With over 20 years of experience within the sporting industry, we caught up with self-taught freelance photographer Andrew Orchard for our next news, sports and entertainment feature. Andrew’s images have been featured in well-known UK publications such as The Guardian and The Sunday Times, and being based in South Wales means he is able to capture all the Welsh sporting action, mainly in football and rugby.
With the football and rugby 2025/2026 season still in full swing, Andrew is busier than ever documenting these events in and around Wales. So, take a break from watching the excitement on the TV and join us and Andrew behind the scenes, to learn how he spends his time photographing the action during the sporting season.
CG: You’ve been a professional photographer for over 20 years, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into the sporting industry?
AO: I’d always been interested in photography and after leaving school I ended up working in a photographic shop for several years selling equipment but ultimately, I wanted to work as a photographer and be my own boss. So, I became self-employed and have mainly specialised in sports photography. I’ve always loved sport and I have always loved looking at the work of top sports photographers and tried to learn from them. I’m a self-taught photographer and just learnt as I worked and taught myself all the workflow etc.
I started before digital photography, which was only just coming in and very expensive, so in the early days I often rented a hotel room or somewhere close to where the job was so I could process film and wire to newspapers using a film scanner linked to a laptop and dial up modem! Deadlines weren’t so bad then as just basically a time needed for either early additions or late editions of newspapers. There were no online usages then so nowadays your deadlines come from online use if pictures are needed straight away.
CG: You’re based in South Wales, does this help with capturing the content within your expertise?
AO: Being based in South Wales there is a lot going on, mainly football and rugby so I do a lot of that. I have photographed Welsh rugby for many years and managed to photograph us winning Grand Slams in that time — I won’t mention the last couple of years! I’ve been lucky that both Swansea City and Cardiff City have had spells in the Premier League, it’s easier to sell pictures from the Premier League than the lower divisions so hopefully they will get back up there in the future.
CG: How do you get that ‘action shot’ from the sporting events you’re capturing?
AO: Getting the ‘action shot’ is often down to luck in my case. Nowadays if I’m capturing a football match, publications are mainly interested in the goals or celebrations shots. So, it’s often a case of being lucky to be in the right spot for those and then try not to mess up! At least in most cases being your own boss you don’t have to explain to anyone why you missed the shot. Sometimes a goal is easy to miss for reasons out of your control like being blocked by other players, sometimes stewards etc. And in Rugby now a decisive try picture can easily be missed by the replacements who warm up behind the posts in the way.
Cardiff, UK. 29th Oct, 2024. Jessica Fishlock of Wales women scores her teams 1st goal. Wales women v Slovakia women, UEFA Women's Euro championship qualifying play off semi final match, 2nd leg at the Cardiff City Stadium.
CG: What was the most memorable match or event you’ve attended?
AO: I have covered many international games and a couple of Rugby World Cups. I’ve covered a Rugby tournament in Durban, South Africa, Dubai rugby sevens, the Ryder Cup golf when it was at Celtic Manor but the most memorable event I have photographed has got to be the 2016 European Football Championships in France. It was the first time Wales qualified for the tournament so I was glad to get accreditation to cover it following Wales and the team ended up getting as far as the semi-final. So as a freelancer it ended up costing me more to do than I expected as I had only initially budgeted for the group games.
CG: Are there any events you’re looking forward to capturing in 2026?
AO: I am just grateful to still be working, I don’t think there is anything special on this year for me so it’s just the usual — I still really enjoy doing it though. If Wales get through the play offs, then they will be playing at this year’s Football World Cup but we won’t know that until end of March and I expect by then it will be too expensive for me to do with accommodation & flights.
CG: Why do you choose to supply your images to Alamy?
AO: I did very well selling pictures direct to newspapers, wiring on spec from matches and events I covered but as times have changed and my competitors had already started syndicating it became much harder so I decided to start supplying my images through Alamy, I don’t use anyone else and they make pictures available to more outlets than I had before.
CG: What do you think is the best way to get your photos noticed by the media?
AO: The best way for me now is to let Alamy market the pictures for me, I trust that they get my images in front of picture editors. I usually put a few pictures on X after games so I think some can be noticed that way. I know a lot of people use Instagram now so at some stage I think I will do that.
Lineout action between Scarlets (in red) & Ospreys. United Rugby Championship, Scarlets v Ospreys at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, Wales on Boxing Day, Friday 26th December 2025.
CG: Any advice for photographers looking to break into the sporting industry?
AO: I’d say it helps to enjoy the sports you photograph, there are many other branches of photography where you can earn more money. In this industry I’d say get the best equipment that you can afford, cover as much as you can as I believe you learn as you work and learn from mistakes. Get up to speed with editing/workflow although if you are good and lucky then aim to work for one of the big sports picture agencies. Always look at the sports pictures that the very best photographers are taking. (I still do that now; I love looking at good sports photography.) I’m often lucky enough to get to sit next to the some of the very best sports photographers in the country although if I’m truthful that’s probably unlucky for me as I must try to get a picture as good as them and also there’s probably not much chance of getting my picture used!
We hope you enjoyed Andrew’s interview and feel inspired to start your journey in the sporting industry. You can check out the rest of Andrew’s collection here and check out his website here.
If you’re a football or rugby fanatic, don’t forget we have a more interviews with sporting photographers on our spotlight page here! Come back next month to see who is up next for our news, sports and entertainment feature.