Image Focus

Originating in Vermont, Spartan races now take place all around the world. Mixing grueling distances of up to 21km with obstacles, these courses are riddled with energy sapping mud, ankle clutching barbed wire, towering walls, rope climbs and fire pits. This event in St. Pölten, Lower Austria, included a night sprint race, meaning competitors had to deal not just with the usual hazards, but do it all in the dark! You certainly need to be tough in mind and body to be a spartan.

Shooting for the organisers, I was asked to capture the athletes in action, but to do it in a way that looked completely authentic, just as the competitors and spectators would’ve experienced the race. That meant I wasn’t allowed to use flash or LED lights and just had to work with the lighting that was on the course. Fortunately, for the Sony Alpha 7S III that was no problem.

I chose to shoot on the Sony Alpha 7S III because it’s so well suited for these kinds of low-light conditions and together with an ultra-fast prime like the 35mm f/1.4, it’s even better in the dark. The lens’s wide field of view meant I could not only capture the athletes but also the environment, which contributes significantly to the mood of the image.

Having shot all day, I’d seen the effort and emotion of the athletes tackling all the different obstacles and I wanted to make an image that really summed it all up. That’s what this picture does for me. When jumping over the fire just 10 metres before the goal, they’re using their last reserves of strength. They’re almost completely exhausted but also happy that they’ve made it. Such moments are always an inspiration for me. They say you can do anything if you have an iron will.

Shooting in manual, I used the FE 35mm f/1.4 GM at its widest, collecting the most light I could, then pushed the Alpha 7S III to ISO 3200, where even though the value is high, I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about noise, because files from this camera are so clean. That gave me 1/400s, which was enough to freeze the athletes’ final leap over the fire.

But the Alpha 7S III isn’t just about great high ISO performance. Its autofocus system is also amazing in low-light, which guarantees razor-sharp images even in difficult conditions. What’s more, its Real Time tracking will focus on the head, even if a face is not directly visible, so that made it possible for me to take a sharp picture of the runners from behind as they jumped. After many years as a sports photographer, I can say the Alpha 7S III really does leap beyond the competition.