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Veteran Sports Illustrated photographer Robert Beck goes beyond the visible
Words by Travis HillPhotos by Robert Beck
Light / Dark
“I’m not overly technical,” Robert Beck says as he explains how a digital camera can be taken apart to capture light in the infrared. More than any mechanical breakdown, he just inherently knows what we can all see. “It’s perfect for shooting golf.”
Beck is one of the most decorated photographers at Sports Illustrated. Since his first assignment for the magazine, at the 1986 Ironman Kona triathlon, Beck has shot 10 Super Bowls, six Olympics and more than 200 golf events, including every major since 1987. Brandi Chastain ripping her jersey off after winning the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup? That’s his photo. Barry Bonds’ 756th homer? Got it. Wayne Gretzky’s 802nd goal? Yep. Not bad for a former substitute history and social studies teacher who got his start shooting his surfer buddies in San Diego.
That background has given him an advantage over his peers shooting golf. He’s not a golfer; he lets his sense of the shot guide him rather than any traditional knowledge of the game. “I just go wherever the picture or the design looks better to me,” he says. “So of course I might’ve missed a few shots where I didn’t know what the guy was doing, but I made some nice shots because I looked at it differently.”
All of which led to his experimentation with infrared photography. Unlike wire services and newspapers, Sports Illustrated isn’t on a daily deadline during the early rounds of tournaments, so Beck has the freedom to play with a different style. “One of our guys, Chuck Solomon, had shot some baseball with an infrared camera. I noticed what it did to the grass and I got the bug to try it. I thought it was a no-brainer for golf because that’s what we have: a lot of sky, a lot of trees, a lot of grass.”
But no faces. Beck quickly figured out that infrared is not meant for tight, emotive shots. “Human beings don’t really look that good in infrared,” he says. “If you shoot someone’s face, their eyes are kind of devilish looking and they’re all blacked out.”
That means he’ll never shoot the final round of a tournament in infrared, but early rounds are fair game. Beck has shot infrared for several years, but still loves the contrasts it brings to wider shots and the startling new looks at the pines of Augusta or the heather at Erin Hills.
“I take that camera with me every time I shoot golf.”
Sergio Garcia, 2017 Masters, Augusta, Georgia. This is the 11th fairway, Sergio’s second shot. I love this hole because you can play with all kinds of lightand shadow and use somany trees to frame things. So many photographerssay, “Wouldn’t you always rather shoot on gray days?” But with infrared, shadows make it more interesting. Photographers are creatures of habit: They do the same things every year. The last couple years I’ve liked No. 7 and shooting that 11th fairway. Once players go through seven, I run to the 10th green and then the 11th fairway. You’ve got to skip someholes to get guys you want. Spectators do the same thing; you’ve got to hopscotch to see people you like.
Dustin Johnson, 2014 U.S. Open, Pinehurst, North Carolina. I usually wouldn’t try this shot with infrared because it’s so dark. But I liked the flare and the trees were different. I rarely shoot anything tight with infrared, but this felt interesting. We got lucky and you can see Bubba [Watson] there, but you know that’s DJ’s swing.
Luke Donald, 2013 Masters, Augusta, Georgia. This is the 11th green, with Luke Donald putting, Scott Piercy to the left and Tiger Woods by his bag off the green. There’s a huge set of bleachers at Augusta, so people can watch the 11th green and 12th tee. In the back there’s a place for photographers, if the members aren’t hogging it up. My favorite is to shoot more of 12, but I loved this shot.
Brooks Koepka, 2017 U.S. Open, Erin Hills, Wisconsin. This is Brooks on the little par-3 ninth. It was fun experimenting with the weeds in the foreground, but the clouds going through make that picture. That’s the first round and I already got Brooks. I always know who’s going to win.
Unnamed, 2013 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Pebble Beach, California. This is probably someone famous from the Pro-Am, but I was more interested in the tree. Unfortunately, I don’t think that tree is there anymore. [The tree was knocked down by a storm in 2014.—Ed.]
2017 U.S. Open, Erin Hills, Wisconsin. I’m playing with that negative-space thing here, and that weird cloud formation.
Zach Johnson, 2017 U.S. Open, Erin Hills, Wisconsin. When I shoot these I’m cropping out certain things, because the gallery is just to the right but it looks like Zach [Johnson] is playing alone. Sometimes it’s great to have a crowd, sometimes not.
2017 U.S. Open, Erin Hills, Wisconsin. The editors at SI called that “Robert’s Tree.” It’s on the first hole, near the landing area, and is one of about four trees on the entire course. I thought it was a cool spot, so I hung out there a bunch. During the week, our team used it as a landmark: “Yeah,I saw him at Robert’s Tree a half hour ago.” I just loved the angles. This one is a marshall and caddie trying to find a ball. It was always such a forlorn thing—next to impossible to find the ball—and it’s like, “Crap, first hole, it’s already over.”
Robert’s Tree, 2017 U.S. Open, Erin Hills, Wisconsin. I just loved the angles here. In this one a group is walking toward their balls and the tree just dwarfs them from my angle with the vast weeds and gorse.
Martin Kaymer, 2014 U.S. Open, Pinehurst, North Carolina. It was hot and flat in Pinehurst. The women were playing the next week, so there were a bunch of LPGA players there early and they were dropping out, too, because it was so hot. One thing that’s great about infrared photography is that even in high-noon light we can still get the shots. You can even see the sweat on Kaymer’s arm.
