Pitch perfect: a pro’s guide to capturing the Women’s EURO

Sports & Action 04 jūl. 20256 min read
Nikon magazine

Football photographer Harriet Lander shares her go-to gear, composition secrets and the stories behind her standout images from 2022, as the world gears up for the next UEFA Women’s EURO this July

With an instinct for visual storytelling and a flair for capturing the heart of the game, Harriet Lander is one of women’s football’s most dynamic photographers. From high-stakes drama to quiet moments of reflection, her work blends cinematic style with raw emotion, earning her an enviable roster of clients including Getty Images, Chelsea FC and Volvo. “I was just a massive fan and was lucky enough to watch a lot of live football. But, as I got older, I started paying attention to what the photographers were doing,” recalls Harriet, who in her early teens got the chance to capture a high-level match, which cemented her ambitions. “I kind of fell in love with it. I decided there and then that it was what I wanted to do. After that I just did what I needed to make it happen.”

 

From grassroots pitches to global tournaments, Harriet’s rise through the football photography ranks was less a single breakthrough and more a steady build-up of opportunities, fuelled by persistence, passion and perhaps a touch of serendipity. “I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with an agency who covered Premier League matches, and they were really supportive,” she says. Another big turning point came when Chelsea FC approached her directly. “They were looking for someone to cover all of their women’s content,” explains Harriet. “I hadn’t got a whole lot of knowledge of women’s football at the time but, when a name like Chelsea gets in touch, you don’t turn down the opportunity.” Immersing herself in the team environment sparked a love for Women’s Super League photography that eventually expanded beyond Chelsea, landing her gigs with England’s women’s team, too. “There aren’t that many women in the circuit,” she explains. “And a lot of female teams want a woman photographing it.” But make no mistake, Harriet’s path hasn’t just been paved by good timing. “I’ve always worked hard. I’ve travelled so many hours to so many random fixtures just because there was a game on,” she says. “I wanted to be there, and I wanted to capture it.”

 

That work ethic, paired with her eye for team dynamics, has made Harriet one of the most in-demand names in women’s football photography. With her images appearing online, across magazine spreads and even plastered on giant billboards, it’s no surprise she was called up to capture the electric highs of the UEFA Women’s EURO in 2022 and is set to return for the 2025 tournament (though this time with the Nikon Z9, instead of the D5).

 

With her expert skills and artistic eye, Harriet walks us through five of her favourite images from UEFA Women’s EURO in 2022 and shares the secrets behind her pitch-side success.

Nikon magazine

Jéssica Silva. D5 + NIKKOR AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED, 400mm, f/2.8, 1/6400 sec, ISO 320, ©Harriet Lander via Getty Images

Deep dive

This is one of my favourites of the 2022 tournament, and it was actually taken during the warmup. The light conditions were really difficult that day. One stand was fully blown out, while a lot of the pitch was in shadow, and I was thinking, this is going to be a tough game to work because I’ll need to spend the whole time checking my exposures. But I decided to just make the most of it. Portugal’s Jéssica Silva has these amazing braids. While she was warming up, she jumped, and they created this really nice shape that worked so well in silhouette as I got her against a soft, white, blown out background. It just worked as a picture. That’s the great thing about the warmup – there’s no pressure, so it’s kind of like my warmup as well.

 

Top tip: I preload each of my cameras ready with a specific lens, and usually for the D5 that’s the NIKKOR AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED. It’s essential for capturing football because it gets you that step closer to the players, especially as a lot of the action is further out in the field. But I also love looking for portraits with it. I don’t always focus on the face, but often the little details that people won’t be able to see.

Nikon magazine
Nikon magazine
Left/above: Ella Toone. D5 + NIKKOR AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 2500. Chloe Kelly and Lucy Bronze. D4S + NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800, ©Harriet Lander via Getty Images (also opening image)

For the final, there were four of us working for Getty pitch-side, but I didn’t get the images I was hoping for as I had more of a supporting role and nothing had quite fallen into place. I was about to pack up when I noticed Ella Toone and Alessia Russo taking the trophy over to show some fans in the stands, so I grabbed the camera and got there just as they brought it over. They were such an iconic duo and I love the way Ella’s gripping on to the trophy. It feels like a special candid moment, not posed, just two best mates who have just won the EURO walking around in sunglasses and a bucket hat. It’s my favourite from the final by a long way.

 

Top tip: If you keep missing the big moments, take a second to reflect. Learn to read the play. Don’t just follow the player making the cross but think ahead to who might be receiving it. The good thing about photographing a lot of the same teams, or the same players, is you’ll learn to anticipate their styles of play.

 

So much of football photography is luck, and if you’re sitting in the wrong place, there’s not a lot you can do about it – you just have to work with what you have. Like here (in the photo above right), Chloe Kelly is about to do one of the most iconic celebrations in women’s football, and she’s gone the other way. At first, I was thinking, “No, no, no! Come this way!” But, as it happens, I still have Chloe in the background and we all know what she’s about to do, so for me Lucy Bronze’s reaction makes it. There’s so much emotion in her at that moment. She’s such an iconic England player, who has been part of that team for a long time and in a lot of finals, but you can really see how much this means to her, and that’s gold. And that’s the beauty of football. You can have the best plan in the world but, if you sit in the wrong place, you just have to make the best of it. That’s what makes it exciting – just figuring it out as you go along.

 

Top tip: For anyone photographing football, the NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II is your goldmine. It really doesn’t let me down, and it’s the one lens I’d say you can’t do without in football photography. You know that whatever happens in the box, you’re going to be able to capture it because, as the player comes towards you, you know you’ll be within the right range. The mirrorless equivalent is NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S.

Nikon magazine

Fans. D5 + NIKKOR AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 1000, ©Harriet Lander via Getty Images

The Dutch fans are incredible! I had their songs stuck in my head for months after the tournament. Obviously, orange is not a colour that people tend to wear on a daily basis, so it’s very visually effective. But what I love most about this image is you have this Dutch guy, who’s head to toe in orange, even his face is painted, and he’s so obviously passionate about his country. And then you’ve got this group of lads from Rotherham who have nothing to do with the football, who have just sort of been sucked into this parade without knowing what they’ve walked into. English football fans get so much stick for being hostile but, in that moment, it’s just really comical because you have these blokes swigging from their beer cans, and it’s the juxtaposition of those two worlds colliding that makes it work so well.

 

Top tip: I’ve upgraded to the Z9 since 2022 and it is amazing. With the built-in transmitter, I can set it up with the stadium’s Wi-Fi and, as long as that’s strong enough, send the images to an editor who will provide them to the client. I literally just press one button, which I’ve got set up on the front of the camera. In today’s day and age, speed is essential because the client needs that delivery before anyone else, and so the built-in transmitter is a real game-changer.

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German flags. D5 + NIKKOR AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 2500, ©Harriet Lander via Getty Images

The German team kept doing this celebration after games where they’d hold hands, run at the fans and jump. So I knew this was coming and had the idea to nip up into the stands and photograph down through the flags, like a fan’s-eye-view. It just worked out really nicely. I just love the sheer elation of all of the girls running towards the fans.

 

Top tip: Generally, my go-to position is behind the goal and roughly halfway between the corner flag and the edge of the box. It’s my sweet spot. A lot of people like being out by the corner because that’s usually where a celebration might happen, but I like being that bit further in, as it gives me a better angle on players running down the wing towards the camera, especially when it comes to capturing faces and emotion, rather than just backs of heads or profiles.

 

Harriet’s seven secrets for success

1. A passion for primes

I usually use a prime with my Z9. People may think primes have a limited use within football, but it’s perfect for capturing the calmer moments that aren’t action-based. And that’s what I really like. That’s the side of football that I get a lot of extra enjoyment out of, because it shows a different side to the sport. If I’m at a bigger stadium where I want to emphasise more of the atmosphere, I’ll use the 35mm, but the 50mm is my absolute favourite. It’s a great length because it’s wide, but not super wide, and it’s not too tight. It’s the closest equivalent to what your eye sees. Plus, I love having my f-stop as low as possible, which in the 50mm is f/1.4, and capturing super-soft backgrounds.”

 

2. Drop down to level up

I think photographing standing up is rarely the best angle as you often get ad boards and things obstructing or distracting from the image. I prefer capturing the action from a low angle as it makes everything feel bigger, more dramatic and more atmospheric. This is where the Z9’s flip-out screen is incredible. In the past I’d have to lie on the ground or try and get my phone to line up with the viewfinder, but no more. The flip-out screen moves in so many different ways. I can hold it high or sideways and I can always see what's happening.

 

3. Eyes on the prize

The eye-tracking focus on the Nikon Z9 is amazing, I fully recommend using it. I absolutely love it. It feels like a dummy’s guide to photography. It’s so helpful and so reliable. It just picks out the focus and follows the action and is really useful in those moments when other players walk past or get in the frame.

 

4. Open wide for impact

I love my aperture as low as possible to create soft backgrounds. One of my favourite compositions is to have the player look really small against a big, soft, lovely background, but for that you kind of need the crowd to be in the perfect place and have no interrupting stairwells or brightly coloured stewards. This is why I especially like it at the training ground when it’s scenic and you’ve got lots of trees or clouds behind them, so you can make the player look tiny with lots of room around them.

 

5. Let it breathe

“I love using negative space, but I like it to be a little bit awkward. So if the person’s looking off to the left, I like loads of dead space behind them, rather than what feels natural, which would be in front of them, where they’re looking.

 

6. Capture the moment, not the motion

It depends on the light, whether it’s a day match or an evening match, for example, but for football you never ideally want your speed to go below 1/1250 secs unless you are being artistic and doing panned movements. The action is fast, so you want the speed high to freeze what’s going on.

 
7. Chase stories, not status

View every game you photograph as an opportunity. There’s a lot of nice imagery to be had at grassroots and low-level football. So don’t just aim for the top without going on the journey, because the higher you go, the more restrictions there are. You can’t just do what you want. Whereas, if you’re at a lower level, you can experiment, find your style, build a relationship with a team and you’ll get so much enjoyment and freedom to show what you’re about, which will then hopefully open doors to high-level football. Wembley is incredible, don’t get me wrong, but equally going down to your local park offers countless opportunities. Just enjoy what you’re photographing and get that emotion in your images.

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