Steph Chambers, Getty Images Staff Sports Photographer, on her kit list to photograph the FIFA Club World Cup and how you sometimes have to risk missing a goal to get that special shot.
It’s a big weekend for soccer as the FIFA Club World Cup concludes in the US and the UEFA Women's EURO group stages conclude in Switzerland. Steph Chambers, Getty Images Staff Sports Photographer, has been covering the Club World Cup and we got to ask her what she has in her bag, how she approaches shooting soccer matches, how the workflow operates at a huge organisation such as Getty, and her favourite shot of the tournament so far.
Steph Chambers: "Sometimes there is no reward without a bit of risk."
RedShark: What’s in the kit bag? What are the essential bits of equipment you want with you when covering soccer matches?
I tend to bring too much camera equipment, which I happily lug to events so I have it at the ready. In many cases, we go to new venues and will find new angles to set a remote or want to try a different pairing of lenses depending on where we are assigned for a game.
For the FIFA Club World Cup, I’ve been carrying three Canon R1 bodies on me with a variety of lenses: 8-15mm, 15-35mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 100-300mm and a 400mm. I also set up a goal remote camera with a Canon R3 and another 15-35. There are always required miscellaneous items such as PocketWizard triggers, cables, a mini tripod, extra batteries, a reliable mifi device, and other small bits in order to be prepared for any situation asked of us. Each stadium varies so I want to make sure I’m properly equipped and can pivot easily.
RS: Why these items in particular?
With Canon USA as Getty Images’ longstanding imaging partner, we have a collaborative relationship around equipment, constantly testing and providing feedback to be used for firmware updates regularly.
As for deciding which lens to use, that depends on the situation. If I am assigned a pitch-side spot, I like having the 400mm and the 100-300mm ready in case of a goal and its subsequent reaction comes to my corner. Wider lenses are nice for roaming assignments to create a sense of space.
However, camera equipment is only one piece to the puzzle of what makes a poignant, historic image. Intuition, decision-making ability, foresight to predict a special moment, knowledge of teams and players’ tendencies, and experience are all key factors and what makes coverage from our team standout.
RS: How does this change from match to match? Do you ever start a game with a set objective in mind or are you always more reactive to the play?
FC Internazionale Milano v CA River Plate: Steph Chambers - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Personally my goal is to always come away with at least one image that shows my vision and thought process. Firing away and reacting to play is not as compelling as when a photographer thinks through an idea and finesses their conception into an original picture. That’s talent.
Every match is different, and it’s our job to find the beauty in what’s new today. It could be the light falling in an interesting way, or a new batch of lively fans, or a player with an incredible tattoo that shows their love for sport, or a rivalry gone sour.
RS: What are the biggest challenges of the job?
The biggest challenge of our job is finding something new and unusual day in and day out. What sets the Getty Images team apart is our differentiated content. The best photographs sometimes require risk—whether it’s trying a new angle, trying a new technique or lens, moving to a different place or spending a significant amount of time in hopes of one picture idea to come together perfectly. Sometimes there is no reward without a bit of risk, and calculating a risk is a challenging part of our job.
RS: How many shots would you take on average in a match?
FC Internazionale Milano v Urawa Red: Steph Chambers - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
It’s easy to fire off too many frames with cameras now shooting 30 frames-per-second. With my handheld cameras, it can be well over 8,000 images which includes dressing rooms, athlete arrivals, warmups, game action and postgame press conferences. Of that number, we aim to transmit about 100-200 images to the editors. The goal remote itself will maybe fire 2,500 frames, but that’s relatively easy to whittle down to a handful of decisive moments.
Depending on if we are covering a Group Stage match or a playoff match, our editors may be overseeing submissions from 5-10 photographers at a time. Our editing team can quickly comb through our work, crop, caption and provide content to our site in near real-time.
RS: What is the workflow? How do you get the images back to base and is this the same as with other high-profile sporting events?
How we transmit images for all of our major events is the same. It requires months and years of planning by our Operations team to ensure all of the FIFA Club World Cup venues’ photo positions can connect via ethernet nearly instantaneously to our global team of editors. With such a large influx of imagery flowing to our servers, they are able to edit and prepare the content to our customers in as little as 30 seconds. Speed to market is a real advantage to getting our content out into the world for people to see and something we pride ourselves on.
RS: What other sports do you cover?
Seattle Sounders FC v Paris Saint-Germain FC: Steph Chambers - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
As Getty Images’ Staff Sports Photographer based in Seattle, I regularly cover Pacific Northwest professional teams, including the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Kraken, Seattle Storm, Seattle Sounders, Seattle Reign FC, Portland Trail Blazers, as well as international athletics events at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
I’m very fortunate to have covered several Olympic and Paralympic Games, which includes sports that are not a part of my usual routine. That variety is really one of my favorite parts of the job and allows me to continue to be creative and try new things.
RS: And finally, what is the shot you are most proud of?
This is a photographer’s most challenging question. For me, I don’t necessarily feel most proud of one particular frame, but more so of my body of work improving year-to-year. From where I started with Getty Images almost five years ago, to where I am today is drastically different. For that I am proud and deeply thankful. None of this growth would’ve come without steadfast mentorship from my colleagues who push me to grow, try, risk, fail and succeed. I’m eternally grateful for this level of support.
In terms of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, one standout image for me came from the Group Stage match between CA River Plate and Urawa Red Diamonds:
I have never seen fans like the Urawa Red Diamonds supporters. They cheer so loudly and in perfect unison. It’s intimidating.
During the match, I wanted to capture their energy in a unique way. I went up top to an overlook area that looks directly down at their section. I waited for a chant where they were using their arms in sync. After waiting through a few of their chants, I photographed their arm movements. The extra element of the Japanese flag made the image more graphic and compelling. It was a sea of red.
It can be a tough decision to risk doing this and possibly miss a goal-scoring moment, but sometimes there is no reward without a bit of risk.