A New Type Of Event Photography, A New Type Of Challenge: Covering My First Boxing Match
As an event photographer, I mainly specialize in covering various corporate events, company outings, conferences, trade shows and other business events that are more formal in nature - which is what I love to do. However, I was recently asked to cover a boxing match in Rotterdam and happily took on this new challenge.
This was unfamiliar territory for me but I was more than happy to photograph a new type of event with a much faster pace than what I am used to. Upon taking on this assignment I immediately began studying up on the work of others for ideas on angles and general image composition. I began conceptualizing different shots I had in mind while taking into consideration the specific lenses I should be shooting with as well as my general camera settings.
There were a couple different elements that made this shoot a bit more challenging than others. Namely, capturing and freezing fast movements in low light and keeping up with the pace of the action. I ultimately decided to stick with my extremely fast primes (35 mm 1.4 & 50 mm 1.4) and telephoto lens (70-200 mm 2.8). Occasionally, I also threw on my 16-35 mm f4. Since there were 3 rounds for each match, I decided to use a different lens for each round. There is a lot of action taking place during each round and, not wanting to miss a shot, I chose not to spend time changing out lenses or reaching for a new piece of equipment while a match was in progress. Taking on this strategy turned out to work really well for me – I only changed out lenses between rounds and got into a really nice and efficient work-flow.
I left this assignment very excited and anxious to see what I captured. After all, this was a first for me and I wanted to make sure I provided a final product which met (and hopefully exceeded) the expectations of my client.
Not long after sharing the images with the event organizer, the experienced ring announcer, and a highly esteemed professional photographer I know, the verdict was in! The ring announcer reached out to tell me that these were some of the best boxing images he has ever seen, my fellow photographer let me know that I “nailed it”, and the event organizer wrote to tell me hat she was extremely happy and excited about the photos.
While making a living with photography is great, the real reward comes from knowing that my clients are satisfied and happy with my work! If my clients are happy, I am happy! For a brief overview of the event and the images I delivered to my client, see below.
