ICONIC IMAGE - DAY 2
As the Championships’ photographic manager, Bob Martin appreciates the finer details of the images which every day capture the essence of Wimbledon. In this series celebrating the best of the AELTC’s talent behind the lens, he nominates his Picture of the Day 2018.
Novak Djokovic: Eye to the Sky
Third match on No.1 Court, likely to be late in the afternoon when the sun creates shadows around the arena, presents fantastic opportunities for photographers to use the sun as a spotlight against the contrasting shaded court infrastructure.
On Day 2, the lenses were aimed towards Novak Djokovic, normally guaranteed to lunge horizontally with eyeballs popping and tendons stretching. In this image, however, the movement is vertical as Djokovic, serving in his match against Tennys Sandgren, looks up in absolute concentration to the area where his racket will make contact with the ball.
“I like the fact we see only one eye, and we are drawn to that eye,” says Bob. “It projects a strong sense of focus. It was taken by Jed Leicester at 5.46pm, the right time of day to capture the player bathed in light. With the circular Championships logo in shadow as backdrop, this is an iconic Wimbledon image.”
“The thing that brings this picture to life is the eye,” says Jed. “Cover it, and the picture is nothing. In the low evening light, with the black background on No.1 Court, we go to town covering whoever’s serving with the logo behind. I went in tight to capture the moment the ball is just being released from Djokovic’s hand and he’s anticipating where he’s going to hit his serve. He must have done this a million times in his life, but the look of concentration is total.”
Technical info:
This image was shot on a Canon camera, at a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second with an F4 aperture using a 600mm lens and a sensitivity setting of 200 ASA.
