kendo

[NickD]

I'd appreciate any advice on the above.

I know the game, I've been practicing for many years, and I've managed a few reasonable shots at our annual seminar, in a huge gym with lots of natural light, but I expect this to be much more challenging.

I'm off to a competition in a couple of weeks that I've fought in a number of times, but have not been selected this year, and as I'll be attending for moral support and fetching and carrying anyway, I thought I'd take the camera. There have been a few pics of me taken at this competition over the years, and they're all... well... pretty orange.

There is no natural light at all, and Kendo kit is generally dark indigo, which I'm guessing isn't a match made in heaven. Worse still, as someone who doesn't really shoot indoor sports (and has no particular ambitions to do so beyond maybe the odd decent shot of my club-mates if possible, for personal satisfaction), my kit is not really up to the job. D90 (so forget anything beyond 1600), 18-105, 55-300, 35mm 1.8 and Sigma 18-50 2.8 is what I have to work with. Based on previous experience I'm thinking close shots, and/or shallow DOF shots would be best as it'll be pretty crowded, and cluttered backgrounds will be the order of the day. I'm also guessing that faster action shots are out-ish, as getting shutter speeds high enough will be pretty hard.

I've not really ever messed around with exposure compensation, and assume any gains via this route come at a price in some other area?

I'd appreciate any and all ideas from the point of view of 'In your situation, with your kit I'd probably....' whether about technical aspects or the kind of shots to attempt/avoid.

Nothing is at stake here, I'm simply someone who enjoys both Kendo and Photograpy, and who has the opportunity to combine the two for a day in a couple of weeks time. Over the course of the day I should have plenty of chance to experiment, as there will be Ladies, Juniors and Team events, but I'd be grateful for the opinions of those who do similar things to this more often than I do, to cut down on wasted shots.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KIPAX]

I think you pretty much figured out the problems already and your limitations..

the 35mm f1.8 would be my lens of choice and given your iso capabilities I would say yours..

Your big problem is the orange cast..I dont know anything about your camera.. if you can set white balance then shoot at somehting white in the room and set your wb.. other than that shoot in RAW and set it later OR convert everyhting to black/white..

set your iso to 1600 if thats your max.. set your aperturee to f1.8 and see what shutter speed you ahve left.. as you say fill the frame for best results so get close... sit down and take all your pics from a low angle for the best composition.

if you can move your focus point then constantly move from left to right depending on who is facing you... focus point in the center will be almost usless.. especialy as your close..

cant think of anyhting else off the top of my head bar... good luck

 

[NickD]

Brilliant, thanks!

I have thought about it a fair bit, and the 35 was the conclusion I kept coming back to (the other being the long lens and very close shots when the players are at Tsubazeriai, so are pretty still).

You can set custom white balances, and I've a couple of books that have extensive instructions on how to do so, so I'll take a look. I'd planned to shoot in RAW anyway, purely because of the WB issue, so I could figure it out later if I didn't manage to get it right on the day.

Lower angle... makes perfect sense... and would have never occurred to me. brilliant, cheers!

 

[Photodiva]

Hi. I've done Kendo shots, can be tricky. I'd agree with the 35mm. Shoot raw, consider making black/white. Lay on the floor where room to do so, but definitely sit. Get shots of the armour, people putting on tenagui etc. Backgrounds are always cluttered with bags'n'stuff, so shallow dof is definitely needed. Trouble with Tsubazeriai is getting facial shots. Try and get shots of good strike and foot movements - surprisingly hard! If they are using bokuto and no men guard, somewhat easier to catch expressions. See if you can use some bounced flash and try some slow sync? Have fun.

 

[NickD]

Thanks for your input Carol, I saw your Kendo pics when I searched for related threads, and I'd be delighted to get anywhere near.

I had a feeling that any further advice would be along the same lines as Tony's. 35 mm it is then I guess. I've no problem going with black and white... all my favourite Kendo pics are, and given my lack of available speed I'm pretty much restricted to the more arty shots.

It doesn't really matter what shots I get, or of whom, so I'll just get low and see what I can see.