Another Amateur MMA/Kickboxing Card

Had another go at shooting some fights a few weeks ago. This time it was back inside the cage. IMHO it makes for more interesting photos since you get some glare from the light hitting the chain link. The lighting was again pretty awful with the rig being directly overhead. Made for a real challenge to get the exposure right in camera. Combine that with shooting from underneath the fighters and a bright red mat turning the shadows all red. With my vantage point, almost every shot was heavily in the shadows. So I just processed them in B&W.

Always open to CC. Thanks for taking a look.

1.
Camera: Canon 1Dx
Lens: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 70mm
Shutter: 1/800th
ISO:12800

#2 and #4 are great. I'm wondering why you cranked the ISO so high though. I've only shot about 4 professional MMA events but I've found 1/500 to be sufficient for freezing action/sweat flying/etc. I see your shutter speed was as high as 1/1600. I realize I'm being nitpicky but I couldn't not mention it ;P. Unfortunately for you, the lens I'm about to mention won't work with your 1DX but has become a favourite of mine for MMA stuff - the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8. Talk about a dream lens for low light, close-up action. I generally bolt this one onto my 7Dc so that I don't have to crank the ISO and leave my 70-200 2.8 IS II on the 7D II. Great combo! Hope to see more from you as I don't see many people shooting MMA. Cheers!

Aressem wrote in post #17600685
#2 and #4 are great. I'm wondering why you cranked the ISO so high though. I've only shot about 4 professional MMA events but I've found 1/500 to be sufficient for freezing action/sweat flying/etc. I see your shutter speed was as high as 1/1600. I realize I'm being nitpicky but I couldn't not mention it ;P. Unfortunately for you, the lens I'm about to mention won't work with your 1DX but has become a favourite of mine for MMA stuff - the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8. Talk about a dream lens for low light, close-up action. I generally bolt this one onto my 7Dc so that I don't have to crank the ISO and leave my 70-200 2.8 IS II on the 7D II. Great combo! Hope to see more from you as I don't see many people shooting MMA. Cheers!

Thanks for the feedback, Aressem.


To answer your question about the higher ISO, this was a small regional amateur show with really spotty lighting that was directly overhead vs. the surround lighting that the pro shows have. There were 3 dead spots in the cage that didn't have light hitting the mat at all. With that combined with I was shooting from down low, I had to expose for looking up into shadows. I have some exposed for the highlight that I was getting on the shoulders but the rest of the fighter was so dark that even shooting in RAW they looked terrible after trying to recover the shadows.

So, I set my ISO and adjusted the shutter speed to compensate for where they were in the cage since it's a lot faster then adjusting the ISO.
This was only my third show I've shot so I'm still pretty novice at it. I'm all ears if you have a better way based on your experience.

My first show I did I had some motion blur in the strikes even at 1/800th of a second, so I tried to stay above 1/1000th.
And that's the truth! I had the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art when I still had my 70D. I loved that lens. I wish Sigma would make a full frame equivalent!

Matt_Ferris wrote in post #17600868
Thanks for the feedback, Aressem.

To answer your question about the higher ISO, this was a small regional amateur show with really spotty lighting that was directly overhead vs. the surround lighting that the pro shows have. There were 3 dead spots in the cage that didn't have light hitting the mat at all. With that combined with I was shooting from down low, I had to expose for looking up into shadows. I have some exposed for the highlight that I was getting on the shoulders but the rest of the fighter was so dark that even shooting in RAW they looked terrible after trying to recover the shadows.

So, I set my ISO and adjusted the shutter speed to compensate for where they were in the cage since it's a lot faster then adjusting the ISO.
This was only my third show I've shot so I'm still pretty novice at it. I'm all ears if you have a better way based on your experience.

My first show I did I had some motion blur in the strikes even at 1/800th of a second, so I tried to stay above 1/1000th.
And that's the truth! I had the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art when I still had my 70D. I loved that lens. I wish Sigma would make a full frame equivalent!

Understandable then, considering the dead spots. What I like to do in situations like this, is: shoot in Manual, generally wide open @ 1.4-2.8 (depending on the lens) and set my shutter speed @ 1/500-1/1000 for example. ISO set to AUTO. This way, I'm letting in as much light as possible, getting the shutter speed I want, and letting the AUTO ISO do it's thing.

Aressem wrote in post #17600931
Understandable then, considering the dead spots. What I like to do in situations like this, is: shoot in Manual, generally wide open @ 1.4-2.8 (depending on the lens) and set my shutter speed @ 1/500-1/1000 for example. ISO set to AUTO. This way, I'm letting in as much light as possible, getting the shutter speed I want, and letting the AUTO ISO do it's thing.

Nice. I'll have to give that a try next time out. I'm also gonna push for a stand so I can shoot over the cage to be able to use the light better.

When you're using auto ISO, what metering mode are you in? I was on spot metering mode so I could do my best getting the right exposure with what was in focus.

Matt_Ferris wrote in post #17600989
Nice. I'll have to give that a try next time out. I'm also gonna push for a stand so I can shoot over the cage to be able to use the light better.

When you're using auto ISO, what metering mode are you in? I was on spot metering mode so I could do my best getting the right exposure with what was in focus.

I generally use evaluative with exposure compensation as needed.

Aressem wrote in post #17601008
I generally use evaluative with exposure compensation as needed.

Word. Thank you!

And incase you're wondering how to use EC in M + Auto ISO, here you go!

http://www.birdforum.n​et/showthread.php?t=29​4106

I haven't even gotten far enough to wonder how to do that yet. Thanks for the link. I'll have to play around with it tonight after work.

Hi guys. I shoot alot of MMA/Boxing/Thai in the UK.
I second the questioning of the shutter speed. In poor lighting situations, i generally shoot at 1/400 -1/500 and no faster. 90% of the time there is no motion blur from that.
It also depends on the level of the fighters too. The pro events they are generally faster. The amateur events i can sometimes shoot slower down to 1/320 especially for on the mat MMA.
Also take note that you can get nice shots with the slower speeds as it shows a sense of the action/speed

Also.. i use spot metering. For small rings i will occasionally use the Sigma 35A as it is awesomely sharp.. but the af isnt great so can be hit n miss!
Also depending on the venue... i either use auto iso or can set the iso to 3200. Really does depend on the lighting setup.

Ps. Ignore my gear in my signature.. its all been upgraded now lol.

Checkout Fight Photography and Daniel Rose Photography on FB for some examples

AngryWabbit wrote in post #17663069
Hi guys. I shoot alot of MMA/Boxing/Thai in the UK.
I second the questioning of the shutter speed. In poor lighting situations, i generally shoot at 1/400 -1/500 and no faster. 90% of the time there is no motion blur from that.
It also depends on the level of the fighters too. The pro events they are generally faster. The amateur events i can sometimes shoot slower down to 1/320 especially for on the mat MMA.
Also take note that you can get nice shots with the slower speeds as it shows a sense of the action/speed

Also.. i use spot metering. For small rings i will occasionally use the Sigma 35A as it is awesomely sharp.. but the af isnt great so can be hit n miss!
Also depending on the venue... i either use auto iso or can set the iso to 3200. Really does depend on the lighting setup.

Ps. Ignore my gear in my signature.. its all been upgraded now lol.

Checkout Fight Photography and Daniel Rose Photography on FB for some examples

Thank you very much for the info/CC! I'll defiantly be taking the advice given here as well as from the others that have posted. I'll be shooting 2 or 3 more cards before the end of the year. Can't wait to give it another go armed with better knowledge.
Also, thank you for the links. I'll be giving them a look here in a minuet.