“It’s more than just bikes and speed,” reveals Spanish motorsports photographer Alejandro Ceresuela. Alejandro tours with the world with the MotoGP competition, working closely with the incredible Márquez brothers, including Marc Márquez - one of the greatest motorbike riders ever.

Alejandro's images tell a story that goes deeper than athletic and mechanical performance. “I'm following a story. The glory is easy to photograph, but the bad moments are different. But I still photograph them with the same passion.”

At first glance, the images that Alejandro shoots are dramatic graphic sports images, but there is often more to them that is all part of a richer story.

“I pay a lot of attention to the details. My job can be repetitive. Every year, it is the same tracks, the same corners, the same riders. I must pay attention and look for the changes. The crowd changes, the sponsor's banners change, the light may be different - I must look for these things to create new possibilities to make different images.”

One great example is a documentary portrait of Marc Márquez with the word 'DONE' in the background behind him. “I took the photo in Indonesia. That weekend, it was revealed that Marc had done his deal with a new team after riding with Honda for 12 years. I saw the opportunity to get this photo to illustrate the news and took it.”

With the bikes traveling at over 300km/ph, Alejandro needs a camera that can keep up with the speed, but it must be equally capable of working in the low light of a pit garage or press conference.

“I use the Sony Alpha 1 but also bring the Sony Alpha 9 II. The Alpha 1 is the perfect camera for me. I spend most of my time on the track, but I also need to be ready when working behind the scenes to capture images for the sponsors and marketing. The Alpha 1 can do it all.”

Fractions of seconds make a huge difference in motorsport, and it is the micro-moments of speed and bravery that Alejandro captures with his eye for detail and the Alpha 1. One such moment is when a rider is taking a corner at speed, seemingly defying gravity as they get so low that their elbow is touching the tarmac.

“The elbow might be down for just a quarter of a second. Shooting at full resolution for 20 or 30fps allows me to shoot these important differences between riders.”

But the Alpha 1 is more than speed. “I also shoot social media content, so I will capture short videos and images. The in-camera stabilisation helps with video, and using the FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens combined for photos with the ability to crop from a 50 megapixel resolution, I feel I am never far from the action.”

On the track, Alejandro always has the 400mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens. Then he has the FE 50mm f/1.2 GM and 35mm f/1.4 GM lenses for documentary and portrait images. “Those fixed lenses are great to use in the garage. They are light lenses, making them easy to use, and then the large apertures allow me to separate the subject by creating beautiful background blur.”

Knowing when to fire the shutter and how to focus the camera correctly is a big part of shooting motorsports, especially if you want to take the kind of panning shots that Alejandro captures. However, the Alpha 1 makes his job easier, whether on the track or in the garage.

“I work in two ways,” he reveals. “On the track, the camera is set to Tracking AF. I press the autofocus button, and the focus will follow the subject around the frame. That allows me much more creativity to get the background right and compose the image. In the garage, I use Eye AF, which allows me to keep the subject in focus, even when shooting at f/1.2.”

On a race day, Alejandro will only spend a few laps in a particular spot on the track, exploring any potential angle for images and perhaps practicing shooting other riders before trying to get the shot of the rider he wants.

“I love taking these pictures. There is one of Marc Marques against the words 'the original' that is on an advertising board. He may not be having the best of seasons, but it is a great picture that says, 'Hey, he is still here'. He is still racing. He is the original rider.”

The technology on the Alpha 1 has come a long way since Alejandro first started shooting MotoGP with a Sony mirrorless camera. “I remember when I started to use a Sony camera in Barcelona in 2017. A colleague with a big DSLR came to me and said, jokingly, 'Hey, are you a tourist with a little camera?'. Now, I see so many Sony Alpha 1 and Sony Alpha 9 II cameras being used by professional photographers. Almost everyone is shooting with mirrorless.”