Monday 11th November, Mark gave a spell-binding talk, to a packed room.  As chief sports photographer of The Times, Canon Ambassador Marc Aspland has shot some of the most memorable sporting moments of the past 30 years. He is widely regarded as one of the best British sports photographers working today.  The younger Marc's first taste of sports photography was fittingly inspiring. "I was 13 or 14 when my brother and I went on a coach journey to a famous automobile endurance race in France," he explains. "A couple of the guys were very keen amateur photographers, and I was given this tool that would let me take pictures.

"In those days, it was pretty obvious and basic stuff, but it was the spark of something. It quickly became far more than a hobby; more than skateboarding or surfing. It became the real focus of what I wanted to do."

Since that moment, Marc has gone on to photograph some of the sporting greats, including Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson, Pele, Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer. He also lists many sports stars as friends, the closest being former England rugby player and 2003 World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson – who was, according to Marc, "a nightmare to photograph"

While Marc has been privileged to photograph many of the iconic players and decisive moments in recent sporting history, he admits there have been times when he would have liked to put the camera down and simply marvel at the drama unfolding in front of him.

One of these occasions was the 100m sprint final at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where Usain Bolt bounded across the finish line in a record-breaking 9.69 seconds to win the gold medal. Of course Marc, ever the professional, kept the camera to his eye.

Marc is as highly regarded for his unique perspectives as for his ability to capture the defining moments and emotion of sporting events. He famously gave a 'miniature' spin to the England versus Kazakhstan 2008 clash in London by taking to a television gantry and recording the match through a Canon tilt-shift lens. He continues to explore unusual angles and create distinctive pictures by using a wide range of EF lenses, from an older Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye through to the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x.

In 2014, Marc's achievements were recognised by the Royal Photographic Society, which awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. In the same year, Marc published his first book, The Art of Sports Photography, something he was encouraged to do by a colleague, Keith Blackmore, former deputy editor of The Times. The retrospective features more than 100 vivid images spanning Marc's incredible career and includes a foreword by Jonny Wilkinson.