If there’s one factor that you surprisingly need in both competitive sport and photography, it’s trust. You also need physical prowess, skill, and endurance too. But without trust in your teammates, yourself, or your equipment, where would you be?

For professional sports photographer Diego Souto, the trust began with his first job at newspaper Diario Marca in 2000. With his path in motion, he then set about building his skills. “What I love about photographing sport is the challenge of capturing a specific moment in the action,” he continues, “and you need to trust yourself to do it. A slight delay and the moment passes. In sport, you can’t recreate or repeat, so when you do get a perfect shot, it feels like a great accomplishment.”

Diego photographs a whole host of different sports, “but when the tennis season arrives, it’s a breath of fresh air for me and time to reset,” he says. “Two of my favourite events recently were the Mutua Madrid Open and the Davis Cup, also in Madrid. I was lucky enough to be invited to join the official roster of photographers – they trusted me,” Diego continues. It’s a big opportunity to work for them but you must deliver year after year, or you are out! In that sense, it’s pretty cutthroat.”

Of course, there are different levels to capturing a moment in time. And to be truly successful, it’s seldom enough to simply capture the events unfolding in a game, and even harder to capture emotions too. “It’s a subjective thing,” he explains, “but for me, capturing the emotions behind a subject’s eyes tells the real story. So, while final shot can tell you what’s happening at that specific moment, the eyes reveal so much more – like the thrill of hitting a perfect passing shot, or the agony of being passed.”

Practically, a tennis court is significantly smaller than a football pitch, so Diego also needs to trust in his ability to adapt. “The closeness of the players often means using a shorter lens, like the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM, rather than my usual 400mm /2.8 GM,” he explains. “With the former, the ability to blur the players’ backgrounds is amazing. But I’m also in love with the 50mm f/1.2 GM. What’s incredible is with this lens, you can shoot players running straight at you and coupled with the focusing power of the Sony Alpha 1, I know that my subject’s eyes will be perfectly sharp every time.”

The etiquette of a tennis court is poles apart from football, too. “The biggest difference for me is that you have to be quiet,” Diego explains. “With tennis, like golf, the moments before and during a game can be pristinely quiet.” In that way, Diego knows he can trust the silence of his Alpha 1. “With Sony’s mirrorless cameras, it’s much easier because the players don’t get disturbed by the noise of the shutter,” he adds. “This means I can capture players in moments that are different from before, while simultaneously remaining completely unobtrusive.”

What’s more impressive is that the Alpha 1 does that while also offering unrivalled speed and accuracy. So, for Diego, it’s very much a device he can trust. “The Alpha 1 really is the ultimate weapon, and it often feels like an unfair advantage compared with the rest,” he beams. “It’s a bit like a tennis player serving at 200mph!”

Speed is important, and with the Alpha 1 providing 50 megapixel RAW files at an astonishing 30fps, “it’s a game changer,” he says. “I remember the days when I had to decide on whether to have a fast frame rate at low resolution or get more megapixels, but at a slower frame rate…but now I use Sony, it’s all in one place, meaning I can find the perfect moment, whether from a serve or rally, and choose from a series of shots without compromise.”

“It’s simple – Sony has the best and most reliable AF system out there,” Diego continues. “I shoot in AF-C mode and depending on the situation, I jump between Medium Spot and Small Spot tracking modes. It’s so dependable, that I don’t even need to review images on the computer to make sure it is on focus. I’m always so confident in the Alpha 1’s ability that I just send the pictures straight to the editor on the camera’s built-in Wi-Fi.”

Finding trust in himself and in his gear has taken him to the top, but Diego still sees his day job as a privilege. “When you’re close to people like Rafael Nadal, you get to see how they train, the way they play and how they interact with their teams and fans. It’s all based on trust and it’s an inspiration to be around.”