Ring of Combat XXX (Pro)

GadgetRick

Ok, getting through some of these photos from the other night. Here are a few...

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cletus

More great work

Much better lighting at this venue!

FWIW here's what your friendly slack jawed yokel has to say:

#1 Neat shot, but unfortunate location for the cable to the video camera
#2 Great motion in the near fighter's right arm . I like the composition too... lots of strong diagonals (top and bottom of the cage, both fighter's back legs, etc...) Just wish the eyes of the fighter facing us were open.
#3 Another great one! Sharp, faces towards us, a little space between the fighters and the edges of the frame. From the pic it sure looks like the punch is going to land! It would be great to capture the moment of impact of the punch but I think it's even better this way, letting the viewer think about what will happen when the punch lands. Again I just wish the fighter on the left had his eyes open. Did he open them at any point during the fight?
#8 Nice and sharp, well framed. You might try lightening up the shadows on the face of the fighter against the cage. If we could see a little more detail (or it was a little easier to see the detail that is already there) it might add some more interest to the shot.
#11 fantastic
#13 Very coop pic. Fabulous job with the timing.
#14 Love it... except the guy cut off (and what looks like someone else's shoulder) cut off by the left edge of image. Unfortunately it looks like you couldn't bring the left edge in without cutting of the fighter's finger tips.
#15 More great work. Love all the detail in the fighters' muscles. Nice timing as well.
#17 Exact same comments as #15
#18 Nice, shot from a little lower angle (so you could see more of the face of the fighter on the ground) it would be even better.
#19 The ref being directly behind the fighter is holding this one back. Was the fighter walking forward (moving right to left in the frame)? If so, maybe a second or two more and a) the ref would be out from behind the fighter and b) there would be a bit more space between the fighters.

Keep up the great work!

GadgetRick

Thanks cletus. The lighting was fantastic at this event. Ring of Combat is a huge MMA show (just under Strikeforce) so they go all out. It was lit well because they broadcast it on Go Fight Live as well.

I agree with you on all of your comments. Sometimes I want to throw something at the ref to get him out of the way!

Been working hard to get better at MMA photography. Trying to catch the punches/kicks/elbows at time of impact is sometimes hard. I shoot in bursts with my 50D and sometimes things just move so quickly I miss it even doing this.

I'm having a lot of fun shooting events. May be shooting another pro event this weekend, we'll see.

Got some fighters starting to buy photos, too, which helps. Not making a fortune of course.

This event is promoted by Lou Neglia. He's got a great relationship with Black Belt Magazine. He's sending the photos I took of him presenting belts to the magazine. May get some published. Unfortunately, no money involved but it would be cool to get published.

Glad you enjoyed the photos. I've got a LOT more. Been working on posting them. You can find them here. I should have all of the fights up by Friday.

GadgetRick

Here are some more shots. Almost done with all of the fights.

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nowandthen

Great job. I'd love an opportunity to shoot action like this.

GadgetRick

nowandthen wrote: »

Great job. I'd love an opportunity to shoot action like this.

If you find shows in your area (pro or amateur), contact the promoter and inquire about them having a photog. Typically, the promoter isn't going to pay you anything but they usually will allow you access to shoot. You might have to bribe them with a shot or two, that's all.

GadgetRick

Ok, got all of the fights, etc. done for this event. You can view it all here.

SnapLocally

GadgetRick wrote: »

If you find shows in your area (pro or amateur), contact the promoter and inquire about them having a photog. Typically, the promoter isn't going to pay you anything but they usually will allow you access to shoot. You might have to bribe them with a shot or two, that's all.

Generally this is true, though this can be a dual-edged sword- once you start giving work away it will be very difficult to make money at this. One promoter has decided he no longer wants to pay me- he's getting free work from other sources. The work he's getting isn't at my level, but what the hell- it's free.

GadgetRick

SnapLocally wrote: »

Generally this is true, though this can be a dual-edged sword- once you start giving work away it will be very difficult to make money at this. One promoter has decided he no longer wants to pay me- he's getting free work from other sources. The work he's getting isn't at my level, but what the hell- it's free.

Good point. I've given away only a photo or two from a show occasionally. I don't give them a bunch of photos for sure.

humanrr

GadgetRick wrote: »

Got some fighters starting to buy photos, too, which helps. Not making a fortune of course.

You've probably already done this, but sponsors are often keen on obtaining high quality shots of their fighters as well. And they usually have a budget for that whereas many fighters don't.

At the start of each fight I get a nice sharp pic of the sponsor banner each team unfurls in their corner so I can read them later and chase down the sponsors if I get a really good shot. The fighters' shorts also have the logos printed on them (usually) if you can't get the banner or their corner doesn't have one.

GadgetRick

humanrr wrote: »

You've probably already done this, but sponsors are often keen on obtaining high quality shots of their fighters as well. And they usually have a budget for that whereas many fighters don't.

At the start of each fight I get a nice sharp pic of the sponsor banner each team unfurls in their corner so I can read them later and chase down the sponsors if I get a really good shot. The fighters' shorts also have the logos printed on them (usually) if you can't get the banner or their corner doesn't have one.

That's actually a great idea. I did get a call from a sponsor asking about buying some photos of their fighter in their gear.

humanrr

GadgetRick wrote: »

That's actually a great idea. I did get a call from a sponsor asking about buying some photos of their fighter in their gear.

The key is getting to them before other photographers do. Get those shots out the very next day.

True story: I had a couple neat shots of a fighter celebrating his victory. I uploaded the first to one of my media outlets and kept the other for my own portfolio. A fellow photographer suggested I contact the sponsor to see if he wanted to buy the second photo but I hemmed and hawed for a few days uncomfortable with making cold calls.

When I finally got up the courage 3 days after the fight, the sponsor told me he had *just* bought a 30x40" print of his fighter from another photographer and didn't have any more money in his budget. I was really bummed with myself for missing the opportunity and hated the photog who beat me to it....

...until I found out the print he bought was the first pic I had uploaded to my distributor.

Get those pics out fast.

termina3

As to the first batch, I feel like we're missing the pinnacle of action (of the action shots) in every shot but #12. We're also missing a lot of faces.

Massive improvement in the second batch--in several you've nailed both the facial expressions (which means you've got a great angle and know where your characters are going) and the pinnacle of the action. Spectacular shots, and most impressive is the relative consistency. Nice work.

Edit: Just read that you mentioned using bursts. If you want true consistency, you need to break that habit now. It will take weeks and weeks of practice, but if you develop the timing of your trigger finger you will get dozens of shots that you'd miss using burst mode. Burst mode is a crutch--get rid of it sooner rather than later.

GadgetRick

termina3 wrote: »

As to the first batch, I feel like we're missing the pinnacle of action (of the action shots) in every shot but #12. We're also missing a lot of faces.

Massive improvement in the second batch--in several you've nailed both the facial expressions (which means you've got a great angle and know where your characters are going) and the pinnacle of the action. Spectacular shots, and most impressive is the relative consistency. Nice work.

Edit: Just read that you mentioned using bursts. If you want true consistency, you need to break that habit now. It will take weeks and weeks of practice, but if you develop the timing of your trigger finger you will get dozens of shots that you'd miss using burst mode. Burst mode is a crutch--get rid of it sooner rather than later.

Thanks. It's funny, I find this to be the case with most shows I'm shooting. The first few fights I get ok shots but then I warm up.

Honestly, I'm not sure anyone could time more than one or two shots (a show) without burst mode. In fact, it's funny. At this show--with many photogs--during a quiet period, it sounded like quiet machine guns going off from all of us shooting in burst. Also, if you watch an old Pride show or a Dream show (they're in Japan and the audience is quiet), you'll also hear the same thing over TV. Things happen so fast, I really don't know that I'd capture too many keepers trying to time it.

I agree, you still miss some shots though. I really want a 7D for the faster fps (every little bit helps). But the tradeoffs in missing a few shots while capturing so many more is worth it (imo).

termina3

I'm coming at this from a football/baseball/basketball perspective. If I had to take a stab, I'd say these sports are more predictable than MMA/boxing/ring fighting. That makes a big difference in being able to time things.

(I) Learn something new everyday.

GadgetRick

termina3 wrote: »

I'm coming at this from a football/baseball/basketball perspective. If I had to take a stab, I'd say these sports are more predictable than MMA/boxing/ring fighting. That makes a big difference in being able to time things.

(I) Learn something new everyday.

Yes, those sports are more predictable for sure. So that does help when shooting other sports.