World Sports Photography Awards 2026: A winning image

Sports photographer Morgan Treacy has been covering the Laytown Races for more than 25 years. As Ireland's only horse racing event run on a beach under the Rules of Racing, the annual meet offers striking photo opportunities. Over time, he has developed a clear sense of what makes an image stand out – an instinct that informed both his winning image in the World Sports Photography Awards 2026 and his role as a judge for the Canon Emerging Talent Award.

It's hard to get an image that hasn't been captured before, Morgan acknowledges, which is why he was particularly pleased to find a dramatic new angle on the event. His image – Equine Reflection – went on to earn first place in the Equestrian category.

"That's at the core of what sports photographers do," he says. "If you're trying to do it at a high level, you want to be going to an event you've covered before and come up with something new. And I did this time."

That search for originality was also something Morgan appreciated while judging the Canon Emerging Talent Award, where many young photographers embraced new approaches to sports photography.

Morgan spent six races trying different shots at the start point, "with varying levels of success". He'd pretty much given up and was walking back towards the finish to wire his pictures when he noticed a large puddle. "I saw that the horses were already off and thought there was possibly a direct side-on shot to be had, but as they got closer, I could see that they might come into a possible reflection in this puddle."

He had to quickly decide on the lens. "I had everything with me – the RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM, RF 135mm F1.8L IS USM and RF 28-70mm F2L USM lenses – but looking back at the horses, I thought, this is a big picture. It's a wide shot, not a tight one. So, I grabbed the 28-70mm and got down low on the sand."

Morgan was also looking for different angles while judging the Canon Emerging Talent Award at WSPA 2026. "I really appreciate seeing that someone has looked around a sports event for an angle that isn't the classic long-lens, compressed image we so often associate with sport," he says. In some cases, he adds, the photographers had turned what could have been a "fairly humdrum" situation into something dramatically different.

Tom Weller's winning portfolio of winter sports images was a standout example. "One shot in particular was from what was, essentially, a normal Alpine event. But by moving around and using a lens that you wouldn't usually associate with that sport, the photographer created something almost otherworldly.

"A lot of young photographers are really pushing the boundaries and breaking the rules," Morgan says. "I really do believe it's something to do with the new cameras. Younger photographers are shooting differently and using new techniques – it's still sports photography, but it's opening it up to a different audience."