Boxing tips...

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Evening,

I have trawled through the forum posts for tips about photographing boxing and got a general grasp of it... Bad light, shorter focal lengths etc

I have been asked to photograph a 'boxing dinner/show piece'... i.e black tie do in a hotel with sit down meal with boxing bouts throughout the evening. Ive not been to the hotel but i am expecting bad light!

Im going to have a d500 and was thinking of hiring a 17-55 f2.8 lens? good idea? for presentation photos i'll be allowed a flash so can use other lenses.

I think the fighters will be wearing headgear ...Any extra tips?

J
 
Don’t listen to @minnnt he’s done a fair bit of boxing work himself,

Kipax probably knows a lot more than I do, but fwiw, 2.8 is your friend, light at the sort of gig you describe can range from
Decent to spectacularly bad. You’re gonna want to keep your shutter speed at 1/400 or quicker if you can. Certainly slower than 1/250 and you’re gonna see too much motion blur really.
Head guards are a pain, but there’s not a lot you can do. Learn as quick as you can where the light direction is gonna illuminate the face of the boxer, and work with this as best you can. They’re usually set up with two sets of spotlights in the neutral corners, and I personally like to work in one of these corners without shooting into the opposing spotlights for best effect. The overhead LED rigs are toffee when you’ve got headguards on IMO

At these white collar type events, the standard of boxing can be really poor at times, but this can often help you as the punches thrown can be more predictable and therefore easier to shoot.
I quite like a 50mm and 35mm on full frame for boxing, a 24-70 would be good, and I’ve used a 100mm 2.8 to decent effect before too. Keeping your ISO high is pretty much standard at the gigs I shoot at, anywhere from 800 to 12800 depending on the lighting. It’s better to have a bit of noise, rather than letting your shutter speed drop and getting blurry shots.
If the light is really poor, speak to the lighting guys and ask them to boost it before the fights start.
Primes with a wider aperture will help out in this respect, but it’s down to what kit you have at your disposal.

Sorry that’s probably not much help but may give you a few ideas?
 
I also preffered the 35mm.. I ahve an F2 35mm for really bad days haha... I now use the 24-70 mkII


All the above.. plus

Set your WB off the refs back

take some drinks.. you wont be able to go queing to buy... so have some with you.. gets quite sweaty ringside and usually a long night

I set my camera to 9 focus points and so its easy to swap between left and right and rarely use center.. a lot of your shots will be boxers left and right.. so having your focus point dead center is going to limit the shots you get.. great when the boxers coming towards you but not when toe to toe

cant comment too much on lighting ... they are all different.... just go as open as you can (2.8) and dont be afraid of noise..hike up your ISO to what you need.. boxing pics are one of those sports that can look good with noise..they dont have to be clean....

get some shots between rounds when in the corners

also find something to sit on (spare chair in room) and take it ringside.. you may end up kneeling on it to take shots.. your shooting between the bottom and middle ropes.. your body will be going in positions it doesnt normally do... your going to ache in the morning haha

cant think of much else off top of me head... the boss of boxing photogrpahy covered a lot haha :)
 
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As I recall, you were the one who got me into this boxing malarkey

But you took it to a whole other level. Your creativity is only something I can aspire to. I just used to point the camera in the general direction of the boxers. The way you see things is just so different to most other boxing photographers.
 
But you took it to a whole other level. Your creativity is only something I can aspire to. I just used to point the camera in the general direction of the boxers. The way you see things is just so different to most other boxing photographers.


Get a room you two! ;-)
 
Cheers for the great advice guys, much appreciated...
i've got a week to prep so will try find out as much as i can re venue, lighting (but obviously won't know for sure until the night) etc.

i'll try a pop some of the photos i get on here and see if i can manage to take your advice on board!
 
Haha, don’t get all butthurt Kipax. Other people shoot boxing too you know. :rolleyes:

@JHILFIG if I were you I’d go with the 17-55 option as you first mentioned. It will give you a great focal range for your first event. Once you learn the ropes (no pun intended!) it will give you an idea of where certain primes can add to your work. The Nikon version is what I used to use and the AF is seriously quick. I used to shoot boxing with a D7k so the D500 should be perfect with the new AF system.

Try not to stress too much about it, just take it all in your stride and enjoy the moment. Get a few crucial shots in the first round and then look for something a little more creative if you get the chance in the following rounds.

Look forward to seeing some of your shots mate. Have fun!
 
Haha, don’t get all butthurt Kipax. Other people shoot boxing too you know. :rolleyes:
!

yes i know... it was the comment about him being the boss ......I thought maybe we could all help thats all :)
 
yes i know... it was the comment about him being the boss ......I thought maybe we could all help thats all :)

You’ll have to excuse David @KIPAX - he seems to find it amusing trying to make me feel like an idiot. It’s seemingly his little personal mission.
Regardless, I think some good advice has been offered in the thread which is the main point of it all!
 
So just an update... Event was on Friday...

Lighting was not great...they had these blue lights all over the place, with flood lights on a posts in the neutral corners! I ended up getting about up to 1/800 ish with f2.8 with a ISO of 12,800. I think maybe next time i would go with a 24-70mm, but the 17-55mm was good with the D500.

Going through the edit... the way the ceiling lights were designed, it offered a bit too much back light so the boxers 'pop' a bit too much and look like I've photoshopped them (my opinion).

Kipax... yes am still aching two days later!

Ive put a couple of the shots below... i know that they should most prob go in the critique section but feel free to give any comments...

20171013_Bout 4_Met Police Boxing Club Annual Dinner 2017_10.jpg 20171013_Bout 5_Met Police Boxing Club Annual Dinner 2017_06.jpg 20171013_Bout 7_Met Police Boxing Club Annual Dinner 2017_14.jpg
 
Never mind the ego's on who's the master at this type of photography, it's basic stuff and if you don't know the settings then give up now.

For those that do it as pro's, what's the money like? Unless there's a celeb involved it's not worth getting out of bed for, as we've sort of discussed before, with a few fibs being told...
 
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