World Cup 2022: The luck and skill needed to capture iconic images

Charlotte is working as a pitchside photographer at the World Cup

The agony of a missed shot at the World Cup isn't just reserved for the players.

For the legions of photographers capturing the tournament, timing, position and a bit of luck are all key to scoring a winning frame.

"You've only got seconds to capture what could be an iconic moment. And you're just hoping for the shot," says Charlotte Wilson.

The 29-year-old is in Qatar, and her pictures have been picked up by news outlets around the world.

'Gut-wrenching'

But you're not always in the right place at the right time, as she found out during Japan's win against Spain.

The surprise victory took them into the knockout stages and booted out Germany - but the question remains: "Did the ball cross the line?".

Charlotte calls it "one of the biggest pictures of the tournament", but on this occasion she wasn't able to capture it.

"It's always quite gut-wrenching when something big happens at the other end," she says.

"Capturing those images can be really difficult. Sometimes you've got to be lucky in your position, but have the skill in being able to take the picture and compose it well," she tells BBC Newsbeat.

But even though she wasn't able to get the shot of the much-debated moment, Charlotte quickly turned her lens on the celebrations and stadium screen confirming the goal.

Charlotte couldn't capture the marginal ball crossing the line, but she did get the goal celebration

'Seconds to capture'

Charlotte, from Hertfordshire, says her highlights of covering the tournament so far are "all the upsets", including Saudi Arabia beating Argentina.

She will be at the England v Senegal game and thinks it'll be lively for both her and the fans.

"With all the nerves and excitement, it's very much take as many pictures as you can and hope you don't miss something," she says.

"I really like how Bellingham (right) is playing at the minute, so a nice picture of him would be great"

The days can get quite long, Charlotte says, especially when the morning games are on.

She can find her day starting at 9am and finishing at midnight.

A typical day for Charlotte includes getting to the ground around three hours before.

"You have to print off your match ticket. Then you sit, shoot the game and do some fan photos as well.

"It's a unique World Cup, because usually you can manage one game a day and then you're travelling and then you do another game.

"But this one, we've been able to do two games a day so we're getting to see a lot of football compared to usual."

"Everyone here is up for a picture. You get people playing up for the camera, really enjoying themselves"

Charlotte says all tournaments are different and Qatar is no exception.

"It feels like a strange time of coming out of the Premier League and normal league football, straight into a World Cup.

"My experience has been pretty good, everything's run really smoothly.

"The people working here are just so polite. You've got to stick to the rules that are given, but I haven't really experienced any issues."

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With the first all-female officiating team taking charge earlier in the week, Charlotte is seeing a change with more women involved in the game.

"It's nice to see a different range. And I think people would agree it hasn't affected the quality."

She says photography has been male-dominated, but in the eight years she's been doing it "there's been an increase in female photographers coming through".

A memorable moment for Charlotte is covering "the upsets", such as Saudi Arabia beating Argentina

And she hopes the fans continue to be as brilliant for the cameras as they have been so far.

"You just get people playing up for the camera really enjoying themselves.

"So there's been some really good set of fans, and everyone's really up for engaging," she adds.

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