Endurance & lifestyle photography: An interview with Will Harper-Penrose
Commercial endurance sports and lifestyle photographer Will Harper-Penrose shares how his passion became is job and reveals his unusual gear set up for shooting trail races.
You mention that photography is your hobby and your job. Could you tell us about how you got here?
It’s about as blurred as the lines can get really. Photography has always been something I’ve done, like, I’ve never not had a camera and I’ve always documented life in some way. From Polaroids and disposable cameras when I was eleven years old to a Sony handycam in my teens, a Holga in my early twenties, DSLR in my adult life and now all manner of cameras for every job imaginable.
It became a job by complete accident really. I was meant to be running a race but got injured, so decided to photograph it as the RD had gifted me the entry and I felt I owed him something, if not a mediocre running performance!
After that, a race director from another event company asked me for a quote to photograph one of his races. I did it for a hundred pounds I think. On reflection, the photos were ok… but they were a start and he was happy. He booked me for all future races and then it started to snowball from there. The great thing about photography is that every job is an interview for the next one. I had a year full of events to develop my style.
Three years later, I shoot for five or six event companies, a handful of clothing brands and my year is stacked with fun stuff.
Long answer, sorry!
My camera bag is probably the least ‘sports photographer’ setup there is
What type of outdoor events do you most enjoy shooting and why?
I just love being out in remote places, so the most fun events for me to shoot are those where I am out on my feet for hours. Wide open spaces, a bit of weather, rugged terrain, Herculean efforts… all that stuff is great fun to shoot.
Running is what I know, so I find that the easiest to shoot well, but I also get a real rush from shooting in the sea, with my camera in its housing, for swimrun and open water events.
I’m a terrible people pleaser really, so if I can show someone a photo of themselves doing something hard and I’ve made them look like a pro, I’m stoked.
Could you tell us about your approach to capturing the story and emotions of ultra endurance events.
Ultra running is all about the people. In athletics and road running, people talk about times and records, which is fine and exciting in a way, but I think once you’ve had a taste of ultra endurance, those things become quite sterile and a bit repetitive. People get faster. Shoes get better. People get faster. Shoes get better.
In ultra running, shoes are really not a factor and yes people get faster but the stories that unfold during a 100 mile race are just wild. I am looking for those stories in my pictures I suppose.
You specialise in endurance sports and outdoor lifestyle photography. Where does this interest come from?
I’m a trail runner and generally an outside person. I guess I’ve just fallen into photographing what’s happening around me and then outdoor lifestyle brands have seen my work. I actually really love shooting fashion and I’m trying to do more of that. I think it’s good to have balance. Sports and events keep me busy and fashion work is starting to fill the spaces between which is fun.
I say yes to pretty much all opportunities that come my way and it doesn’t take me long to work out whether it’s a good fit for me or not.
I know endurance sports very well so that feels safe to me. I also have a little portrait studio and I enjoy the stark contrast between these two ways of working as a photographer.
What’s typically in your camera bag for shooting trail running races?
My camera bag is probably the least ‘sports photographer’ setup there is. I use a Fuji Xpro3 which is a rangerfinder style camera with no screen on the back, and a handful of fast primes. For most races I will shoot on a 50mm and a 70-200mm, occasionally dabbling with a wide angle if the vista calls for it.
For me, the best camera is the one that makes you want to take photos, and a big Canon or Sony setup doesn’t do that for me. I use my cameras for work but also day to day. It’s just always in my bag or on my shoulder. If you saw it, you’d want to pick it up too. It’s absolutely beautiful.
What are you looking forward to shooting this year?
There are some really fun races in the diary this year. We’ve got a new 100 miler in Cornwall, a half Ironman… all sorts of fun stuff going on, but what I’m most looking forward to is a project with Elsey Davis, that’s currently under wraps. Just think, multiple days on the trail, living and working out of my van and getting some serious miles under my feet too.
Opportunites just keep knocking and I’m here for it, until they don’t!
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