Emotional, intimacy, precision and timing provide for the best capture athletic photos. Around the Delta, one would be hard pressed to produce better shots that capture the essence of competition better than Beth Giachelli.
“I started taking photos in general years ago after I took my son to a photographer to get portraits of him,” she recalled. “I loved the pictures, but I was shocked at the price and I decided to start taking picture of my family and of another family’s children. In January 2019, I started doing photography full time.”
Over the years, some of the best images of local athletes have come through the genius and perspective of a woman who points to the influence and support of family as major contributors to her craft.
“My sports shots have gotten better over the years,” Giachelli said. “My dad and my husband are sport fanatics. And that really helped prepare me for taking athletic photos”
“A few years ago, my mom bought me a Cannon 80D for Christmas,” she elaborated. “And I’ve added some good lenses over the years to help me capture some good photos.”
Giachelli has an extensive portfolio of images that display power, speed, agility and evoke responses once viewed. Like the athletes she has immortalized, she too has experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
“My favorite sport to shoot is basketball because you are very close to the action to where you can see their absolute facial expression, their muscles and their sweat,” Giachelli explained. “Baseball is the easiest. I once took pictures at a soccer game where the ball hit the camera and pushed it into my face giving me a black eye. I don’t have any stories to tell about getting run over at football games because most of the time, I’m always anticipating something like this happening.”
Through hundreds of photos, countless flashes, and multiple lenses adjustments over the years, it would be easy to understand if a photographer of Giachelli’s caliber would not be able to single out her proudest work. But she immediately described a photo that has stayed etched in her mind because of its content and its sentiment.
“My favorite photo that I took must have been eight or nine years ago,” she said. “It was an award-winning shot of a little boy sliding into home plate with dust flying as the umpire called him safe. You can see the name on the back of the jersey and another kid trying to tag him.”
“This is hands down my favorite photo,” she continued. “But what it really showed is that the umpire got the call right. And every now and then, I take a photo that won’t change the outcome of the game, but it makes the case for a kid who tells his coach that he did the right thing on the field that an official might have missed.
