Adam Pretty’s swim shots have captivated the world. The Australian cameraman has captured 11 Olympics and multiple world championships for Getty Images. During Friday’s prelims in Fukuoka, we had a chance to hear his story, steal some tips, and watch him work.
For 25 years – more than half his life – Adam Pretty has shooting for Getty Images, one of the top sports photo agencies in the world. It was a childhood dream. As a schoolboy, the now towering 6-foot-1 Aussie was a coxswain in rowing. He also loved art and illustration. Water, in particular, held a special allure.
“I was instantly attracted to swimming because I did it a lot as a kid,” said Pretty, now 46. “While I was swimming, I saw a lot of cool things in the water. I’d look at reflections underwater. I also knew what looked good from my timed swimming [races],” he said.
So he saved money from his afterschool deli job to buy his first camera. At 17, he set up a darkroom in his mom’s laundry area. At 23, he shot his first Olympics, at home in Sydney.
On day one, he found himself in Sydney Harbor, treading water to shoot triathlon’s debut. “There were sharks in there!” he said. The same night, he went to the pool to shoot the men’s 4 x100m final – the race in which Gary Hall, Jr., incorrectly predicted that the US would smash Australia “like guitars.”
“I shot that race on the finish line when Ian Thorpe mowed down Gary Hall and won. Digital was new and the cameras were pretty bad. You’d get seven frames, then it would buffer. [Michael] Klim’s going berserk. Gary Hall’s in front of me…and you’d have to wait. That night, I told my boss, ‘Aw shoot, my digital camera’s broken.’ It was useless. That was my first and last digital picture of those Games.”
But Pretty kept shooting swimmers – happily and repeatedly.
For a sports photographer, pool swimming has built-in advantages. The field of play is confined. Athletes move in a predictable and prescribed direction.
It also has challenges: sketchy lighting, restricted vantage points (especially at major international events where TV rightsholders hold sway), and ill-timed obstructions (i.e. judges walking down the lanes, TV tracking cameras zipping past when the swimmers do). Also, half the action is under water.
So you adapt.
“To get a good swimming picture,” Pretty said, “you need good lighting, good positioning, and then the athlete plays a big part: what they do and how they do it. But first: the background needs to be perfect. If it’s a big race, you’ve got three sides to work with. If nothing works down low, go up top to the grandstand,” he said.
Then find the best lighting situation. “There’s usually a better side,” Pretty said. If it’s all hideous “maybe shoot with a very long (400 or 600 millimeter) lens, then blow the background out of focus.
“Once you find the best lighting and find the best background, then you basically wait for the person to come to you.
“Pick your shot. You’re not going to get the whole pool covered.
“Either shoot starts and reactions – and you’ll get an emotional picture if they win or lose. Or shoot action. You can get a bit of both in some positions, but then you’re kind of compromised. You really do need to focus on one thing. That’s where you get good stuff. That’s also why it’s good working with a team. One person can shoot starts. I’ll do underwater. A third person is shooting action on the pool – because there’s a best spot for each of those things.”
It helps to know the athletes.
“Michael Phelps was good for butterfly above the water,” Pretty said, “but underwater, he was a little asymmetrical. Laszlo Cseh was amazing, symmetrical; every shape he made was good. Back stroker Aaron Piersol was really great because his head never moved. It was like Usain Bolt running. You could just follow his head.”
Look for unique shapes to keep it fresh and to avoid taking repetitive shots.
In fact, that’s Pretty’s trademark. “I want to see dramatic water shape, or dramatic expressions,” he said.
“When someone’s performing well, you’ll see them do the same breakout, the same everything – like clockwork. They make the same shapes every time – right down to how the water runs over them. Like Grant Hackett used to make a really cool wave off his head, like the wave a ship makes over the bow. It would be in the last 100 or 200 when he’d start putting the kick on. Here, David Popovici did some cool things in his first race. His breakout was really good but then the next two times he didn’t do it the same way. He’s not very consistent. I don’t know if that shows in his performance. Maybe it does.”
If you have the means, Pretty said “an underwater camera opens up a whole other angle. That’s kind of what I got known for. In 1992 Barcelona, Heinz Kluetmeier from Sports Illustrated was the first guy to put a camera in an Olympic pool. I couldn’t afford to buy one for Sydney because I was 23. Later, I managed to purchase a little one, but I couldn’t run it remotely. For Athens in 2004, I had to put a card in it, then dive in and get the card after the session. You’d get like 57 frames on a card. You could basically shoot only one or two races. But I learned a lot that way. You couldn’t afford to make any mistakes so you’d plan everything down to the single details. Digital revolutionized that. Now you can put a big card in and shoot 1,000 pictures. The underwater camera I’m using here can cost from $75,000- $150,000 US. It’s robotic. It’s fixed on the floor but it can rotate three axis: pan, tilt and roll. And it sends you the files.”
During Friday morning’s prelims in Fukuoka, Pretty used two hand-held cameras, one fixed underwear camera, and two lenses. He planned to shoot action in the morning and reaction at night (during finals and semifinals). In the photo pit, he answered questions and tossed a few tips. Here are the best from the best:
How many shots will you take per race?
In one heat of prelims, you might get 2,000-3,000 shots. You can shoot 30 frames/second. In butterfly and breaststroke – every stroke a swimmer takes, you might shoot 10 pictures. The final number depends on what happens in the race.
Is 50 meters the hardest or easiest to shoot?
It’s tough. You get the start. Then you wait for reaction. But these swimmers give the best start picture because the sprint guys charge. That’s when you get most dramatic musculature.
Any other thoughts on shooting starts?
Caeleb Dressel was great – really explosive, shoulders out wide. Dressel’s head is always above the others on the start [because he launches himself]. If there’s a choice, usually Americans have a flamboyant style, not the stock standard.
What’s the best stroke to see the shapes you mentioned earlier?
Breaststroke because there’s more gliding – and the action looks much more aggressive.
What do you look for in backstroke?
It’s a bit easy because you’ve got the face. When they pop, it’s really good because of surface tension – usually on the start and first stroke.
Can you get anything good shooting swimmers from behind?
Sometimes in butterfly because of the shape of the shoulders – or there’s a good tattoo sometimes.
The best position for action?
Usually at about 15 meters, where they break out of the water. But there’s a risk you might get a judge in the way.
Are the shapes different when you shoot women?
Girls are often [technically] smooth so you get silky lines. Guys jerk sometimes. Katie Ledecky is quite easy to shoot, but not very visually appealing because she doesn’t really make a splash. Phelps was also so relaxed looking above-water – so efficient that he didn’t push a lot of water around.
Tip: Notice how swimmers breathe and plan accordingly. “If a guy’s breathing to the right, away from you, get that guy on the way back. There’s a Hungarian woman in butterfly who breathes on each side. The Campbell sisters [Cate and Bronte] breathe really close to the water so you never get their face. Katie Ledecky, too. She’s a half-surface breather. Also, because she’s usually so far in front, you don’t get dramatic waves.”
Tip: Look at bodies. “Some big guys move so much water it’s like a tidal wave. They create massive whitewater. Sometimes you can’t even see a face.”
Tip: For variety: you can shoot one swimmer in one direction, and a different swimmer on the way back
Tip: Look for a line to shoot. “A ‘V shape’ of swimmers is a treat because they’re not obscuring each other.”
Tip: Notice if the guy in the lane next to your subject “who’s quite messy”
Tip Remember to identify the swimmers. Pretty edited between heats, and like many of his colleagues, would speak swimmers’ names, lanes and heats into their camera’s microphone. “Or you can shoot the scoreboard.” The swimmers and the editors will be grateful – just as the swimming world is to have Pretty behind the lens.