Uwe Kraft, The Game Magazine’s exclusive photographer for EURO 2024, shares his preparation process for the tournament, detailing the equipment he relies on, techniques, and insights on how photographers are capturing the event.
Uwe Kraft’s EURO 2024 Coverage: Techniques, Challenges, and Insights
Uwe Kraft brings over three decades of experience to his coverage of EURO 2024. Starting his career in Frankfurt, he transitioned to sports photography in the early 90s and got a chance to cover the Champions League final instead of his colleague, which propelled his freelance career. “I jumped in the car and drove to Munich, photographed my first Champions League final, fought my way through the victory celebrations, then drove back to Düsseldorf after midnight. Developed the films, scanned the decisive pictures, sent them out,” he recalls. And that was it; the next day his pictures were everywhere on the front pages of the well-known media at the time. Building on this success, Kraft continued to improve his skills and establish his reputation in sports photography.
For EURO 2024, his goals are clear: to cover as many matches as possible, with a particular focus on the German team and “special players” for him, like Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe. Despite challenges in securing accreditation for this tournament, which he believes has been getting harder for freelancers recently, his preparation and calm approach under pressure help him for high-quality images.
In this interview, Uwe Kraft shares his preparation process for EURO 2024, detailing the equipment he relies on, techniques, and insights for the tournament.
“I’m looking forward to a hopefully peaceful, happy and exciting tournament with thrilling matches and great, surprising moments for everyone involved. And of course, good weather!” – Uwe Kraft.
Could you tell us about yourself and how you got into sports photography?
After writing about music and doing photography for a Frankfurt city magazine in the 80s, I was given the opportunity to do a traineeship with my long-time friend and renowned sports photographer Norbert Schmidt, in the early 90s. I then moved to Düsseldorf, where I still enjoy living today. After a subsequent stint at the Werek Press Agency, I decided to become self-employed in ’94. Actually, I just realized that it’s my 30th anniversary as a freelancer this year!
Do you remember when you covered your first major event as a sports photographer? Did it help you?
The 1997 Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Juventus Turin was actually my acid test. I only got a ticket from a colleague who couldn’t make it on the game’s day. I jumped in the car and drove to Munich, photographed my first Champions League final (Dortmund won), fought my way through the victory celebrations, then drove back to Düsseldorf after midnight. Developed the films, scanned the decisive pictures, sent them out, and the next day had pictures on the front pages of the most important newspapers at the time. That got my name out there.
What are some goals you are aiming to achieve in this tournament? What challenges did you face until now?
I want to cover as many games as possible, which is very convenient for me because we are represented here in the western part of Germany, with four stadiums. Of course, it would also be great if the German team got as far as possible.
The biggest challenge was getting accreditation for the tournament in the first place, which unfortunately, is becoming increasingly difficult for freelancers.
Can you describe a typical day for you while covering a football tournament?
I arrive quite early to avoid unnecessary stress caused by traffic and other things. In the best case, I’ve already entered all the players from both teams into a program so I can access them with notes when captioning the pictures, and I’ve written the caption for the upcoming game.
Fortunately, for a few years now, we´ve been able to reserve our photo positions online for such tournaments two days in advance and can then just show up relaxed on the day of the match. After the match, I’ll get what I consider to be an important selection of photos ready to send out and hope that traffic will have cleared up a bit by then.
“The biggest challenge was getting accreditation for the tournament in the first place, which unfortunately is becoming increasingly difficult for freelancers.” – Uwe Kraft.
What kind of equipment do you consider essential for covering a football tournament?
As a sports photographer, especially in soccer, you have to cover the entire range of focal lengths, from extreme wide-angle to long lenses, in my case, from 14 mm to 600 mm, combined with various mirrorless Nikon cameras.
How do you handle the pressure of delivering high-quality images under tight deadlines?
Pressure is always a bad advisor. I try to stay as relaxed as possible, because only then I can work with full concentration. After a lot of life experience I´ve also learned to take things easier.
“Pressure is always a bad advisor. I try to stay as relaxed as possible because only then can I work with full concentration. After a lot of life experience, I´ve also learned to take things easier.” – Uwe Kraft.
Are there particular moments or players you focus on for this tournament?
Of course, I´m focused on the German matches, especially here at the home tournament. But there are also a lot of special players to look forward to, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe, for example. I´m hoping for exciting matches in the knockout phase with a classic feel, such as Germany vs. the Netherlands, Spain vs. Italy, etc.
Would you like to add something?
I´m looking forward to a hopefully peaceful, happy and exciting tournament with thrilling matches and great, surprising moments for everyone involved. And of course, good weather!
