ICONIC IMAGE - DAY 7
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.
RAFA: ON THE RUN
The signature backdrop of fresh green grass makes an iconic Wimbledon image. On one level, this picture of Rafael Nadal - third on Centre Court on Monday after Roger Federer and Serena Williams had progressed regally through to the quarter-finals - shows what good condition the grass is in at the beginning of the second week of The Championships.
“Nadal is playing a shot right on the edge of the light and the line of shadow across the grass leads the eye to the figure of the player,” says Bob. “This picture of Nadal by Tim Clayton highlights his athleticism and physique fantastically, but it is the shadow behind him, mirroring his action, which makes the picture. Look at his hand and his racket, and how they are captured in such fine detail in their shadow form.”
Tim Clayton’s brief was to shoot the ball boys and girls. “But there were a few moments when I couldn’t resist playing with the late afternoon light from my vantage point,” he says. “Nadal is very expressive, and emotional, and action-oriented. He’s a supremely fit athlete, and there’s always a chance of getting a great picture of him. Today on Centre Court, we were photographing Federer, Serena and Rafa… it’s always a privilege. You don’t get blasé.”
Technical info: This image was shot at 6.25pm on a Canon camera, at a shutter speed of 1/5000th of a second with an F4.5 aperture using a 500mm lens, manually exposed, and a sensitivity setting of 500 ASA.
