Another Wrestling Shot

[GadgetRick]

This is from the same day as the other pic I posted. Finally have gotten through all of the pics I shot. I'm particularly fond of this one. Except for the ref's foot in the pic I'd really love this one.



Same as before...
Nikon D50
50mm
f2.2
1/125
ISO 800

[wamplers]

Looks good, Rick. The foot, as you mentioned, and the other wrestlers in the top left are bothersome, but not a lot of control on the background, I'm sure.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to stand and have the mat in the background, but I prefer the low angle too, so who knows what to do?

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by wamplers

Looks good, Rick. The foot, as you mentioned, and the other wrestlers in the top left are bothersome, but not a lot of control on the background, I'm sure.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to stand and have the mat in the background, but I prefer the low angle too, so who knows what to do?

Don't you hate it when the refs are in the way, especially when someone is getting pinned. I do both stand for awhile, sit for awhile and lie on my stomach too. Mostly I camp out in the middle of the mat with a 28-70mm and 70-200mm lenses on two cameras.

[GadgetRick]

I've thought about standing, only problem is, people behind are trying to watch and I want to be mindful of that.

Also, I just like the intimacy of being so low and at the same level and getting the facial expressions. I've always admired photographs like that. I'm sure a mixture of standing/laying down would be the best mix, I just move around the mat and lay down.

[Hartzler]

Whatever compositional issues can be argued, this shot really shows you've got the fundamentals down. It's a good clean shot with all the detail you could want. This is the kind of shots wrestlers themselves love, because it shows the moves. They can say, "Oh yeah, he's doing this and trying that."

It also leaves a lot of room to crop if you want to focus just on the faces or whatever. In this case, I'd be tempted to crop a bit tighter, say mid-calf and remove the referee's foot (you've already clipped the wrestler's right foot anyway). This would remove one of the background wrestlers and diminish the secondary focus of that extra wrestling match going on in the background.

This would also have the effect of mildly upping the impact of the main focus of this shot as they take up more room on the photograph. Personally, the background in this shot (other than the referee's foot as you noted) doesn't really bother me.

It just screams the semi-chaotic atmosphere of a wrestling match. I definitely prefer going low for shooting wrestling, though, it's nice to mix it up a bit as others have noted. First, going low puts you on the same level as the wrestlers. It makes a technically more exciting shot.

But also, it really distinguishes your shots from the shots parents get from the stands. Shots taken from down on the wrestler's level just look like the photographer knew what he or she was doing.

Your shot looks like you know how to shoot wrestling whether or not the background in this particular shot is ideal. I actually learned the advantages of getting lower to shoot my shots from watching the people who would cover matches for our local paper and how they got their shots.

[GadgetRick]

Thanks, going to crop it as you suggested, see how it looks. I like the idea.

Thanks also for the compliments. I'm working hard to get better. It's a lot of fun and, as you said, a wrestler can look back and see what they were doing right/wrong. When I shoot my son's I go back and I can see a lot of what he's doing and we talk about it. Almost as powerful (more powerful in some ways) as video.

And I agree totally on getting down. I see lots of people standing and taking pictures. Some of them are the, "photographers," for the teams--an adult who's volunteered like me. It always amazes me none of them look at how others are shooting and ask why they're laying on the mat or...

Shot another match today. We'll see what the SD card holds...