In a different light: sports portraits lit by drone

Michal Maroši, mountain biker, catches some air on his snowboard. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Snowboarder Eva Samková rides Pepin. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Eva Samková, Olympic gold medallist in snowboard cross, riding Pepin

Maxim Habanec, skateboarder, goes two-wheeled. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Habanec is a world-ranked skateboarder. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Maxim Habanec, skateboarder

Because the scene was lit by drone, I could place the light source virtually anywhere, which gave me great freedom and the possibility of thinking about photography in a completely new way

Jiri Kralovec

Martin Fuksa, canoeist, is also a keen cross-country skier. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Martin Fuksa, canoeist

Alex Choupenitch, a European medallist in foil fencing, tries his hand at table tennis. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Alex Choupenitch, foil fencer

Tomas Hertl, who plays in the NHL for San Jose Sharks, takes to the clay court. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Tomas Hertl, hockey player

Until I pulled the shutter, I couldn't be 100% sure what the final photo would look like. The whole series required a slightly different approach than I was used to, and most of the portraits took hours to produce

Jiri Kralovec

BMX and fourcross rider Michal Prokop is glad of the light in the bunker. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Drone Lighting Project for Guardian sport. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Michal Prokop, BMX and fourcross rider

Michal Maroši, mountain biker. Photograph: Jiri Kralovec

Michal Maroši, mountain biker