Tarantino, an AP photographer based in Rome who covers events in Italy and Vatican City, described the decisions behind an AP image of Jannik Sinner at the Italian Open in the “One Extraordinary Photo” segment. In the feature, she said Sinner’s speed on court can make him difficult to photograph and that his headgear—“the cap with the visor”—adds to those challenges.
To overcome those obstacles, Tarantino said she positioned herself under the court where there is a small, slightly high window, describing it as a way to capture Sinner’s facial expression after he scores a point. She said that when she arrived, the space was “strangely empty,” which gave her a chance to try shots that included the full silhouette of the window framing.
Tarantino said she used a 50mm f/1.4 lens, which she described as bright and sharp enough to support extremely fast shutter speeds. She said the specific example involved a 1/8000th-of-a-second exposure to “freeze” the ball on the racket, while also relying on fast tracking from Sony cameras and a “pre-shoot” function.
Because of the window’s height and her low vantage point, Tarantino said she could not look through the viewfinder. Instead, she said she framed from the back of the camera, keeping her arms up while tracking the action.
She said the raw file was not edited by her before publication. Tarantino said her colleague, Antonio Calanni, edited the photo after she sent him the full file directly from the camera, and she credited Calanni with framing that “brought out its full value.”
Tarantino said the image’s effect comes from multiple choices working together—especially what she called twilight colors and the black frame surrounding the visible portion of the format, “almost 16:9.” She also said the shallow depth of field leaves Sinner as the only sharply defined element, with logos, sponsors and other details blurred “like an impressionist painting,” while the crowd and the moment of the ball hitting the racket remain perceptible to viewers.
In the feature, she also described the composition as creating a sense of privacy and discovery, saying the photo makes it feel like viewers are “peeking at what’s happening through a hole that no one knows about.”