CameraPro On The Couch with Phil Hillyard

Canon Master, Phil Hillyard, is one of Australia's top professional sports photographers. Throughout his career, he has covered five Olympic games, 30 seasons of AFL, spent ten years travelling with the Australian Cricket Team, photographed numerous other legendary sporting events and created stunning portraits of high-profile athletes. We spoke with Phil to learn more about how he entered the fiercely competitive world of sports photography, the equipment and camera settings he employs to get the perfect shot, and some lessons he has learned along the way.

A huge sports fan, Phil was pretty active on the field as a kid and even aspired to compete at the highest level. But things shifted when a family friend wrote a book about AFL that included some game images. Phil saw the photos in the book, and a new ambition emerged. Determined to pursue a career in sports photography, he got a camera, worked hard at learning the basics and picked up some work experience with the Adelaide News. The editor recognised his enthusiasm and reached out at the end of year 12 to offer Phil a job.

 Photo by Phil Hillyard 

As a junior at the newspaper, Phil’s job was to mix the chemicals, bulk load rolls of film, grab the lunches and feed the parking meters for the senior photographers. Surrounded by an experienced team, Phil quickly gained an excellent grounding in photojournalism. His willingness to learn saw him stay behind at the end of shifts and turn up on weekends so he could work with different photographers and pick up skills from the entire team. For two years, he showed up seven days a week, taking every learning opportunity that came his way, even being nicknamed “Shadow” for following Ray Titus, the sports photographer, everywhere. 

"You had to learn what working for a newspaper is all about and learn news sense: to know what is news and what is a news picture. The things that I learned early in those days are things that I still carry with me today."

In the decades since, Phil has captured many headline-making moments in Australian sport. The breadth of his work is exceptional and has stretched to include high-end portraits of prominent sportspeople. His distinctive portrait style uniquely profiles each athlete’s sporting physique and personality to record little pieces of history. Whether taken on or off the field, Phil’s images have a remarkable ability to connect with viewers, displaying a human element that transcends the sports photography genre and speaks to a broader audience.

"I guess I've always seen it from the athlete's side, looking at it so closely through the lens. And I guess that's kind of helped me to build relations. I've always been intrigued by their careers and want to see their successes. Every four years, the Olympics comes around, and it's pretty exciting to see athletes get out and achieve their personal best, and likewise in the footy and cricket."

 Photo by Phil Hillyard 

Phil has been using Canon gear since the mid-90s. He recently transitioned to mirrorless with the Canon EOS R3 and is getting to know the camera and what it can bring to his work. As a sports photographer, the burst rate of 30 frames per second is a considerable advantage. And being able to shoot in the evening at 6400 ISO with minimal noise is pretty impressive compared to film and where things started in the digital space. 

Having always shot full manual exposure with everything, Phil’s just started utilising auto ISO on the R3 and found it very effective. He shares the example of shooting AFL in the afternoon light at the SCG. Things can get tricky with the sun up one end of the ground and everything backlit down the other. Operating with auto ISO on the R3, he can set the shutter to 1/2000th to freeze the action, open his aperture to f/4 to eliminate background distractions and let auto ISO take care of the rest. For focus, Phil prefers to rely on his ability to read the action and generally uses single-point autofocus rather than continuous.

"I‘ve always felt the hard part about photography is actually finding the picture, and I do find that the amateur tends to over-focus on the technical side of photography rather than just

really focus on what you're looking at."

 Photo by Phil Hillyard 

In his portrait work, Phil uses 800-watt Broncolor Siros lights as they provide the power he needs for his dramatic lighting style. Opting to overpower the ambient light, he positions them close to his subject and sets them to maximum output, correctly metering for the subject and letting everything else underexpose. 

Positioning is critical for recording moments with the most impact. Phil will always try to find good, clean backgrounds so the focus remains on the subject. He also mentions the aspect of luck involved in capturing an iconic sports moment. And while there will always be an element of chance, it’s evident that the best sports photographers, like Phil, never rely on luck; they rely on their intuition. Learning to read the game or event, having a keen understanding of the athletes and their personalities, and remaining immersed in the action are the keys to success.

"It's about having a hunch in sports photography … trying to predict where the action might come but then also keeping an open mind and be totally ready for that unexpected fak thing that often happens in sport."

 Photo by Phil Hillyard

When the Olympic Games are on, Phil finds his intuition stretched as he has to reacquaint himself with sporting events and athletes that he only photographs when the games come around every four years. Some events he covers more regularly, such as swimming and athletics, and he can get into sync more easily. But with the sports he photographs less frequently, it’s much more challenging to preempt the action, and he’s often learning as he goes. 

"There’s a lot of inner panic that goes on, and a lot of stress goes through a sports photographer. It's probably why a lot of us pro sports shooters are really good mates because we're probably the only ones who understand each other and what battles you go through; the pressure of getting the moments and the things that can go against you."

With his unmatched work ethic and ability to capture and create impactful moments, Phil has built an incredibly diverse and inspiring body of work infused with an evident love for sports and genuine respect for the athletes.

Check out the full interview here to learn more about Phil and his remarkable career.

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