shooting boxing

Hello fellow pentaxians, I am an amerature photographer who has been assigned to shoot at a boxing tournament

soon. The tournament will be held in some buliding at night so ambient light will be limited. Im hoping to shoot at a

high enough shutter speed to catch the motion of the guys but not under expose the picture too much. I want to use

my flash but i dont htink the boxers will want me to use it. I currently own a k200d, the starting DA 18-55mm lens,

and the SMC 75-300mm lens. For a flash i have the af 360 fgz which will be of great help. I would greatly appreciate

any feedback.

Thanks

Direct flash might not be acceptable. If you can strobe it from above there shouldn't be a problem, but you only have 1 flash so that would be tough.

 

The reality is short duration flash doesn't really bother anyone until they notice it. I mean think about it for a minute, at a baseball game thousands of flashes go off, and a batter must keep his eye on a apple sized baseball traveling at 90-102 mph, that often breaks left or right, or down or even up by as much as a foot.

 

The problem arises when someone is having a bad game, or a bad day and they notice the flash, even if them noticing the flash didn't affect their performance they will use it as an excuse to get you to stop.

 

So check with the venue to see what is acceptable. If the tournament is amateur and they don't have any explicit rules in the photographers rules, then it's up to the venue.

 

My guess is going for motion is a good idea since your lenses are slow, stopping action in a low lit bowing venue will be tough.

Hi Rick

 

Shooting boxing is tricky. I have done both one pro – boxing tournament and several martial arts events.

 

Firstly

You will not be allowed to use your flash during the bouts.

 

As official photographer you must get yourself next to the ring. Essentially you will be shooting from either

just off the mat or over the lower rope.

 

You will need a wide angle lens, and wait for the action to come to you. You should talk to the promoter and ask

him (usually a him) where you can stand. (Your zoom will be at its widest aperture at wide angle too.)

 

The light will be dreadful. Just accept this. You will have to shoot at very high iso – check what your camera

can do – usually you need to ensure that you are not underexposing at high iso. A third of a stop over exposure

may help here – but I have no experience with the k200.

 

You will need to take you exposure off the boxers and then set this manually. Usually there are bright lights

that will catch in your camera and stuff the exposure so you need to set things to manual. Do a bit of chimping

to make sure you are going okay. Check the histograms are not underexposed. You can do this between rounds. I

think I was shooting at about 1/125 to 1/60th f4 iso 800-1600. IS doesn't matter a jot when the subject is moving.

 

A useful tip – take a picture of both boxers as soon as you can during the fight – as often in a night one boxer

gets knocked out in the first 30 seconds. (Usually the lighter weights)

 

Your reactions will not be as quick as the boxers. So don't wait for a great punch before shooting – every time

one of the boxers face is in focus you let rip on high speed continuous. You may get a feel for when they are

about to launch which is great but always shoot too early rather than on the punch. When they are in your corner

keep the attacker in frame and blast away.

 

Try lots of different framing options but the ones that work best is head and upper torso of both boxers. If you

are lucky and get one of the guys landing a punch then you have succeeded.

 

Before the bouts there is a chance for behind the scenes of the guys warming up – go for detail here – hand

wrapping, sweaty faces up close etc. Also you can use your flash in this area for these pictures

 

Be respectful and friendly with the boxers and you will find them a surprisingly nice bunch of guys. Introduce

yourself as Rick the Official Photographer. Ask permission to take their photo if you are very close but

essentially keep out of their way whilst warming up etc. I don't know what your situation is, but if you can

offer them a picture of them boxing they will love it – but as a rule they do not have any money, so don't expect

to sell them. However you can often get a model release for the price of a 10x8. (And get them to sign a print

too – you never know if they will end up famous)

 

Winners will be more than happy for you to take their picture. You will have to use your telephoto lens to take a

picture of a bruised and battered loser – and make sure he doesn't see you!

 

If all goes pear shaped – fall back plan – take a posed flash photo of each boxer before the fight – usually with

gloves up in fighting position trying to look mean. (I rotten picture but a boxing classic that will keep things

sweet with the promoter). You can set this up before they come out to fight.

 

Good luck.

I would watch as many boxing matches prior to shooting the fight. You need to be able to anticipate were the action will be. It would be fantastic if you could watch video of the two fighters. Bottom line, you need to be familiar with the subject you are shooting.

 

I take a lot of photos of squash matches (http://www.westernmass-squash.com/wp/photos/) and it helps that I'm a player who can anticipate the action. Lighting is going to be your real challenge. If possible, you may want to buy, borrow, or rent a faster lens, like a 50mm 1.4, or a 40mm 2.8. Of course with those lens you need to be fairly close to the action. You may wish to try taking pictures at the same location at an early fight. That way you may know what to expect with lighting and angles. Best of luck.

Boxing is hard to shoot, though interesting. The action is always, invariably, facing away from you, the photographer, or else it's hidden behind the referee. Lighting is terrible. It's extremely fast moving and difficult to anticipate.

 

Still it's a lot of fun to shoot. Just go in with modest expectations. Don't forget the non-action photos, from the corner poses to the audience.

Besides these excellent suggestions for shooting technique, you need fast glass. No way around it.