teganmccann

MMA True Warriors

Dec, 2015

Views

1082

Likes

+160

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Featured

Contest Finalist in Just For Sport Photo Contest

Peer Award

+61

Superb Composition

+28

Absolute Masterpiece

+18

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Love it

All Star

Magnificent Capture

Superior Skill

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photograph was taken at The True Warriors MMA event in December 2015! The event had been organised and set up in dunstable conference centre which looked as if it was an old theatre of some kind. I had never been up so close to such terrifying impact and strength, let alone tried to photograph it, but I just threw myself in at the deep end and began shooting away. The first fight was absolutely unreal, I wasn't quite sure If I could handle watching past the first round, but I started to notice a certain pattern or atmosphere appearing within my photographs.

Time

9pm indoors in an old theatre. It seemed the perfect place to host a fight.

Lighting

The cage had two constant heavy spotlights, which lit certain areas, leaving patches of shade and darkness. I soon realised when photographing, that actually, despite the brutality of the sport, the images were somewhat artistic, looking almost studio staged. The contrast in each photo from the light and dark, defined each fighters physique perfectly.

Equipment

The photo was taken using my usual D610 with a f2.8 24-85 Nikkor. No tripod, the camera pushed as close up to the cage as I could get without getting hurt!

Inspiration

I've always been into photographing sport, although I've never made it far enough to be paid for the work. A friend of mine had asked me to come along and photograph the night, and so I jumped at the chance of trying something new. A few minutes into the first fight, I was shaking with adrenaline, who knew that photographing such an event had the same impact as being in one!

Editing

I did a small amount of post production, I had my ISO up quite high to work with the dark conditions, and so the image is quite grainy, although I think this works perfectly to finish the artistic feel it has to it. The fighters face was brightened a bit just to give it a bit more umph and contrast. Thankfully, the lighting did the hard work in this photo for me.

In my camera bag

My bag usually consists of a Nikon D610 + Battery Grip, Nikon D90 as a spare. f2.8 24-85 Nikkor, SB-800 Speedlight, f1.8 50mm Nikkor, & a 8mm f3.5 Fisheye,

Feedback

Don't be scared to give something a go, because you might find you absolutely love it! Don't be put off by the cage rattling up against your face, or when the fighters end up smacking into you or your camera. I think with sport people are so quick to jump in and start recording the action, that they sometimes forget that sports, especially fighting, is an art within itself. Theres a lot more beauty to it that just sharply frozen action. Take a step back and evaluate the surroundings and lighting conditions you have, that way you might end up with something a bit different to everyone else.

See more amazing photos, follow teganmccann

teganmccann

teganmccann

MMA True Warriors

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow teganmccann

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.