Graham Watson: Breaking Away
Digital Downshift
Since switching to digital photography five years ago, Watson has discovered the importance of being there after the race as well — in the media room for a three-hour “second shift” of sorting, picking and sending to clients each day’s take of selected images.
“20 or 30 years ago I would actually go to the Tour de France and come back after three weeks with 40 rolls of film in my pocket”, he says. “Nobody wanted pictures immediately — they kind of expected to wait. That’s all changed with digital”.
Watson edits as he goes to keep the number of his photos to a minimum, but he still generally climbs off his motorbike each day with 300 original jpeg images. To organise them as quickly and efficiently as possible, he runs them through Aperture. “One of my favourite Aperture features is stacking”, he says. “Sports photographers shoot images in series, maybe eight shots in one or two seconds. Aperture reads when those pictures are taken and breaks them into grouped series so that you can quickly pick the best picture from a certain part of the race”.
Watson’s post-production workflow is smoothed as well by his impeccable shooting technique, which he attributes to his early rigorous training. “I’m not perfect, by any means, but my stuff doesn’t need an awful lot of doing to it”, he says. “Because of my early days as a portrait photographer, my images are pretty well composed and my lighting’s more or less spot on. So I’m able really to just go in and choose the image for the quality of its subject matter”.
When he does want to adjust a photo, Aperture is there to help. Watson is particularly fond of the straightening tool: “If you’ve got a picture that’s not quite perfectly horizontal, the straightening tool changes it for you, which is great. But also, if you have your perfectly horizontal well-composed shot, you can make it look even more spectacular just by changing its angle”.
Tight Quarters, Sharp Elbows
With the rising worldwide popularity of cycling, competition among the 200 Tour photographers, 15 of whom ride motorbikes, has become nearly as intense as the race they’re covering.
“The biggest challenge today is to stay in business, because digital technology has opened up the world of cycling photography for everybody”, says Watson. “And the level of competition is going up. The pros are still out there because they’ve got clients, contracts and access to the big races. But it’s getting close. And not everybody can appreciate the difference between a good picture and a very good picture”.
Despite longer workdays and increased competition, Watson is not planning another career break anytime soon. “I use photography as an excuse to travel and experience all the adventures that come along with it”, he says. “You see the world, and you see a very beautiful sport as well. I know I’m onto a good thing”.
