(All images copyright Michael Berkeley Photography - no reproduction without permission)
Polo is undoubtedly a glamorous and social sport – and one where, along with other equestrian sports, women can compete on equal terms with men. It’s also very fast, which makes it exciting to watch and fun to photograph.
Polo is played all year round – field polo in summer (4 players per team) and arena polo in winter (3 players per team). The same principles apply to photographing both types of polo.
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm f5.6 at 220mm - f5.6; 1/500th sec; ISO 160)
With a grass polo field being some 300 yards long, you need a long lens. I used to use a 200-500mm (f/5.6) lens on a Nikon D500 which, bearing in mind that the camera has a crop sensor, is equivalent to a 300-750mm lens. I have now moved to a Sony A9II and use a 200-600mm f/5.6-63 lens.
For arena polo (which is 100 yards long), I use a 70-200mm (f/2.8) which is just about long enough to take images at the far end of the playing area.
(Sony A9II; Sony 200-600mm at 600mm; f/6.3; 1/2000th sec; ISO 400)
I set out my ‘standard’ camera settings in my first blog, 'Getting into Sport and Music Photography'. For polo, I keep the lens wide open to achieve a shallow depth of field and therefore blur the background; select a fast shutter speed of at least 1/1000th second to freeze the ball in flight; and leave the ISO setting on ‘Auto’ within limits (usually an upper limit of 6400).
(Sony A9II; Sony 70-200mm; f/2.8; 1/1250th sec; ISO 500)
Two key aspects of polo photography (actually all sport photography) are to ensure that the players are recognisable, with their face fully visible, and to ensure that the background is not distracting.
As with other sports where the action moves quickly from one end to the other – such as basketball, rugby, ice hockey and football – I position myself to one side of the goal. This means that the players attacking the goal will be coming directly towards me and I will therefore have a good view of their face. For safety reasons, I stay some way back because the hard ball would hurt if it hit you - and, more to the point, would damage your camera equipment - and the horses come towards you some speed.
On a hot summer day, with the sun high in the sky, there will be harsh shadows cast by the players’ helmet visor. On such days, it can be a challenge to capture the action at the far end of the polo field if there is a heat haze. A bright, overcast day is best. In this respect, contrast the 2 images below as far as seeing the riders’ face is concerned.
(Sony A9II; Sony 200-600mm at 600mm; f/6.3; 1/1000th sec; ISO 500)
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm f5.6at 310mm - f5.6; 1/2000th sec; ISO 160)
When a polo player is striking the ball, they will be looking down – exactly the same as a cricket batsman watching the ball onto the bat – which means that their face will be obscured under the helmet. The best photo often occurs when the player looks up to see where the ball is going, as in golf. Wherever possible, it is really important to get the ball is in a good position.
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm f5.6 at 270mm - f5.6; 1/2500th sec; ISO 220)
Unlike sports such as football, you don’t get advertising boards down the side of the pitch, but there can be horse boxes, cars, score boards etc. I have done most of my polo photography at Druids Lodge Polo Club, very close to Stonehenge. One of their fields has a ridge along the centre line and wonderful views over the Wiltshire countryside, which means that the players often stand out perfectly against the background.
From time to time the Club runs ‘Bring a Picnic’ events during the summer and ‘Fireside Polo’ events in the winter. On these occasions, it is quite effective photographing the players in front of the crowd - consciously providing a busy background. These images are good for the club to use to advertise similar events in the future. In these instances, the event itself becomes the main focus of the photograph and the polo becomes secondary.
(Nikon D500; 200-500mm f5.6 at 310mm - f5.6; 1/4000th sec; ISO 400)
(Nikon D500; 70-200mm f2.8 at 110mm - f2.8; 1/800th sec; ISO 5000)
The key as always is to find the right moment to capture the action in the most dramatic way. This is quite difficult with ‘goal-mouth’ action because there can be a lot of players in the limited amount of space (as in basketball and football).
As mentioned above, I sit near one of the goals, so that position provides good opportunities to get good shots of the players as they come towards you and compete for the ball. If you can get the horses’ hooves all off the ground, so much the better!
(Sony A9II; Sony 200-600mm at 524mm; f/6.3; 1/800th sec; ISO 800)
(Sony A9II; 70-200mm f2.8 at 128mm - f2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 2000)
I always use ‘Continuous High’ to shoot in bursts and use ‘Continuous Focus’ (and Nikon’s 3D-Tracking mode) to keep the point of interest in focus as it moves across the viewfinder or towards/away from you. Shooting in bursts like this means that you can choose the image that captures the best moment - either of the action or showing the players and/or pony in the best light - and with the ball in the best position. I will never knowingly select a photo that makes a player in any sport look less than their best.
Nikon D500; 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm - f2.8; 1/640th sec; ISO 5000)
Nikon D500; 24-70mm f2.8 at 24mm - f2.8; 1/640th sec; ISO 5000)
One of the challenges of photographing arena polo is when it is played under floodlights. Most of the arena is surrounded by heavy netting, but there is an area either side of one of the goals where it is possible to take photos without obstruction. Sometimes the lights cause problems with White Balance, but I leave the camera on auto and worry about this in post production. The images above were some of the last taken at an evening match in November 2019 when the temperature had dropped and the steam rising was very atmospheric…
Nikon D500; 200-500mm f5.6 at 340mm - f5.6; 1/2000th sec; ISO 2800)
Nikon D500; 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm - f2.8; 1/4000th sec; ISO 320)
Polo is a great sport for taking candid shots in the margins of the chukkas, particularly of the players and the grooms making their preparations around the horse boxes. I don’t tend to photograph individual spectators, as I do not wish to invade their privacy.
Most importantly, photographing polo is great fun. Why not give it a go?!
To read my article on how to photograph polo in the July 2022 edition of Polo Times, click on the magazine’s logo.
To see more images, view the Polo Gallery.
If you have enjoyed this blog or if you have any questions/comments, please leave a message in the comments box below.