Great Golf Photography - Steve Carr
Steve Carr has been a golf writer and photographer since 1988. He is a member of the panel that ranks the Top 100 Courses in the World for New York based Golf Magazine, and for 10 years he was chairman of the rating team for the Top 100 in the British Isles and Continental Europe while Deputy Editor of Golf World Magazine. He has managed to experience over 600 of the world's courses, while playing for many years to a handicap of 2 or below.
Trump Doonbeg 14th, Co. Clare, IrelandNikon D800 on Manual, AF-S NIKKOR 24–70mm f/2.8E ED VR at 42mm1/160 sec f/9 ISO 320
This just has about everything for me. A fantastic hole of an extremely scenic links with a brooding sky and interesting sea. To add to it, The Lodge features in the background. I got very lucky with this. The weather was iffy and didn't look like the sun would come out. I was sitting out on the course in the wind and rain just hoping for a small break. I was just about to give up as the sun was about to set, when the clouds parted for just a few minutes, giving this eerie light and a beautifully fresh looking course.
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club 17th, Dubai, UAENikon D800 on Manual, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens at 110mm1/125 sec f/9 ISO 400
This image is not one of my favourites, but it proves looks can be deceiving. On the way out to Dubai the airline broke a piece of equipment, and I got a taxi from the club into town to find a replacement. We drove over the huge six-lane Garhoud Bridge and I glanced the course to my right, and knew I had to take a photo from there. So as the sun went down on my last day, I slipped through the fence behind the 16th green and legged it for about 600 meters up and around onto the bridge to get this shot. Deceiving because, while it looks tranquil, there was rush hour traffic thundering behind me just metres away.
The Belfry, Brabazon Course 10th, Sutton Coldfield, England (image top of page)Nikon D800 on Manual, AF-S NIKKOR 24–70mm f/2.8E ED VR at 35mm1/20 sec f/9 ISO 200
Sometimes the weather does’t play ball and it makes life difficult to get a cracking image. One such night I was scouting the famous 10th hole at The Belfry, scene of much Ryder Cup drama. The light was milky but the sky was a ‘mackerel’ texture. It made sense to turn it into a moody black and white, something that works really well with difficult skies. As long as there is a little bit of contrasty light then you can make very striking images. In fact, large black and white prints of golf holes can be amazing and sometimes work better than their colour equivalent.
Great Golf Media
