Tom Jenkins: Picture Editors' Guild Sports Photographer of the Year – in pictures

The Guardian and Observer’s Tom Jenkins has been named Sports Photographer of the Year at the 2015 Picture Editors’ Guild awards. Here we take a look at his winning portfolio of images taken between July 2014 and July 2015, with a few words about how they were created.

  • Men’s 10,000m final, 2014 Commonwealth Games

    70mm lens, 1/2000 f5, ISO 200The Friday evening at the athletics turned out to be beautiful and sunny so I had to make the most of it. For a couple of hours I was working on angles around the stadium to find the best spots to shoot the lengthening shadows. Luckily the 10,000m final was at exactly the right time. It was just a case of going to the position I had worked out previously and getting the exposure right. The light was only perfect like this for a few laps before the sun disappeared behind the back of the stands
    Men’s 10,000m final, Commonwealth Games

  • Michael Kacer, Invictus Games

    102mm lens, 1/1600 f2.8, ISO 500When I headed off to Lee Valley Athletics Centre for the first day of competition in the inaugural Invictus Games I wasn’t sure quite what to make of it. But when I saw this veteran with one arm missing, scar down the side of his face and distinctive contact lenses, I knew I could get a striking image. Lying down behind the shot put circle to get a clean background, I made sure I had the lens wide open to throw all the focus onto that amazing, determined face
    Michael Kacer of USA competing in the mens shot put

  • Arsenal v Manchester City, 2014/15 FA Premier League

    500mm lens, 1/5000 f4.5, ISO 320This pic of David Silva kicking Mathieu Flamini in the head is quite a straight-forward action picture. The Emirates is a great stadium for photographers as it has such clean backgrounds and we are at a lovely low angle to the pitch although on sunny days it can have a nasty shadow crossing the pitch at one end. Luckily this piece of action happened on a part of the pitch fully lit by the sun.
    David Silva kicks Mathieu Flamini in the head

  • Men’s singles squash final, 2014 Commonwealth Games

    44mm lens, 1/1600 f3.5, ISO 5000The day before the final I asked for a position right ‘by the tin’ shooting low down through the glass wall. As the final went on, I shifted position from the forehand side to the backhand. I realised that by putting my lens right up against a glass supporting strut in front of me I could achieve an amazing reflection. All I had to do was keep the camera in the precise position and wait for the action to occur in exactly the right spot. It took ages but it was worth it
    Men’s singles squash final, Commonwealth Games

  • Novak Djokovic and a little bird on Centre Court, 2015 Wimbledon Championships

    102mm lens 1/2000 f4.5 ISO 400Novak Djokovic tries to encourage a small bird to run up on to his racket midway through his first match on Centre Court at Wimbledon. I had noticed this bird just before the match started as it had obviously found something to eat in the pristine turf. For me it was a matter of patience, hoping eventually that little Tweetie Pie and the great champion would eventually make it into one frame together
    Novak Djokovic invites a small bird onto his racquet during his match on Centre Court
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