Tom Jenkins is an award-winning English sports photographer who has worked for major publications like the Guardian and Observer for over 30 years. He has covered 6 World Cups and 4 Olympics. Though his passion was originally for sports, he realized photography was a way to still be involved in the field. One of his photos shows Jonny Wilkinson leaving the pitch after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup, captured with a high shutter speed to freeze the movement. Another photo shows a Paralympic athlete running with blades, using a high shutter speed and with the stadium providing contrast and silhouette. Jenkins currently lives in London with his family.

1. TOM JENKINS

2. Who is he?
Jenkins is an award winning English photographer who has covered numerous
different sporting events and personalities for the Guardian and the Observer. He has
covered 6 Football World Cups and 4 summer Olympic Games. As a child his passion
wasn’t for photography but rather the area that he ended up specialising in taking
photographs of, sport. He realised that photography was a way he could pursue a
career in sport as he didn’t have the talent to pursue a career in being a sportsman.
He attended a course in Newport, South Wales which he finished in 1989. He then
went onto freelance for the agency Allsport, The Independent and Sunday Telegraph.
In 1990 he began to get more regular work from the Guardian who he has worked for
ever since, when eventually it was started in 1993, the Observer.
His book of sports photography ‘in the moment’ was published in 2012 which
coincided with the London summer Olympics. His has had his photographs used for
Royal Mail stamps.
He currently lives in London with his wife and two children.

3. This photo shows Jonny Wilkinson leaving the pitch after the rugby world cup
2003. Jonny Wilkinson is an English Rugby player who scored the winning drop
kick in the 2003 world cup against Australia who were the host nation that year.
This photo appears to have been taken with a high shutter speed, I think this
because I doubt that the amount of people that are in the picture were all still at
the same time. Another way you can tell that the shutter speed would have been
set at high is that there is no bur and the crowds hands don’t appear like ghost, I
think the shutter speed that Jenkins chose improves this picture and makes it
better than it would be if the shutter speed was set higher. Jonny Wilkinson is the
main subject of this photo, the hands of the crowd trying to touch Wilkinson to
congratulate him, act as leading lines. This photo is lit by the lights that would be
in the arena that the game would have been played at.

4. This photo shows (then) Liverpool Goalkeeper, Pepe Reina diving to try to save the
shot taken by a Manchester United player. The photo also shows Manchester
United players Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. This photo uses rules of
thirds with Reina taking up the left third and part of the middle, Ronaldo takes up
the middle third and Rooney and the football take up the right third. The
difference in the colour of the players shirts shows us that they are on opposing
teams. This photo would have been taken using a high shutter speed, I can tell by
the fact that the ball has no trail be behind it, which if it was taken with a low
shutter speed it would. This photo is a longshot, I think the main points of interest
would be the men and the football.

5. This photo shows a Paralympic athlete running with the use of running blades.
This photo has also been taken with the using high shutter speed as the man
would have been in motion while this was taken. This photo appears to have
been taken in the Olympic stadium. The man in the photo took part in the
summer 2012 Olympics. I like this photo because of the blue sky that serves as
a backdrop, I like it because I think it contrasts well with the white of the
stadium and the other colours in the photo. The shadow cast by the stadium
makes much of the photo appear like a silhouette. This photograph makes the
athlete look strong, defying what many people’s expectations of disabled
people are, this is something that the London 2012 Paralympics did for a lot of
people. The photo makes him look strong and as though he is in great focus,
both of these attributes are attributes that are needed to be a Paralympian or
any kind of athlete.

6. In this photo Wayne Rooney is shown walking through the entrance to the
stadium from the pitch after the final of the Carling cup final. From what is shown
this photo was taken in 2009 or 2010, both years Manchester United won the
Carling cup. Rooney appears to be wearing a victory medal and the floor he is
walking on is covered in streamers and confetti. Although he has just won a
relatively prestigious competition Rooney appears to be upset, this is almost
oxymoronic as you would imagine that after such a victory he would be happy.
The bright lights of the stadium don’t reach this area of the stadium as it is quite
dark where he is stood, which contrasts the visible signs of celebration. The red
lights from the LED boards in what appears to be Wembley reflect off of Rooney’s
head, this shows how big of a victory it is that it takes over an entire 90,000
capacity stadium. This photo uses the rule of thirds, Rooney taking up the centre
third. This is a landscape photo that although it’s subject is Wayne Rooney
focuses on him and his surroundings.

7. In this photo it shows Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Feguson, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand,
John O’shea and Edwin Van Der Sar all on a football pitch. This photo shgows
the seniority between the men, with Ferguson being show as the boss, this is
clear as all the other men seem to be following him. Ferdinand also appears to
be mirroring Giggs’ posture. The differences in the men is also shown via what
they are wearing, Ferguson being shown as more senior as he is wearing a suit.
This photo features the footballers wearing all white which makes them stand
out from the rest of the image, the pitch is green and the crowd appear to
merge together into a block of grey. This photo has a low depth of field, this is
because it focuses on the men in the photo, they are the subject, and not their
surroundings. This photo is a medium longshot taken in landscape.