Shooting a Judo Tournament

[DragonSpeed]

I'm going to be shooting a Judo Tournament tomorrow (Sat).

Canon 40D w/ 70-200L f/2.8 (non-IS). Shooting Ambient (flash doesn't recycle fast enough for a Judo throw)

Location: Indoor Tennis Court (iflated dome kind of thing)
Lighting (Merc Vapor)

Mats: Green
Competitors: 1 in blue and 1 in white They are often tightly mingled.

I already figure I'm likely to be up at 3200 and have a feeling I'm going to be trying to shoot at 1/250, but does anyone have any suggestions for exposure compensation etc? Basically ANY tips and help would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks!

[PacAce]

Your average lighting is not going to be changing at all, other than the due to the AC voltage fluctuation, so set up the exposure ahead of time in manual mode and just leave it at that setting. At a shutter speed of 1/250, expect to get some shots that come out darker than normal and some shot that are brighter than normal. Unless you shoot at 1/125 or slower, you won't be able to do much to correct that because it's the line voltage that causing the lights to do that.

[PhotosGuy]

Don't forget custom white balance. RAW if possible, & this: First set the f-stop & shutter speed you need. Then adjust the ISO. Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

[Bob_A]

The lighting isn't going to change much so I'd put the camera in manual and start by metering off of your hand. After that take a few test images, check the histogram and fine tune. There won't be any highly reflective surface so shooting so the histogram just touches the right hand side should be pretty close.

Hopefully the lighting is good and you can get the shutterspeed faster than 1/500 or you're going to get a lot of motion blur.

Is it a mudansha or yudansha tournament?

[bieber]

Honestly, I'd say go with direct flash and deal with the harsh light. If you use, say ISO 800 and a large aperture, you'll have plenty of recycling power, and no need to worry about motion blur, considering how fast things can move.

[Bob_A]

You don't want to tick off a 250 lb 5th Dan by using flash ... :)

I competed a bit and honestly I would have been ticked if someone was using flash close to the side of the mats.

[bieber]

You don't want to tick off a 250 lb 5th Dan by using flash ... :)

I competed a bit and honestly I would have been ticked if someone was using flash close to the side of the mats.

Heh, didn't think much about that. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about these tournaments, I'm afraid: do they tend to be more stand-up or grappling matches?

[Bob_A]

It really depends:

For the heavier weight classes the players tend to spend a lot of time working to get a grip and look for a mistake, then boom, the match is over. There is more sustained, quick action for the lighter weight classes. The brown and black belts don't make many mistakes, but when there's an opening the match is often over in the blink of an eye.

The beginner kids matches are fun to watch but as you'd expect they move pretty slow and there's usually a lot of falling on their butts or knees instead of a big "ippon" throw. Once in awhile you may be able to time a shot of something that doesn't look like they're just walking around, but you have to be patient :)

I dropped out of Judo about 10 years ago after getting my ni-dan ... but when I was coaching there was a real change in refereeing to have the competitors spend less time grappling on the ground, so if something wasn't developing quickly they were signaled to stand up. Just like the introduction of the blue judo-gi they were tweaking the rules to try to make it a bit more appealing sport for the TV audience.

Armlocks and chokes can make for some nice action photos.

[DragonSpeed]

The lighting isn't going to change much so I'd put the camera in manual and start by metering off of your hand. After that take a few test images, check the histogram and fine tune. There won't be any highly reflective surface so shooting so the histogram just touches the right hand side should be pretty close.

Hopefully the lighting is good and you can get the shutterspeed faster than 1/500 or you're going to get a lot of motion blur.

Is it a mudansha or yudansha tournament?

It's a mixed tournament. All seniors though. There is even a team of 40 coming from Tokai University in Japan. Should be some great Judo.
1/500???? I suppose I can dream :rolleyes:

[DragonSpeed]

Don't forget custom white balance. RAW if possible, & this: First set the f-stop & shutter speed you need. Then adjust the ISO. Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

I'm going to go with RAW, because I've never done CWB before and I honestly am just going to do my playing with it when I get home. It's s step forward. I've always been sort of overwhelmed by RAW... After reading alot of the advice, I feel MORE comfortable that I won't totally screw it up ;)

[DragonSpeed]

You don't want to tick off a 250 lb 5th Dan by using flash ... :)

I competed a bit and honestly I would have been ticked if someone was using flash close to the side of the mats.

There's already a gazillion PS shooters that pop off the flashes :) I'm hoping to get some sequences, 4-5 in a row, to show off a technique. I really don't think my speedlite 380EX is going to cycle fast enough for a burst anyway. Also the shadows are rather unforgiving I find.

[DragonSpeed]

It really depends:

For the heavier weight classes the players tend to spend a lot of time working to get a grip and look for a mistake, then boom, the match is over. There is more sustained, quick action for the lighter weight classes. The brown and black belts don't make many mistakes, but when there's an opening the match is often over in the blink of an eye.

And for the REALLY heavy, things all move in slow motion ;)

The 70Kg Brown and Black is often where the BIG throws happen.


The beginner kids matches are fun to watch but as you'd expect they move pretty slow and there's usually a lot of falling on their butts or knees instead of a big "ippon" throw. Once in awhile you may be able to time a shot of something that doesn't look like they're just walking around, but you have to be patient :)

They are BRUTAL to referee... you find yourself wanting to yell at a kid to finish the technique ;)


I dropped out of Judo about 10 years ago after getting my ni-dan ... but when I was coaching there was a real change in refereeing to have the competitors spend less time grappling on the ground, so if something wasn't developing quickly they were signaled to stand up. Just like the introduction of the blue judo-gi they were tweaking the rules to try to make it a bit more appealing sport for the TV audience.

Armlocks and chokes can make for some nice action photos.
I tore 3 ligaments in my knee when I was 15. Came back to judo after 13 years. I've been practicing for about 12 years since then. I'm less stupid now :) More deliberate and smarter.

You're right about the "audience driven" rules. Groundwork really needs to show definite progress or we stand you up. People like to watch people fly through the air :eek:

Well... this oughta be fun. The 70-200 is quite heavy... I'll definitely be giving my left arm a good workout ;)

Cheers!

BTW... previous judo shots:

http://www.slacker.ca/brian/webpics/showpix.aspx?20060225Judo
http://www.slacker.ca/brian/webpics/showpix.aspx?20071201Judo

I was using a pretty slow lens, and the D300 which only went to 1600

[bieber]

Sorry to hijack the thread a little, but how do you win? Do you have to get a tap-out or knock-out, or does it go by points? Or does a throw just end it like a pin in wrestling?

[DragonSpeed]

It's kind of complicated. Either by points throwing or holding down, or by submission with strangulation and armlock.

I did a bit of quick digging... here's what I could find on the 'Net: http://www.usjudo.org/judocompetition.asp

You should try and find a judo tournament near you at this time of year.... they are occuring everywhere. It's the peak of tournament season. Great fun to watch!

[Bob_A]

Sorry to hijack the thread a little, but how do you win? Do you have to get a tap-out or knock-out, or does it go by points? Or does a throw just end it like a pin in wrestling?

If there is a choke or amrlock causing the defender to tap out the match is immediately over. For throws its a bit more complicated as the score depends on force and what part of the back contacts the mat. You can win by full point (ippon) if there is a lot of force and contact is in the upper region of the back.

Immobilizing your opponent (osaekomi) is a bit different than wrestling. For Judo you don't win by pinning their back to the mat but by keeping your opponent under control, and start accumulating points from 10 seconds on up. For example, if you didn't have any points in the match you would need to hold the person down for 25 seconds to score "ippon" (full poin) and win.

[DragonSpeed]

OK... I'm back. Who knew you could fill a 4GB card so easily :rolleyes: Later tonight I'll see what's good enough to post.

[DragonSpeed]

I posted the shots over in "Sports"

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=454933

The whole gallery is at:

http://www.slacker.ca/brian/webpics/showpix.aspx?20080216Judo

C&C welcome.