Molly Darlington won the Olympic and Paralympic Portfolio category on the last occasion it was part of the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards; she also picked up the Young Photographer Award in the same year; she shared advice for those entering this year on a special SJA webinar…
Entrants to the SJA British Sports Photography Awards should attempt to achieve variety in their portfolios, says two-time winner Molly Darlington.
Darlington, who was successful in the Olympic and Paralympic Portfolio category three years ago as well as winning the Young Photographer category, was recently a guest on a special SJA webinar offering advice to prospective entrants.
The photographer, who left her role at Reuters last month to go freelance, says the word “variety” can be interpreted differently but that in her experience, it’s best to provide judges with difference while aiming for an appealing “flow” of images.
She also says that for young photographers in particular, it’s important to enter even if you’re just starting out in the industry and are concerned that your submission might not be as polished when compared to others.
That’s because even one or two images can really stand out and get you noticed, thus ensuring your name gets recognised which can potentially lead to opportunities in the future.
The entry deadline date for this year’s Awards, sponsored by Canon UK, is Wednesday 15 January 2025. All pictures and portfolios must be logged on the dedicated awards portal by 11.59pm that night.
Read our article here which gives a full overview of this year’s Awards. You may be eligible for reduced entry fees or even free entry – check out the Diversity criteria.
Here are some of Molly’s top tips from the SJA webinar…
When putting together your entry, ask just one or possibly two colleagues for some help and advice. “If you ask too many people, it can get confusing,” says Molly, “but it’s good to get another person’s opinion.
“Sometimes when you take a photo, you can become quite emotionally attached to it, whereas somebody else can see it from an outsider’s perspective.”
Your portfolio needs to flow! “When you’re choosing your photos, if you have 10 landscapes and you then choose one portrait picture, then it doesn’t flow as well,” she adds.
Pictures submitted in a portfolio are viewed in the order they are submitted, so entrants should be conscious of that.
“If you put all the photos that have a black background right next to each other and then all the coloured ones straight after each other, it takes your eye away from the picture,” says Molly.
“But if you try to categorise them, then it can have a better flow to it.”
“The pictures that you choose, they need to tell a story,” says Molly. “They don’t have to be recognisable people to everyone – such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi – but try to make sure they work together. Did they win a medal or trophy? Did they lose? How did that picture come about?
“If it makes you ask questions about the photos, then it’ll probably intrigue the judges more than if it was a standard action shot.”
Be confident and bold in your choices! “You can go into these things thinking, “that’s not strong enough to get shortlisted” – but there’s no harm in entering, and the judges might have a different opinion to what you think.”
Each year, the photography judging panel changes and every effort is made to keep the panel fresh and diverse. The judges are always industry experts and understand the challenges that sports snappers face (scroll to the bottom of the page here to see last year’s panel).
“It’s worth putting in your portfolio, even if you don’t think it’ll be the strongest out of all of them!”
The message is variety – but that doesn’t necessarily have to mean a variety of sports. “You could put in a pan, a portrait, or a ‘behind-the-scenes’ picture,” says Molly. “You could do a general view, such as at a gymnastics competition with all the apparatus… there’s loads of variety that you can get if you do just cover one sport.
“For a football club photographer, they would have a lot of variety too, but all within that club. So I think the word ‘variety’ can be interpreted in many different ways.”
Ideally, ‘variety’ should mean submitting photos from both men’s and women’s sports. Molly uses football as an example. “Obviously you have to cover women’s football in order to do that but the pictures make different shapes, like with women’s hair, and you can just be more creative sometimes.”
Too many celebration or trophy-lift shots could be interpreted as being rather limited. “It comes back to using different lenses – long lens, wide lens, maybe a general view,” says Molly. “Then there are shadows, light, and all those techniques.
“If you are doing a football portfolio, you also get different weather scenarios. I think action is just as important as celebration, but whatever you do, always aim to keep that variety within the application.”
For those entering the Young Photographer Award, particularly for the first time, Molly says it’s important you don’t get disheartened if you come up short. “You have until you’re 25 to keep entering! I entered several years before I actually won it – and when I did, I had way more experience and it was probably the right time for me.
“More than anything, it’s just good to get your name out there. Canon are watching, all the agencies are watching, and the judges from previous years have all been from different agencies.
“Even if just one judge sees your pictures and thinks, “oh, they’re really good, I might get in touch with them and see what they can do”… in terms of your career level, that’s very helpful.
“So it’s more about entering and getting your pictures seen, rather than just entering in the hope that you’re going to come away with the trophy.”
To read more about the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards and how to enter one or more of the 30+ categories, click here. The entry deadline is Wednesday 15 January 2025, at 11.59pm.
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