World Sports Photography Award

Mile and 8th - a dreamy misty morning view down the iconic Henley Royal Regatta course.

This one took me by surprise. Last year I entered a handful of my photographs into the World Sports Photography Awards, a prestigious photography competition celebrating those defining and iconic moments in sport that reveal why so many of us obsess over it. Curiously, after submitting and receiving confirmation of my entries, I heard nothing further, assuming it was just ‘one of those things’ and chalked it up to experience and continued on without worrying about it… until now. I just discovered one of my photographs (and a personal favourite) was actually a finalist in the competition. A bit stunned at the discovery (I never received a notification to let me know) but thrilled to have my work considered alongside some other top photographers in the world whose works were also recognised in the competition from over 20,000 submitted photographs!

As for the shot: it was an almost perfectly, exceptionally early morning with no wind, calm waters, and a gentle mist flowing across the far end of the iconic Henley Royal Regatta course. I used a very long lens to compress the view and waited for Temple Island to come into view; when it eventually did, the soft light complemented the gentle mist, creating the magical final view above. A wonderful morning to be down by the river, despite the eye-wateringly early start.

A few short hours later and it was most certainly not calm waters anymore, as crews battled it out on finals day along the Regatta course!