During the Games, Canon held the Canon Youth Photographers Camp 2026 to provide aspiring young photographers with hands-on experience in professional sports photography.Guided throughout the program by Koji Aoki, president of photography agency Aflo Co., Ltd., participants learned about sports photography in a lecture before putting their studies into practice at an athletic competition, where they photographed from the same designated photo positions used by professional photographers. The program gave them a deeper understanding of the work of sports photographers and the realities of covering a major sporting event.
Step 01
Getting ready at the Main Press Center
At the Main Press Center, participants collected their “PRESS” bibs and stopped by the Canon Professional Services (CPS) booth inside the center to pick up the cameras and other equipment they would use. This gave them first-hand experience of how professional photographers prepare before covering a sporting event.
Step 02
Workshop
In a workshop led by Mr. Aoki, participants learned about the professional mindset required of professional photographers and the appeal of sports photography. Drawing on his many years at the forefront of the field, he shared practical guidance on what to look for at a competition, how to approach a shoot, and how sports photojournalists think about the moments they capture.
Step 03
Photographing the competition
Participants then applied what they had learned by photographing an athletics competition at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya. With on-site guidance from Mr. Aoki, they worked from designated photo positions alongside professional photographers. The experience gave them a first-hand sense of both the pressure and the excitement of working on the frontlines of sports photojournalism.
Step 04
CPS booth tour
The next day, they revisited the CPS booth to learn how Canon supports professional photographers and gain insight into how photographers work at major sporting events.
Step 05
Photo critique session
The program concluded with a photo critique session. Each participant selected a favorite image and spoke about what they had focused on while shooting and what they had hoped to express. Mr. Aoki offered specific feedback from a professional perspective, highlighting the strengths of each image as well as areas for further improvement.
Comments from the participants
This was my first time photographing an athletics competition and my first time using a lens with a focal length of 300 mm or more. What I enjoyed most was thinking about how to make the best of the conditions available to me.
In addition to being able to shoot on the field, I was able to view pictures taken by professionals and receive advice. Overall, it was an incredibly rewarding two days.
The camera and telephoto lenses I had the chance to use were in a different class from my usual equipment. I was impressed by both their performance and overall usability.
Standing in the designated photo position gave me a real sense of what it is like to be a professional. I felt nervous, but also tremendously excited. I hope to work as a professional sports photographer in the future.
Instructor profile
Koji Aoki
In his early twenties, Mr. Aoki studied philosophy in Switzerland. He began his career as a professional photographer in 1976 and went on to work extensively in overseas and commercial photography, including assignments for ski and golf magazines. He established Aflo Co., Ltd. in 1980.
Comment
For me, the greatest appeal of sports photography lies in the focus and thrill of capturing a fast-moving subject, never seen exactly the same way twice, in the way I envision it. This is especially true of top athletes, whom I see as works of art in motion. Photography has certainly become much easier in some respects. We have progressed from the days of manual-focus film cameras and single-frame shooting to digital cameras with autofocus and continuous shooting at 40 frames per second. Yet the passion to create better images remains the same. I hope these young photographers will continue to grow in their chosen fields, whether in commercial photography, photojournalism, or artistic pursuits. I would be delighted if this experience has helped them take the first step forward.