From Seve's dance to Tiger's triumph - how to take a great golf photo

Seve's dance. Rory's roar. Tiger's fist pumps. In more than 50 years of covering sport, I've been fortunate enough to take some of golf's most iconic photographs.

While my career was kickstarted by a split-second snap that captured Seve Ballesteros' famous celebration at the 1984 Open Championship, others have taken meticulous planning.

Last year at Augusta National, I was setting up at 06:15, almost 12 hours before Rory McIlroy's Masters-winning moment, to make sure I was in the perfect spot to capture his emotion as he completed the career Grand Slam by claiming his first Green Jacket.

And, while I've been privileged to photograph all 15 of Tiger Woods' major victories, one image in particular took months of planning.

Here are a selection of my favourite images - and the stories behind them.

This was taken at my first major championship in 1984 and turned into a hugely influential picture. I was covering the final day for the Observer newspaper, and I came away with perhaps the most iconic moment of Seve Ballesteros' career - which is many people's favourite picture from the modern era of golf.

Only a few photographers caught this split-second moment when all the elements came together - where his right arm is, the angle of the putter, the position of his legs, his facial expression.

There is always an element of luck to every great picture but I had been taking photos at sporting events for about a decade by this point so I had some experience of where to position myself and what to look out for.

I knew from previous celebrations he would be animated and emotional, but the timing was everything.

The newspaper didn't need the image until the Tuesday, to go in the following Sunday's paper, so I drove home overnight to my lab in Hemel Hempstead. It was taken using a manually focused lens so it was a huge relief when I saw the image had come out in focus.

It was picked up by several magazines across Europe and Japan and it still sells today.

With Tiger Woods, it was a case of 'just shoot from every angle you could'. Some sportspeople you only need a silhouette to be able to recognise - and Tiger is definitely one of those.

But I had been trying to get this picture for many months - even years.

I wanted a picture that was sharp on his well-known headcover of a tiger but for him to be abstract to it, as opposed to standing next to it.

Photographers often chat to caddies and ask for help from time to time in how they position the bag, or clubs, to aid us in getting the best shot. It's like being in a travelling circus and the caddies are a great and insightful group.

I knew Tiger's caddie Stevie Williams well, and although he did help me out with some shots, I want to stress he didn't here!

This opportunity arose at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2001, when Tiger was bending down to pick grass up to check the wind direction for his second shot to the 18th green.