I took some photographs at a wrestling tournament in Northern India. These tournaments happen every year, and I managed to attend this year, and was given an honorary hat as a special guest. Nobody complained about me blocking their view while I took photographs. The interesting thing about the wrestlers is that when they are grappling, it sometimes looks like they are dancing!
India has a long tradition of wrestling, ancient in fact. Boys start early as parents refer them to a dedicated school for training. If they have potential it becomes their livelihood. Most of the wrestlers I met seemed very friendly, and they really enjoyed their craft.
Excellent capture showing their faces. I know from when my son wrestled in high school that it's sometimes difficult to catch faces when they are engaged like this. Good framing, focus, and bokeh, too.
crteach wrote:
Excellent capture showing their faces. I know from when my son wrestled in high school that it's sometimes difficult to catch faces when they are engaged like this. Good framing, focus, and bokeh, too.
Thanks! This is my first foray into sports photography. I did notice how difficult it was to catch the faces in a clinch because they would be in such close quarters. Unfortunately, I didn't have a fast long lens, so many of my pics suffered from motion blur. Not this one though. Can I pm you for advice on how to better take sports pics?
douter wrote:
Excellent, Charley, the one on left looks like he's straight off of a Greek Statue Sitting.
Douglas
Yes, so true Douglas. I used to collect ancient Greek (and Roman) coins, and this reminded me of the figures on coins from Aspendos. Many ancient Greek statues as well feature athletic men, some of whom I am sure were wrestlers. In a way, this speaks to the timeless quality of India.
charley5 wrote:
Thanks! This is my first foray into sports photography. I did notice how difficult it was to catch the faces in a clinch because they would be in such close quarters. Unfortunately, I didn't have a fast long lens, so many of my pics suffered from motion blur. Not this one though. Can I pm you for advice on how to better take sports pics?
Thanks,
-Charles
Your best bet is to look over the work in the sports forum and check out the exif information in the shared photos. I typically set my minimum shutter speed for whatever I think I need and then go with aperture priority mode. Others might go time variable mode or even manual settings for the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.
Rule of thumb with any lenses is that your shutter speed should at least be equal to your focal length. Ex. - if your lens is 200 mm, then your shutter speed should be at least 1/200 for any photo to be clear and without blur. But that's for normal action. For sports, you probably want to be at least 1/500 if not 1/1000. All depends on the age and sport. Little kids don't move so fast, so 1/500 is probably plenty for them. For volleyball or baseball, you probably want 1/1000 or higher to freeze the ball and/or action.
Bottom line - there are plenty of great shooters here, so just do some looking at previous posts. YouTube videos can be very good, too. Good luck!!
crteach wrote:
Your best bet is to look over the work in the sports forum and check out the exif information in the shared photos. I typically set my minimum shutter speed for whatever I think I need and then go with aperture priority mode. Others might go time variable mode or even manual settings for the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.
Rule of thumb with any lenses is that your shutter speed should at least be equal to your focal length. Ex. - if your lens is 200 mm, then your shutter speed should be at least 1/200 for any photo to be clear and without blur. But that's for normal action. For sports, you probably want to be at least 1/500 if not 1/1000. All depends on the age and sport. Little kids don't move so fast, so 1/500 is probably plenty for them. For volleyball or baseball, you probably want 1/1000 or higher to freeze the ball and/or action.
Bottom line - there are plenty of great shooters here, so just do some looking at previous posts. YouTube videos can be very good, too. Good luck!! ...Show more →
