after a while. But not Petersen’s. A photo like this initially caught my eye, and as it turns out, Petersen has turned the artistic portrait into a true skill.
I called Petersen on Thursday to talk to him about his photographs, why he started shooting them like this, and the dangers of the job. Our conversation is below, with a few edits for brevity and clarity.
You have a unique style with your portraits. What are you trying to capture when you shoot them?
Well, I’m hoping to get something different. You know, anytime you’re shooting a portrait, whether it’s of an athlete or an entertainer or a movie star, you’re trying to skew it a little bit so you can maybe reveal something about the person’s personality that you’re taking a picture of. You don’t just always want the straight-forward, put-the head-in-the-middle-of-the-frame photo. I like to offset them, I like to add negative space, I like to sometimes even go really tight, right in on the eyes.
My photo position is right next to the visitor’s bench, so it’s nice because I get a chance to shoot these players really up close when they’re sitting down. A lot of times they’re watching the game and they don’t realize they’re being shot while they’re sitting on the bench.
Was there a specific instance when and where you decided to shoot portrait-style photographs like this on the visitor’s bench?
No, it’s just kind of how I see it. My background, in college, I worked in art photography and did motion picture. In motion picture, I always try to lead. When I say lead, I mean that when someone’s looking to the right, I always try to get a lot of space on the left side of the frame, and it gives them direction and gives motion to a static image where it draws you with them. It’s just always a style I had from shooting from my early days of cinematography, where we were taught that you are given space so you can add the depth and add the motion to these pictures. I just kind of transitioned it into sports photography, and that’s just kind of how I shoot it. In the textbook, they just call it the rule of thirds, but sometimes I blur that a lot and really expand the picture. I love the negative space in pictures, making large athletes tiny and vice versa.
What exactly is the challenge of trying to find unique and different ways to continue to shoot basketball that stands out?
I hear a lot from sports photographers that anybody can shoot basketball. ‘Oh, basketball’s easy because you sit there and it all happens right there in front of you.’ But I disagree with this. It’s very challenging because our photo positions have really been locked down by the NBA now. With player safety and expansion of television, we have less photos positions, our photo positions are smaller, and we no longer sit on the inside, we sit farther out now. We are constrained to a smaller area and you get to shoot what’s in front of you. It’s not always in front of you.
Like last night at the Suns game, I had a referee in front of me a lot of the game. Key plays, I can’t even see, I don’t even know what’s going on. Last night with the Suns game it was a horrible, horrible loss, and all the best pictures I saw were from everyone else who had an angle on the Suns bench. My bench, I can’t even see the Suns bench. Unfortunately, the photo of the night was the dejection on the Suns bench.
So like you were asking before, this kind of leads to (me) taking these artsy, creative shots, because we are constrained, because we have to get creative and go outside the box, because we have to do something different. There’s a lot of luck involved and sometimes terrific action will be right in front of you, and you just have to be ready.
What’s the challenge or the trick to getting these portraits shots?
I like to have two lenses on me, two (camera) bodies, two lenses. One that’s primarily for my action, like a zoom lens that can go in and out, so if the action’s in front of me I can get it. And then I always have my longer lens, which I’ll shoot downcourt with and I’ll always have it ready to shoot those portraits with.
A lot of times I’ll do it after a player, when players are just walking back up the court. Like on the bench, they’re not really expecting you to be photographing them during that time. A lot of time when an athlete sees you photographing, they’ll do anything they can not to look at you. You just have to stay on them, stay on them, and catch them in those moments where they’re not expecting it, and that’s when you see the more human side of these guys.
I’m sure we’ll have some photographers and camera nerds read this, so I’d love to get the specifics of what you shoot with.
I shoot Canon gear. I shoot with a [28-300mm] lens as my long lens on a Canon X1 and X2 bodies, and then I’ll usually have a [24-70mm lens] by my side, and a [70-200mm lens]. A 24-70 now, with my new photo position, is not that helpful because I’m farther outside.
When I say outside, it means I’m farther from the basket. I’m actually closer to the bench. Back when I first started shooting the Suns, I would always ask to shoot inside, which is right where they’re driving to the basket, they’re closest to you. Now that’s generally just television and NBA photographers. They’ve limited the photo positions so much that you can’t get in there anymore. It’s unfortunate because I used to love to shoot action with the 24-70 right in front of you. Those were the days.
Changing gears, but I have to ask. Do you actually get players crashing into you a few times a year?
It’s becoming less and less mainly because we are outside now. Last night, (Eric) Bledsoe barreled into one of our local TV guys. By no fault of anybody’s, but he was running full speed and the play turned the other way and he ran right into a television guy who was sitting in the inside position. It is dangerous for the journalists and it’s dangerous for the players and I totally understand what the NBA is doing — we’re carrying heavy equipment, cameras, television cameras, nobody wants to fall on that. And on our side, we don’t want 220-pound guys falling on us.
It has happened to me a few times. I’ve never been hit in baseball or football or hockey, but in basketball, definitely, yeah. I’ve had guys fall on top of me.
Any of them stand out?
I think the worst one was a Spurs-Suns playoff series. I can’t even remember who it was. Bruce Bowen, maybe? The Spurs player fell on me and unfortunately it was late in the game, so it was a sweaty fall. It was pretty disgusting. I think I had a small black eye because he fell into me and pushed my camera back into my face. But the player was OK, I was OK.
I was at a game in the exact same series where a very famous Sports Illustrated photographer, his name is John McDonough, had a player fall on him and he was injured bad. I don’t think he shot for a few months after that. I believe it was a collarbone, a break or something. It happens and just kind of a risk we accept.
You’ve got 40 more Suns games this season. Anything interesting planned?
I always try things different. Hopefully, and I tell myself this at the beginning of every season, let’s do some more remotes, get some interesting angles. The Suns have a terrific catwalk where there’s a lot of different angles where you can shoot with remote cameras above the court. New to us last year, it’s a cut out at the bottom of the base of the net, which is terrific for a very low remote, a nice wide shot. I’ll probably do that for the Lakers game on Friday.