rafael nadal in his first match of the WTF in london. photographed by julian finney/getty images. via yahoo sports.
this is a fairly common shot, but with uncommon shadowing that sculpts every fold in his shirt, and creates mood and mystery in nadal's profile.nov 23, 2009. photo by julian finney/getty images. via yahoo sports.
my favorite player is struggling as we speak in his first match against robin soderling, and my enjoyment level ebbs and flows with his fortunes.
but the tournament is being played under bright white and blue lights at the O2 arena in london. everyone in the stands is bathed in blue shadows. and photographers are given instant mood lighting for photographing the on-court action--side shadows sculpt angles, and if a player tilts his face toward the lights, to hit a serve or an overhead, he's got a glow that's near to heavenly. dreamy conditions for photographers, i'm sure! there's rich contrast in almost every photo i've seen so far.
the yahoo sports tennis page hosts one of the best galleries--photos do not go up as fast as on the getty site, but these are un-watermarked, and they were up today within a half hour of the start time. pretty efficient, and great.
enjoy them...and the matches on tennis channel this week, espn this weekend.
