Łukasz Skwiot

Canon Ambassador Łukasz Skwiot specialises in photographing football and American football throughout Europe, as well as covering other sports such as handball and athletics. In addition to shooting action for editorial outlets, the Polish photographer also creates studio portraits of prominent football players for commercial clients.

"I'm fascinated by the ability to capture fractions of a second in a photo that are impossible to see with the naked eye," says Łukasz, who's been a professional photographer since 2015. "I focus on dynamic, tight frames and I always try to convey as much action and emotion as possible in my pictures."

More than 10 years later and Łukasz is now established as one of Poland's top football photographers. He continues to work with Piłka Nożna as well as Polish sports agency CyfraSport, shooting major club and international tournaments, and he has worked directly with top footballers including Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.

He also shoots American football, working for the most successful Polish team, Panthers Wrocław. "American football is a spectacular and unpredictable discipline that creates many opportunities for interesting, non-standard shots and poses many challenges for the photographer," he says. "Thanks to this, I can constantly develop and improve my skills."

As well as action photography, Łukasz works in the studio for both editorial and commercial clients. This includes dynamic portraits of players for club sponsors and sometimes for the players themselves. He says, "In these sessions, I try to transfer movement to a static photo studio and use external flashes to create atmospheric and exciting frames."

Łukasz's most memorable career moments include shooting Polish athlete Marcin Lewandowski in 2015, taking the photo from behind and showing the 800m runner holding the Polish flag aloft after winning a gold medal. This image made Łukasz the Laureate of the 2015 Polish Sports Photography Competition. "This is one of my favourite photos from my career, when I managed to implement an idea in my head," he says. "I took a lot of risk choosing this shooting spot, but in the end it paid off."

Łukasz's already-extensive track record in creating unique and dramatic sports images bodes well for his future career. "There have been a few moments which I will remember for a long time," he says, "but I hope the best is still ahead of me."

How should sports photographers prepare for shooting an event? 
"The most important thing is to have a good knowledge of the sport you're going to photograph. You have to choose a good position to shoot from, and know the main people to watch out for. This increases the chance of getting successful photos. On a practical level, I always check the battery level and whether I have enough memory cards."

What's your workflow during a match?
"I take all photos in RAW format, immediately edit them in Adobe® Photoshop®, describe what they show in Photo Mechanic and send them to three servers. I take my cards out and rip them to my computer. The photos are imported immediately into the program, and after importing the card, I put it back into the camera and continue taking photos. The workflow I've developed allows me to send ready photos to the editorial office just two minutes after taking them."

What do you look out for?
"Sport is about great emotions. I try to show as many of them as possible in the pictures – joy and sadness, victories and defeats. The images I shoot on the day must contain not only dynamic and effective photos of the action, but also portraits of players, coaches and fans."

What's the most difficult situation you've faced while shooting football?
"Once, during a Bayern Munich match, Robert Lewandowski scored a goal and I was soaked with several litres of beer by celebrating fans. Luckily, my Canon EOS-1D X and Canon EOS 5D Mark III (now succeeded by the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV) are weather-sealed and continued working, but the smell lingered for a long time!"

"For people who want to be sports photographers, the most important thing is to keep going and take a lot of pictures. Top equipment helps a lot and opens up more possibilities, but even simpler models can make great photos. If it is difficult for you to get accreditation for important events, do not worry, there are certainly many opportunities to build a portfolio in the area you live. Look at the photos of others, think why the photographer took the photo from that particular place, what parameters he chose, what he wanted to convey. The moment is the most important thing – the emotion captured in the photo."

Facebook: @FotografiaSportowa

Instagram: @lukasz.skwiot

Website: www.skwiot.pl