Photographing MMA Cage event

Lolnouska

So i'm just looking for a litte advice,
I've been asked to photograph the MMA cage event in belfast this December, I'm so exited/nervous!
I'm nervous mainly because I have never taken photos like this, I usually shoot models etc,

Has anyone else ever photographed events like these? Just wondering can anyone give me any tips?

I'm bringing my 50mm and my fisheye lens. I might be able to borrow another lens, but not sure which one to borrow.

thanks in advance!

sineadw

Myself and Thonda did some training shoots with Ais 'the Bash' Daly there a while back. Different situation to an event. We were given full access, and were practically in the ring. The 28-70 was the nicest for that work. If you're any further back though you'll be needing a 70-200.

Fast card! Mine were infuriatingly slow. Check out the venue before the shoot, at a similar event if you can. And find out what your access will be, use of flash etc etc...

Heebie

You shouldn't already have decided what lenses to bring. You should find out the following first if you can:

Where the event is going to be.
How far will you be (phsyically) from the "action" (It's a "cage match".. and you're not likely to be inside the cage... which would make the fisheye excess baggage more likely than not... and a 50mm might not get you nearly close enough either.)

If you can get into the arena well beforehand and get an idea from the promoters what kind of distances you'll be needing to shoot from, you can do some experimentation to figure out what focal lengths of lenses you'll want.

If you're going to be shooting with primes instead of a zoom or two.. you might want to have multiple camera bodies... choose two lenses & put on on either body, so that you have a fairly tight telephoto for close-ups, and a fairly wide-ish angle (You will only want so much of the audience in the shots)

You probably won't be able to estimate what the lighting conditions will be like.. so if you're shooting film..err on the fast side.. Fuji makes a nice 800 and 1600 iso color film that's excellent for sporting events.. lets you stop motion even in imperfect light.
If you're shooting digital, you might set your auto range to avoid 100-200 and stick with 400+ ISO's, and you'll probably want to avoid shutter speeds higher than 1/125 if you're looking to stop the action.

If you know there's a similar event in the same venue.. try & get the promoters of it, or the management of the arena to let you come in and shoot it so you can do some experimentation before the one that's actually "your job" (and tell them why you want to do it... if they're reluctant.. offer to give them the right to use the shots [or buy the rights cheap] if they come out well.) Practice makes perfect..

and.. try not to get your kit splattered with too much blood! =O

.Longshanks.

Tommy Lakes (can't remember his board name) does a lot of that kinda stuff. His flickr below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perfectfitphotography/

Lolnouska

kev_Longshanks100 wrote: »

Tommy Lakes (can't remember his board name) does a lot of that kinda stuff. His flickr below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perfectfitphotography/

He's actually bringing me to it, so I'll be right up at the cage, photographing in the same places he is in!
Light wise, I like any sort of available light, i don't really like using flash.
But I hear I also get to take before and after portraits, which is so exiting! So think i'll use the 50mm for that.

Thanks for the help guys, will look into those lenses!

PCPhoto

at a guess his boards name would be "perfectfit" - judging by the flickr account name !!!

also - why not ask him on what lenses he would recommend .... I'm sure he would only be too happy to let you know what he uses and if theres any point in bringing some lenses like fisheye etc.

or just check the flickr settings....lol