Now you may be asking yourself, what on earth is she on about now, but this is a true story.

I’ve been photographing weddings for around 10 years, and like with any job, it’s easy to fall into the same ways of working, like taking photos in the same way. For people working in creative industries like mine, it’s important to stay fresh, try new things, seek ways to improve, and push the boundaries a bit so things don’t get stale 🥱

At the end of 2023 I began photographing non-league football, and by the middle of the following year I was being trialled at photographing Premier League matches. Obviously I wasn’t a beginner photographer, but it was a very different way of photographing to weddings! So how has it informed my wedding photography? Am I now expecting newlyweds to slide on their knees down the aisle towards my camera in celebration? Not quite. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Dynamic images

Sport / press photography and weddings do have some similarities; capturing moments authentically exactly as they happened, but one of the major differences is the sport photos also need to be unique and newsworthy, so they’ll be used by the media. You’re alongside 20 other sport photographers who are also trying to get their photo used by the media. The images need to stand out from everyone else. They need to be dynamic.

Above you can see Jack Grealish on the left, arriving at Crystal Palace. By photographing low to the ground looking up, it makes a much more interesting composition and really makes this more of a hero shot. If I’d taken it standing up, at eye-level, it would’ve been a bit meh. I applied the same thought process to Chelsea and Amy’s wedding here on the right, as they were announced in for their wedding reception, where there were lots of arms waving and bodies surrounding them. Shooting from below isn’t always recommended, it’s not always a flattering angle, but here it provided a much more dynamic, interesting and enduring image.

Close crops!

When I started doing football, I frequently got feedback for not cropping my photos enough! This isn’t really a surprise as my preferred way of photographing is to shoot relatively wide and have a lot in a photo. For footy however, we need to be much closer to what’s happening in the image, so it stands out to newsdesk editors choosing which pic to use for their story.

Here on the left, Pep Guardiola of Manchester City decided to come out ahead of kick off and sit in dugout by himself at a rainy Fulham. He had the hump about something, so me and several other photographers, huddled under our wet weather gear, hovered around the dugout to try and get a newsworthy image that told that story. The story was about Pep’s emotions here, so I needed to crop in as close as possible to capture what he was feeling. In fact, I probably could have cropped even closer but then it comes down to whether the images becomes grainy, lower quality in terms of pixels and other boring stuff.

On the right is one of my favourite images of 2025 - two people cutting loose on the dancefloor at one of my weddings. It’s popular with you guys too, you love the emotion in it. Truth be told, this is a wider image with a bit of space around it, but there’s nothing as captivating as what’s going on with these two. To make it a more captivating and impactful image, I cropped right in so we really feel in the moment with them.

Framing and composition

Aside from the action of a wedding day or football match, it’s important to capture the surroundings and details that make up the story of that day. In weddings it’s quite easy; there’s usually a building which is a ceremony or reception venue, and there’ll be obvious details to snap which help build the narrative. Over time, it’s easy to slide into complacency over framing and composing images.

Football is also about storytelling; the pre-match build up with fans, the teams and their individual elements like kit, anything that can build the narrative of a match. Some stadiums are hugely impressive and easy to take mega photos of; some clubs have grounds rather than stadiums, and you have to work a bit harder to get some interesting photos, and this pushes my creativity!

The Tottenham Hotspur stadium is vast, impressive, and easy to photograph.

The Copperjax Stadium where London City Lionesses play their home games.

Funnily enough, working in weddings has helped when it comes to photographing details at football:

Storytelling

As I mentioned above, taking photos is telling the story of a wedding day, football match or any event really, it’s kind of the point. Capturing a moment in time. Building the story is such a huge part of both types of photography, and as pre-match is a big part of my football remit, particularly when shooting for Getty, it’s really pushed my boundaries to try and get more ‘street’ style photography. It’s uncomfortable at times; I’ve had fans swear at me because they don’t want their photos taken outside the stadium, but most of them don’t mind / don’t realise I’m snapping. It’s made me push my creativity and I know this will be transposed into my wedding work, particularly for candid photos.

So yeah that’s it really, it’s been fun to see how working in a slightly different field can help push you creatively, and make you think about things in a different way. As with everything, it’s never too late to try something new, and to seek continuous improvement. Here’s a few more photos for you to enjoy, and if you can be bothered, follow my sporting photo journey over on Instagram at @sallyrawlins.creative