Action Shots(Not fish or coral) A new challenge...

Mr.Firemouth · Feb 28, 2009

So last night I went to the local boxing matches and took my new 70-300mm Telephoto lens and my new Flash. I knew I shake my hands way too much to shoot these free hand so I used a tripod and was 90 ft away from the ring.
I did free hand some shots in manual focus at ringside.

All shots were shot from the zoom lens, all shots were shot at S-1/200 @ F5.6 and an ISO 800. I wanted a lower ISO, but then the pics were too dark as lighting was limited. I also shot them in shutter priority (S) as the action mode was not keeping up with focusing at high speed.

Feel free to give pointers because these are my first try at shooting really fast pics. Remember all shots had people moving, especially fast at times. I actually took 192 pics and these are all that really came out with any good composition or focus. I had some great composition shots of the girl fighters, but the focus was way out.

So here is the show....

Now go in there and KILL him!!!

Thump!!!

Just missed...

Hey! You still with me???

Uuuggghhhh!!!!!

Ka-Boom!!!!!

Some girls take it on the chin...

Yeah, I do Tae-Bo...

Keep your eye on the target...

You ready for this???

Uhmmm, Did I lose???

And what would be boxing without Ring Girls?

It was a good time, there is nothing like food, booze, Boxing, and chicks!

gparr · Mar 6, 2009

Ring girls aside, it's a decent first effort at sports photography. You couldn't do anything about the ropes and I don't know what boxing photographers do to minimize their presence as I haven't studied boxing photography. In general, you want your sports shots tight and with minimal DOF so that the athletes stand out against a blurred background. Generally, and unfortunately money-wise, that means fast lenses, i.e., f/1.8 to f/2.8. I'm surprised they let you use flash because of the potential to blind a boxer and have him take a hit he would have blocked. But, if you can get away with it . . .

The "rules" for sports is you must have faces and the eyes must be in focus. I'm sure the best boxing shots are where you have at least a profile of each boxer. You want the fastest shutter speed you can get to freeze the action. It's also important to have shots that are as tight as possible to eliminate extraneous stuff in the frame. Explore vertical compositions as much as possible because they limit peripheral distractions. Reactions after a punch, at the end of a round, or while in the corner between rounds are good to get, too. Your first shot, cropped tighter, is probably the best of the bunch. Sports is not easy (very little photography done well, is) because of the speed, timing, and the knowledge you must bring to the sport in terms of what is important to shoot and what isn't. Keep working at it. You're off to a good start.

Gary