The 9 Best Sports Photographers in Providence

The Providence metropolitan area extends into Massachusetts and is actually larger than the whole state of Rhode Island. Yet, even by limiting our choices of top Providence sports photographers to those within close proximity of the capital, we’re quite impressed by the amount of talent available in such a concentrated geographic area. And they truly are exceptional. Take the time to visit their portfolios, and you will no doubt enjoy their work as much as we did! From little leagues to the pros, these Providence sports photographers are talented and ready for any project.

1. Jason Schneider

With a bachelor’s degree in photography and eight years of experience in sports photography, Jason Schneider certainly has the credentials. However nothing speaks louder than good photographs, and with this Schneider delivers.

As we can see on his Instagram account, Schneider has a particular love for doing pro wrestling coverage. But he also does coverage of local high school sporting events. In fact, we feel his work with these young athletes better demonstrates a particular skill Schneider possesses: an incredible sense of timing. He simply knows when to click that shutter. He consistently captures dramatic, decisive moments in his sports photography. That he composes and frames his images brilliantly makes his images truly impactful.

2. Todd Hunter Crocker

Nothing we could see in Todd Hunter Crocker’s surprisingly diverse career path that he shares on Facebook really reveals or even hints at what he does now: take sports photos for the University of Rhode Island and for his own THC Sports Photography.

So we have no idea where Crocker got his photographic skills, let alone his evident talent at capturing sports images. All we can do is marvel at his work! Crocker gets in nice and tight with the action, keeping everything bright and clear. That’s particularly noteworthy with his indoor coverage when you consider flashes are a no-no, and he’s no doubt wielding a massive lens. Really solid work.

3. Glenn Osmundson

Over three decades of experience taking pictures professionally really shows in Glenn Osmundson’s work. His sports photography is simply publication-caliber stuff! No question about Osmundson’s technical skills and his ability to compose a riveting image amid all the action. Or even his timing, which is consistently spot-on.

But that his sports images often tell a story, all in a single frame, that’s the kind of stuff editors salivate over. The truly amazing part: Osmundson spends a lot of time as a wedding photographer. It’s an unusual, thought-provoking combination, enough to make us wonder if there’s something to the genre mix at play. Hmm.

4. Chris Emerson

Most of Chris Emerson’s sports photography happens indoors. Although there are a few shots of outdoor sports in his portfolio, the opportunity to cover many of them just probably doesn’t present itself too much. In fact, it’s indoor events where Emerson gets to show off his chops, particularly hockey and basketball. You’d be hard-pressed to find many sports shots on Emerson’s Instagram account, so head on over to his website to see more of his admirable work.

Choosing just the right angle to shoot from beforehand often means the difference between so-so sports shots and totally brilliant ones, and Emerson looks like he’s got the affinity for doing just that in basketball and hockey images.

5. Jerry Silberman

Ready to photograph just about every local sporting event there is — youth, amateur, scholastic, professional, team, individual, you name it — Jerry Silberman’s work appears regularly in many local newspapers and media. Among Providence sports photographers, we wouldn’t be surprised if Silberman’s the most prolific.

To get a feel for how many local sports pictures he’s shot, just visit his Instagram account, where he’s got way over four thousand of them. And those are the ones that have made the cut. They’re not the usual distant “spectator’s point of view” shots, either. Silberman gets up close, producing shot after shot of sharp, brightly lit action, indoors and out. We bet he’s a fountain of knowledge about all local sports, too!

6. Alan Hubbard

A photography jack-of-all-trades, Alan Hubbard’s PhotoByFriday business has a robust menu of subjects he covers, with sports photography among them. He only gives a glimpse of it with very few shots through his Instagram account, but a visit to the part of his website dedicated to his University of Rhode Island (URI) sports photography reveals the scope of his work in the genre. It looks like he shoots many of URI’s sports teams and athletes, from basketball to rowing.

Use whatever superlatives to describe the caliber of Hubbard’s URI work — magazine, marketing, photo news agency — it’ll fit. And to think we would’ve missed it if we weren’t poking around his site! Hubbard’s definitely a hidden gem among Providence sports photographers.

7. George Ross

There’s quite a number of sports in George Ross’s portfolios that we don’t often see represented in the work of other Providence sports photographers, like roller derby and wheelchair racing. He shoots more standard sports too, like basketball and track. Regardless of what Ross photographs, the results are the same: striking, brilliant images.

Take a look. You may even notice that there’s one specific highly noteworthy element in his pictures you don’t often see in others, but frequently present in his it can’t just be a coincidence: the incredible expressions on the athletes’ faces. Looks like Ross has an incredible instinct for seeking and capturing them. Yes, instinct. That’s a talent you’re just born with.

8. Paul Danesi

For over two decades, Paul Danesi worked at a local high school as its CFO, giving him opportunities to drop by the athletic fields and gyms and take photos of the students competing. Now retired, he realized he could spend much of his time doing that! Being an avid softball player himself, Danesi says that gives him an advantage over other photographers since he can anticipate where the action will likely be, and we can certainly see that in his work.

His Instagram account’s full of his other photographic interests, so visit his website to get way better visuals of Danesi’s ability to get close to the action and capture those dramatic decisive moments.

9. Laura Paton

A freelance photojournalist for a number of local newspapers, Laura Paton’s sports pictures are unassailably professional. Her images of sporting events (which you can see on her site) are some of the clearest, most evenly lit we’ve seen, regardless of whether taken indoors or out.

Impressive enough as those are, what really makes us pause are some magnificent portraits she took of fighters where she truly displays their essence, and with minimal action. Turns out Paton is also a fine art photographer, and her ability to transform sport into stunning art is amazing.

Heart-pounding talent from right inside the action

This town has a lot going on, and the best Providence sports photographers know just how to capture the intensity, passion, and drama of the city’s epic competitions. We look forward to seeing how these top-notch creative professionals develop in the years to come. If you’re a photographer looking for new spaces to shoot, check out Peerspace. From professional studios to sports courts of every variety, we have the perfect setting to make your shoot a knock-out.

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