Anyone good with Impact sports, eg kickboxing

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Jaymo_sx

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Jamie
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I'm not a complete noob to photography and am fairly confident in panning motorsport and static shots.....

BUT my friend asked me to take some shots for him for his website...he is a kickboxing instructor and just wanted some shots to Put on his website as a gallery and some as main images possibly for flyers.
I've never done it before and popped down tonight for a practice....it's in a large sports hall with laminate floor and orange tungsten lights.

Did some shooting and got some shots that came out ok but had my iso on auto so lots of shots are grainy....also used my flash a few times but definitely need it diffusing a bit.
He asked me to go down Saturday for when they're sparring as he said it would be more interesting and showed me the room it would be in. It's similar...only there's minimal lighting and it's pretty dark....now I need advice:
How can I compensate the darkness without sacrifice image clarity (no grains) but also without drawing skin tones out by using a flash?

Also can anyone give me advice on what shots are most effective...should I use very fast shutter speeds to ensure no blurring of action shots?

Any advice would be great in all honesty....I haven't told him I can definitely get good shots but said I'd have a go for him so would like to do my best

:)
 
Have a look in the photosharing forum. There are plenty of examples of MMA, Boxing, Kick etc in there including discussions about how the best result was achieved. There's also a fairly long thread in here about it from a couple of weeks ago called (surprisingly!) 'MMA'.


There are a few ways that you can go:

If you've got a separate flash unit, either bounce it with the FEC knocked down a stop or so, so that it just adds slightly to the ambient lighting. Or better yet get it off camera to add some interesting shade and angles.

If it's the onboard flash, and if you really really have to use it, then drop the FEC again and disfuse it with heavyweight tracing paper or similar (the old style medicinal bog roll used to be good for this).

In preference to using onboard light, ramp up the ISO and use the grain in your favour. Go for gritty B&W images, some with motion blur, to create a dramatic atmosphere. Think 'Get Carter' meets 'Fight Club' and that should give you a something to use as a guide!

If you can, take a laptop with you and experiment with various settings for the first bout or so - review them and then go for it using what's worked best.
 
I would do my best to NOT use flash at all.. completely ruins this type of shot IMHO

You ask "How can I compensate the darkness without sacrifice image clarity (no grains)" Well you can't.. But grain can enhance this type of shot to be honest.. Given a good camera that works using high iso and a fast lens you would have a better chance.. I ahve no idea of your cameras capabilities..

You will alsmost definitely have to use manual whitebalance to get rid of orange cast
 
I'm using a 450d have a 70-200 L f4, a nifty fifty and a 17-85 lens
 
KIPAX said:
nifty50 easy choice in this situation
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Only choice with that setup. Personally I'd try and borrow a MK3 or MK4 if possible. That would give you a fighting chance (no pun :lol:) with no flash then run all images through noise reduction software such as Noise Ninja.
 
One thing I have found ..especialy with boxing but the same for all such sports IMHO ... A prime beats a zoom.. I hardly miss a shot with a 35mm prime ringside.. i tried a 24-70 zoom and it just slowed me down so much trying to zoom in and out and catch the shot.. with a prime i just point and clcik.. on a decent camera with decent lens you can then zoom later (crop in)
 
KIPAX said:
One thing I have found ..especialy with boxing but the same for all such sports IMHO ... A prime beats a zoom.. I hardly miss a shot with a 35mm prime ringside.. i tried a 24-70 zoom and it just slowed me down so much trying to zoom in and out and catch the shot.. with a prime i just point and clcik.. on a decent camera with decent lens you can then zoom later (crop in)
Click to expand...

Not really practical for me as I sell to the boxers on the night so I have to try and get it right (or as near as) in camera. Dont always succeed but not usually far off!
 
snapzz said:
Not really practical for me as I sell to the boxers on the night so I have to try and get it right (or as near as) in camera. Dont always succeed but not usually far off!
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and again different strokes for different folks.. i can see where a zoom is much bettrer for you yes :)
 
(ignore wrong thread!!!)


Edit: Btw I agree about the flash - I was just offering some options!
 
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KIPAX said:
and again different strokes for different folks.. i can see where a zoom is much bettrer for you yes :)
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Yup! :thumbs:

Just to add at some venues you have no option to use flash. In this case I try and balance it with the ambient so its less noticable. Just noticed the OP is in Lincoln, is the venue North Hykeham Leisure centre by chance?
 
snapzz said:
Yup! :thumbs:

Just to add at some venues you have no option to use flash. In this case I try and balance it with the ambient so its less noticable. Just noticed the OP is in Lincoln, is the venue North Hykeham Leisure centre by chance?
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The venue is bcka in Yarborough leisure centre. It's not actually a fight night so to speak it's just training like a class but there is sparring which is what he is hoping me to catch, I'm going for the angle of showing how welcoming the club is for anyone to train but whilst still holding professionalism. There are kids as young as 5 and even a married couple in there late 30's there. So it should help me with the theme
 
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