Four months for one frame: the reality of sports photography pre-production

This is the unglamorous reality of our business. People look at a final action shot and think about adrenaline, but they don't see the hours of office work. A friend of mine who lives in Agra helped me navigate the Indian bureaucracy. Without local help and endless follow-up emails, getting this piece of paper is almost impossible.

While waiting, I used Instagram to search for local athletes. I connected with a talented female skateboarder from Jaipur named Ayjushka. Working with a modern skater inside this ancient, symmetrical structure was exactly the contrast I wanted. Everything was finally set for 14 April at 6 AM. But in our job, "set" only means you have a plan that will likely change.

There were still so many unknowns. First, I had no guarantee that the local official with our hard-earned permit would actually show up. Second, I had only spoken to Ayjushka online. Would she really be there at dawn?

The reality of pre-production hit me the evening before the shoot. I met Ayjushka in person, and we discussed the location in detail. We openly realised that her skating style is built for flatground and street environments. The steep, unforgiving stairs of the ancient Stepwell were simply not the right fit for the specific trick I had originally envisioned. When you plan a shoot for over four months, this is the moment your stomach drops. You have the perfect location, you have the expensive permit, but suddenly, the action might not work out.

However, she handled it incredibly professionally and offered a pragmatic solution: she would bring her good friend Yogesh, whose skills were a better match for this extreme architectural setup. We agreed to meet the next morning at 5:30 AM to drive there together.

Arriving at the Step Well at dawn, I was incredibly relieved to see the permit official waiting for us. But the tension remained. I still didn't know if the local security guard would accept us. Walking into a historical monument with skateboards is not standard protocol. He looked at the permit, looked at us, and simply nodded. We had the green light.

We were in. The morning light was building, but then the next hurdle appeared. Yogesh looked at the massive, steep setup, shook his head, and told me it was impossible to land a trick there.

This is the phase of a shoot where you have to switch from being a photographer to being a psychologist. You can't force athletes to do something dangerous, but you can guide them. I asked Yogesh if he could just do some breakdance moves to warm up, knowing he was also a dancer. He agreed and started doing floor moves on the ancient stone. It broke the ice perfectly. The stress level dropped, and the atmosphere became playful rather than tense.

After he was comfortable with the surface, we discussed the skateboard trick again. I managed to convince him to try a small, controlled variation of it. He stepped on his board, found his line, and went for it. I was incredibly surprised and relieved. It worked perfectly.

A planning phase of over four months came down to this fraction of a second, resulting in the image of Yogesh (featured as the first image) that eventually won gold in the urban and extreme sports photography category at the 2026 World Sports Photography Awards (WSPA).

But that was not the only success of the morning. During those same hours, I also shot extensively with Ayjushka right there in the Stepwell. I had asked her to wear a red dress for a specific setup we had planned. When she positioned herself on the ancient steps, the red fabric provided the absolute perfect, vibrant contrast against the dusty background. Her presence in that setting was so strong that a picture from this very session also made it into the WSPA shortlist.

For this project, my primary camera was the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, the same camera body I use daily. Because the situation and the timeline were so challenging, I needed a tool that simply worked without me having to overthink it, allowing me to focus entirely on the geometry and composition.

When it comes to lenses, I relied on my standard travel setup: the Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM and the RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM. As a traveling sports photographer, keeping my gear compact and relatively light is crucial, especially when navigating crowded Indian streets or climbing around steep and ancient monuments. However, staying light doesn't mean I can compromise on image quality.

These two lenses give me the exact balance I need. The 24-70mm is my absolute workhorse, ideal for tighter framing and capturing the athletes against the complex background. The ultra-wide 15-35mm, on the other hand, allows me to show the sheer scale and massive geometry of the location, which was essential for capturing the wider shots and making the architecture a main character in the story.

To showcase her specific strengths on the board even better, we headed out again the following day. We found a completely different location in the city that matched Ayjushka's street skate skills perfectly, allowing her to truly show what she is capable of. It was a great reminder that pre-production is also about being flexible enough to adapt to the people you work with.

Detailed planning is essential. Without the permit, the research, and the coordination, we would have had absolutely nothing. But you also always need a big portion of luck to realise your vision, and a willingness to adjust when reality meets the plan.