Martial arts photography

Jaffster

Jaffster

Messages
1,071
Name
Danny
Edit My Images
No
Morning everyone,

Just had a message on Facebook asking me to bring my camera down tonight to my local Muay Thai club.

I've spoken to Dave (the guy who runs the club) a few times about doing some shots for the website and he's just mentioned that Cheik Kongo will be around this evening and it would be a perfect chance to get some shots. There's an MMA class at 6-7 and then a Muay Thai class 7-8:30. Michael Bisping and Rampage Jackson also pop in from time to time so I think I'll be coming back again in the next few weeks to take more shots.

So, I'm currently shooting on a Sony A300, anything over ISO400 is the devils work. It will be dark outside and it's under flourescent lighting which isn't the best. I have my trusted nifty f/1.7 which I suppose will be stuck to the camera and I'll be shooting wide open bouncing the flash from the roof (which is a low roof ).

Any other recommendations? I wanna be catching the kicks and punches but also want a bit of motion blur in there so I'll be aiming for around 1/80 maybe.

There's also mirrors all around the gym so getting the reflections from the flash may be another issue.

If your curious, here's the site at the minute:
http://www.warrington-thaiboxing.com/

Any pointers/advice will be really appreciated :thumbs: Gonna be wierd taking photo's instead of training!
 
Arkady said:
I have no idea who you guys are on about...lol
Click to expand...

Regardless, I'm a bit nervous incase I come away with nothing decent. Don't get many oppertunities like this so want to hit it on the head.

I'm wondering if borrowng a friends flashgun and doing some off camera lighting would work or not. I wanna nail it :shake:
 
Arkady said:
I have no idea who you guys are on about...lol
Click to expand...

Rampage Jackson, probably better known now as B.A in the new A Team film, but former UFC champion.

Cheick Kongo is a pretty good UFC heavyweight fighter.


Jaffster said:
Regardless, I'm a bit nervous incase I come away with nothing decent. Don't get many oppertunities like this so want to hit it on the head.

I'm wondering if borrowng a friends flashgun and doing some off camera lighting would work or not. I wanna nail it :shake:
Click to expand...

Is it possible to get there early and try some different setups?
 
What a great opportunity, you don't get too many UFC fighters in the north west (apart from Bisping obviously).

Never shot MMA or Thai Boxing (although I trained in it for years), but my thoughts would be that it might be worth cranking up the ISO and getting some good grainy shots - you're not going to get photos like the cover of 'Fighters Only' without some serious flash equipment and a lot of practice.

You might be able to get away with slower shutter speeds if you pick your moment with kicks, e.g the moment of contact, or if people are doing bagwork. Clinchwork can be relatively slow, so you could use slower speeds for this. Groundwork also if there is any MMA going on.

Also, do you have a short telephoto? You wouldn't necesarily want to get too close especially in the ring or if there's any sparring.
 
Got it... Is there no way to enhance the existing lighting at the venue beforehand?

If not it's a case of getting your ISO as high as it can be pushed whilst maintaining image quality and timing your shots to minimise subject blur - remember that at the fulcrum of every move, there's a fractional moment when the subject is almost motionless...time your shots for that moment. Then it just comes down to being in the right place in the hall to get the right angle.
 
Thanks guys. Unfortunately I don't have any off camera lighting equipment (I have wireless triggers and a flashgun but no stands yet) so I think I'll be keeping the flashgun on the camera and just bouncing from the ceiling. Has anyone ever bounced from a mirror, this has me thinking!

The high ISO performance of the Sony A300 is terrible, ISO 400 is manageable but as soon as slight adjustments are made in Lightroom then it becomes unmanagable.

What a great opportunity, you don't get too many UFC fighters in the north west (apart from Bisping obviously).
Click to expand...

I've been in the gym when Rampage was sat down talking to a few people. I was really excited.... but didn't want to pester him for a new facebook picture lol.

It's actually been renamed to 'Wolfslair Muay Thai' recently, hence why I think he wants new pictures for the site.
 
Bit short notice to borrow some extra kit from someone here I guess?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top