The Apprentice with Marc Aspland
Match point!
NEW SERIES!
We take a reader courtside at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, under the watchful eye of pro Marc Aspland
Words: Niall Hampton. Behind the scenes photos: Simon Lees
Our new series continues with a trip to the seaside – we’re in Sussex for the Lexus Eastbourne Open tennis tournament. The Digital Camera Apprentice format is a straightforward one: a lucky reader gets to spend a day shooting with a leading professional photographer in an exclusive one-to-one workshop session that reaches a wider audience. And today’s pro is none other than Marc Aspland, chief sports photographer of The Times and The Sunday Times, who will be mentoring Neeraj Beri, an enthusiast sports photographer and self-confessed tennis fanatic. Our visit to the Lexus Eastbourne Open falls on the day of the second round of matches, where six British players are competing for places in the quarter-finals, slugging it out with a roster of international names who are in the final stages of their preparation for the start of Wimbledon on 30 June. The Lexus Eastbourne Open takes place at Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, close to the town centre. The club hosts six tournaments a year, but the Open, which has been held here since 1975, is by far the biggest draw.
The Pro
Name: Marc Aspland
Cameras: Canon EOS R1 and Canon EOS R3
Marc is the chief sports photographer of The Times and The Sunday Times. He has covered countless events, including rugby and football World Cups and the Olympic Games, and has an eye for capturing imaginative and iconic images. A Canon Ambassador, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 2014 and is author of The Art of Sports Photography, published by Prestel.
Instagram: @marc.aspland
The Apprentice
Name: Neeraj Beri
Cameras: Sony A1 and Sony A7 IV
Based in the West Midlands, UK, Neeraj is passionate about photography and tennis, but his repertoire is wider than simply photographing the world’s most prestigious racquet sport. He also likes to shoot fashion photography, both in studios and outdoors on location, where he uses Rotolight LED panels.
Instagram: @nbvisions
Neeraj Beri
Camera: Sony A1
Lens: Sony FE 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM II
Exposure: 1/1,250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100
Marc suggested that Neeraj shoot a picture of the sheeting covering the rear of the grandstand – using the backlighting to create a silhouette of the scaffolding.
Neeraj Beri
Another tip from Marc as we wandered between matches on the smaller courts: try including a spectator’s hat for some foreground interest.
Having arrived at the venue in 30C heat, we check in and arrange to meet Neeraj near the practice courts. The portfolio of tennis shots he submitted for consideration as our Apprentice was captured on a Sony A7 IV, a 33MP full-frame body with a maximum burst mode of up to 10fps. But today, Neeraj wants to up his game in more ways than one – in terms of his equipment as well as the benefit of being mentored by Marc. He has rented a Sony A1, a 50.1MP full-frame camera with a maximum burst mode of 10fps with the mechanical shutter and 30fps with the electronic shutter. Neeraj hasn’t done this because he’s chasing high performance for the sake of it; his A7 IV hasn’t been achieving the frames per second rate he needs and he explains that he has been missing shots. In addition, he has been adapting some Sony A-mount glass on his E-mount camera, which wouldn’t be an issue on an average day, but for a rare opportunity to shoot with a leading pro, it’s best not to leave anything to chance. Showing us his weighty backpack, Neeraj has brought the Sony A1 and three lenses (a 24-70mm F2.8 GM II for the E-mount and a 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM II and 70-200mm F2.8 G II, both for the A-mount), plus backup batteries and memory cards.