Australian sports photographer Adam Pretty captured this remarkable image at the 2011 FINA World Championships. He tells Armani Nimerawi how he got the shot.
For Tokyo-based Australian sports photographer Adam Pretty, watching and shooting sports has been a lifelong passion. Though starting his career in news, Pretty maintained his connection with the sports world by shooting it at every available opportunity, including his precious nights off and on weekends.
"When Allsport (now Getty Images) opened an office in Sydney in 1998, I jumped at the chance to work as a full-time sports photographer and I have pretty much done that ever since," he says.
Pretty captured this image of Belorussians Vadim Kaptur and Timofei Hordeichik hitting the water in the 10-metre synchronised diving competition at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai in 2011.
"I was looking for an alternative angle, a unique perspective of the diving, and was fortunate to be permitted to position my camera underneath the divers in the pool,” says Pretty.
The shot is the perfect combination of pinpoint timing and serendipity.
“You need to be pretty lucky when it comes to how the divers enter the water and which direction they go when they hit the water at such high speed. Usually you only get one dive per competition that actually works and makes a nice shape, as most of the time the divers are obscured by bubbles and facing the wrong way.”
The camera was set up underwater in a Subal housing and triggered remotely with a 50 metre-long cable, enabling Pretty to stay dry and photograph the competition from above the water. “I use a foot switch to trigger the underwater camera so that my hands are free,” he says.
Photo by Adam Pretty, Getty Images. Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Subal underwater housing, 16-35mm f/2.8 II lens, 1/600s @ f/4.5, ISO 500. Converted to grayscale and contrast added.
