Ring Girls

 
What would a fight night be without ring girls?

I was lucky; They were sitting just to my left the whole night and I got tons of shots of them (much to the amusement of the security guards who gave me high-fives and asked to see the shot every time I took a picture of the ladies.) I got shots of them posing with fans, strutting around the cage holding up the round cards, blowing kisses to the audience, etc., all the usual shots. But this is my favorite for the simple reason that they're just being themselves. A few of them were watching the fight. One of them was putting on makeup. And one of them was looking right back at me. I think she makes the photo most interesting; you let your eye wander all over them thinking you've caught them unawares, and then you realize you're being watched by one of them at the same time.

I had a hard time cropping this. I'm doing a lot of reading up on composition lately and so I wanted to crop it so that the face of the woman looking at me was at one of the intersections of that invisible "rule of thirds" grid. But I was limited in what I could do. She's right in the middle of the group, so any shift I made to put her at the left or right third meant that one or more of the girls to her left or right were getting axed. I would have preferred to use a rectangle, but there was a big ol' cardboard card cutting off the blonde on the left and distracting fans to the right, so all of the rectangles I tried were awkward-looking. I settled on a square but if I had thought about it at the time, I might have composed it differently to avoid the issues I had with it. Unfortunately, it was one of those "quick get it now" shots so I didn't have much time to think. I'm glad I snapped it, though, because it's my favorite of all the ring girls I took.

EDITED TO ADD:
Ok, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I've just uploaded the following alternate crop. For all the readers out there who have an opinion on these things, which do you prefer? The square crop (above)? or the rectangle crop (below)?

 

The gloves do nothing

 
It is well known that the 4 oz gloves that MMA fighters wear are meant only to protect the fighter's own hands and not much else. By the looks of this picture, it's clear those gloves do nothing to soften the blows being dealt by Kris "Savage" McCray onto the near-prostrate Joey Kirwan.

Let me set the scene for you: This was the first fight of the night. It was also McCray's professional debut. In front of a hometown crowd. The house was jumping and when McCray submitted his opponent in under 2 minutes of the first round, I thought the roof was going to cave in. He completely dominated Kirwan, who just couldn't turn the tables.

I was struck by this moment when McCray had taken Kirwan's back and was starting to rain down hell with his fists. I remember seeing Kirwan's gloved hand desperately trying to protect his head, the word "COMBAT" emblazoned across the knuckles. It just seemed so incongruous to me, I focused on the glove instead of the fighter and snapped away.

After the fight was over, McCray rejoiced in his victory to a wild and adoring crowd while Kirwan fought back tears on the other side of the cage. I got that shot, too:
 
As the editor of my community newspaper told me, every photo should tell a story in itself. I think this one does, even if you didn't know what happened during the fight. It's obvious how it ended. The cameraman looking past Kirwan toward an unseen victor, and Kirwan's wavering lip, tell you all you need to know. I'm glad my camera was on him, even if the others weren't.

Defeat

 
This is James "Binky" Jones after 3 rounds with Kyle Baker. Arguably the most exciting fight of the night, I remember trading looks of amazement with the other photographers at the end of each round; we just couldn't believe what we were watching.

Binky held out for 3 rounds where most men would have crumbled. Baker's kicks were devastating and the amount of punishment he meted out with those legs was almost obscene. Yet Binky held on, eating blow after blow. Front kicks, back kicks, roundhouse kicks.... he took them all. Not only did he take them, he kept going back for more. For three rounds.

When it was all over, the unanimous decision went to Baker.

I have dozens of shots of Kyle looking magnificently ripped, landing kicks and punches, executing a near perfect technical game. But this photo of a fallen Binky is my favorite from that fight. In fact, many of my most interesting shots from that night were of the defeated- the broken contenders trying to remain stoic and professional while fighting through humiliation and tears. I guess it's the sense of utter exhaustion conveyed in a photo like this that draws me in. No matter how epic the battle, a winner can always find a few ounces of energy left over to rejoice at their victory; but a loser has none left to tap. Such is defeat.

It's in their blood

 
This is Johnny Curtis entering the cage.

He looks compelled to enter it, doesn't he? Like he's being drawn toward it. I think he is. The fence links from the cage are superimposed on him as he looks upward, just like that scene in Jurassic Park where the DNA sequences are projected onto the face of the velociraptor as it hunts the humans inside the visitor's center. In a way, the symbolism is the same: It's in their blood. And that's exactly the case in the world of MMA- this passion for hand-to-hand combat is in their blood. These guys want to be in that cage, they are compelled to be, no matter what.

I wish I had been clever enough to see the chain link shadows and recognized them as a neat photo opportunity, but the reality is I didn't even notice them until after I had taken the picture and saw the effect on several of my shots. This one came out the nicest, which is particularly satisfying because I know Johnny Curtis from my gym. I've actually photographed him a couple of times during practice sessions. Most of them were quite blurry because it was low light, he was moving too fast, and... ok, let's face it, I didn't know what I was doing. haha! So it's gratifying to finally have a nice shot of him at a real event.

Unfortunately, this particular night didn't work out as we had all hoped. Johnny tore his ACL in the middle of the fight, putting him at an extreme disadvantage. His opponent exploited Johnny's misfortune and that was that. Johnny was still kind enough to talk with me a few days later and respond to some of my questions- again, another fighter showing nothing but class.

I hope that his knee heals up real quick and that he can get back to pursuing his passion. After all, it's in his blood.

LeVon's Victory

 

This is LeVon Maynard after winning his fight at UWC Confrontation. He was a pleasure to watch in the cage, and a pleasure to chat with afterwards. As the night was wrapping up and I was realizing I didn't have enough material for my article yet, I raced backstage to see if there were any other local fighters I had missed. In one of those "too good to be true" moments, all of the fighters had just lined up in the hall to get paid- a captive audience! I went down the line, asking if there were any fighters from Virginia who I hadn't spoken to yet. LeVon spoke up, "You haven't talked to me yet."

Grateful for a friendly face, I whipped out my microphone and went down the list of canned questions I had prepared earlier. He gave me a gem for each one. At one point we were interrupted when it was his turn to get paid. After he came out of the office, he picked right up where he left off. I used some of his responses in my article and the editor chose to lead the story with this photo of LeVon:
 

I still think it's my best action shot of the night. The raised arm about to strike (again), the other fighter's hands raised helplessly, the face of the onlooker, and the ref rushing in to stop the fight... this is why I love MMA. The same event elicits such different emotions depending on the perspective.

A few days ago, LeVon emailed me to thank me for interviewing him. What a class act. Given that he was my best interview of the night, I think I owe LeVon a big thank you as well for being such a dynamic personality, both in and out of the cage. So thanks, LeVon!

oh... and good luck on Oct 27th! I don't think I need to tell you to kick some butt. ;-)

Fight night!

 

Three days after UWC Confrontation and I am still on a high from sitting cage-side and photographing the event. I wanted so badly to post my pics from that night (all 500 of them... hahahaha) but had to show some restraint as I had promised several to the local newspaper that sponsored me that night, as well as some to a friend who has an MMA-themed website. Being a little fuzzy on the rules of copyright, I didn't want to post anything that might be used elsewhere.

Let me just say this: IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

When I got to the venue, the promoters met me at the Press entrance, showed me to the media room, and then walked me to my seat. I could barely believe it when I saw where I was sitting. It was too good to be true: a front row seat, so close I could press my nose up to the cage. Incredible.

One by one the other photographers showed up. Everybody was friendly. Keith Mills of Abu Dhabi news was there and showed me how to use a rolled up sweatshirt under my elbows to protect my arms from being shredded by the catwalk platform around the cage. (Keith actually uses plastic elbow pads himself.) Josh- a Marine based at Quantico who photographs for several MMA promoters, actually had the same camera body as me! That was an amazing boon as we compared settings and techniques and he showed me a thing or two about my own camera I never knew. And in another amazing coincidence, Josh's friend John turned out to be a gym-mate of mine from One Spirit. I didn't recognize him at first, but after we started talking I realized we had been sparring partners a few times.

When the fights started, I was blown away. Simply blown away. There is no describing how much better MMA is up close and personal. I'm not sure I will ever be able to enjoy a televised event again. Sitting inches away from the fighters, seeing all the little details that you miss when you're watching on TV, hearing the crack of fist on body like you've never heard it before...... it's incredible. I was out of breath after every single match.

I was also pleased as punch at how my little camera performed. I used my 50mm lens the whole time and it performed exactly as I had hoped. In fact, I was stunned at some of the shots I took. I convinced myself that the LCD screen was lying; that once I got the pictures home and saw them on a full screen I would be disappointed. And there were many many shots where that was the case. But there were also quite a few where I was pretty darn proud. To give credit where credit is due, though.... I have to say the Patriot Center has got some sweet lights. They kept the cage bright enough that I could get by with 800 ISO and still freeze the action with 1/125 shutter speeds and higher.

The photograph above is of Mike "The Hulk" Easton of Team Lloyd Irvin in Temple Hills, MD. Being so close to the cage door, I tried many times to get shots of the fighters going through their last checks by the officials before entering the cage, but each time I was frustrated because of all the people crowding the fighters. Finally I decided to change my tack. Instead of aiming for a headshot, I ducked low and took a photograph from the neck down, focusing on the gloves. I love how the shadow of the fence is projected against Easton's body. That effect came out in a few of my photographs, and each one is kinda cool.

I'll feature more photos from the fights as I have time, rather than posting them all in one album, so stay tuned!

Master class with Urijah Faber

 

Folks, my week just keeps getting better and better.

This is Urijah Faber- WEC Featherweight World Champion. I will leave you to google, wiki, etc his name and find out for yourself how big a deal he is in the world of MMA. His record is 21-1. Twenty-one to one. And tonight I got to photograph him giving a seminar to other MMA hopefuls.

Urijah is in town for the UWC event tomorrow night (see yesterday's post) and agreed to give a master class at my gym. Dave, our gym owner, invited me to take a few photos for their website and of course I jumped at the chance. I mean, how often do you get to photograph somebody you've seen on TV beating the crap out of an opponent again and again and again? (thank you Wreckcage..... yeah that's right. I'll say it. I watch Versus tv. What?)

I will say this: It was a REALLY challenging environment. We were in a larger gym space that I'd never been in before. The stark white walls bounced flash around like flubber, and every shot I took with the flash it came out with a nasty yellow tinge, even when I set the white balance manually. I shot at 1600 ISO with my 50mm lens set at f/2.0 for the vast majority of the seminar and didn't bother with the flash after the first 10 minutes. Focus was also a problem. With so little light, the lens took forever to focus, causing me to miss some of Urijah's movements (damn that dude is quick). Manual focus was not much more successful. Very few of my shots came out to my liking, but I did like that one.

I also liked this one because of its symmetry:
 
OK... time for bed. I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow..........

BIG news!!!!

To say I am excited is an understatement.

I just got confirmation this afternoon that I will be shooting the Pro-MMA cage-fighting event at Patriot Center this Saturday night. That's right, yours truly: Lil' ol' Mel, will be sitting cage-side front and center with my trusty camera while a barrage of beautiful brutality unfolds just a few feet in front of me. I won't just be within spitting distance; I'll be within reach of flying sweat, blood and tears as well!

I can't wipe the grin off my face!!!

More later, after I've calmed down a bit, but here's the event:

Woman in motion

 
One of my obsessions is depicting motion. I'm fascinated by it and enjoy the challenge of trying to capture it in a pleasing way. For a while now I've wanted to take a picture juxtaposing something heavy and stationary with something light and in motion. A week ago I set out to take that photograph using kettlebells and a very active Treefrog working out in the background. Instead I ended up with a kettlebell still-life. A few days ago, I revisited that notion and instead ended up with an exploration in framing. Today I finally came close to getting what I wanted with this shot: a combination of heavy, motionless weights and a blur of frenetic, organic motion.

I took it by placing the camera on the mats and auto-focusing on the mats in the background. I manually set the ISO to 100 to reduce the noise as much as possible. Then I set the shutter to 1/3 sec (determined through trial & error), used the 2-sec timer delay to minimize vibrations, and released the shutter.

I did this several times. Every time I did it I got a different effect. Treefrog was running through a series of exercises from box jumps to kettlebell swings to burpees to squats. Each one produced its own weird imprint. This is her doing sit-ups. In many of them, she was moving so fast she was a mere wisp of motion, almost like a gym ghost. The sit-ups helped preserve some of her form because her legs were somewhat stationary. An open door just out of view to the right provided an interesting light source that helped to outline her arms. I adjusted the color levels in GIMP to bring out some more of the mid-tones, then used Picasa's Filtered Black & White feature and crop tool.

For more shots like this one and others from today's WOD, go to Treefrog's Poison.

Ink!

 
Our instructor, Brown, has some serious ink. Today, on a whim,I decided to try and capture some of it.

It happened by accident. He had started his WOD and I was snapping the same old pictures I've been snapping for months now... wall balls, kettlebells, etc. I decided to try something new and shoot him from the neck down. The first one I took was sorta interesting, but out of focus. (I'd been toying with manual focus a lot lately since I find that the auto focus doesn't lock on fast enough in low-light conditions.) I was using my 50mm lens so I put it in aperture priority mode and used a slightly smaller aperture (f/2.4) to give me some more wiggle room in focusing. Then I decided to use some flash, albeit diminished flash (by decreasing the exposure bias) to help fill in the light. I found that this was really tricky and my flash strength had to be adjusted down over the course of the WOD. Why? Because the sweatier somebody gets, the more reflection you get from your flash! Finally, after something like 50 tries, I got a decent full-back shot while he was doing kettlebell swings. Woohoo!

As for post-processing, I played around with it alot. I tweaked the color levels in GIMP (a subject for another day), then sharpened it, cropped it, and B&W filtered it in Picasa. The red filter really works wonders for bringing out tattoos, as I've mentioned before.

Here's another shot I took after many many attempts. I knew I wanted one showing both his calf and his full sleeves at the same time so the Sumo Deadlift High-pulls with the kettlebell were perfect for that. It took me a while before I got everything in focus (more or less), but it was worth it.
 

If you'd like to see the rest of the shots from today's WOD, as well as the color versions of these, go to Chewing Qat II.

93 chances to get it right

 

It turns out, lots and lots of burpees are an excellent opportunity to experiment with your photos. Today's workout finished up with 93 consecutive burpees. I had wandered over to the scattered kettlebells to try another still-life when Treefrog started doing her burpees. Originally, I had the idea to use a long exposure of the kettlebells with Treefrog in the background as a blur of motion. But when I lay down on the mats to get the angle just right, I realized I could use the kettlebell handle as a frame for Treefrog. It was tricky because I didn't have much of a time window when she would appear. I set the camera to manual focus because the auto wouldn't lock on fast enough. I tried to focus on one of her hands, which spent the most time in the frame, and every time she appeared I would snap a shot. Immediately, I would look at the preview, make a quick adjustment (ISO, focus, angle, or shutter speed), and then snap another shot when she appeared again. I may sound crazy for saying this, but thank goodness there were so many burpees today. I never would have gotten all the wrinkles ironed out in time if we had only done 20 or 30. I think I took about 40 shots in total - almost 1 shot every other burpee. Out of those 40, this was the only one that I was sorta happy with.

But when I got home and looked at the full size image, I was disappointed to see that her face was slightly out of focus. Damn! (That's what I get for focusing on her hand.) So I sharpened it in Picasa and applied a green filter using Picasa's Filtered B&W. I also debated cropping it to remove the extra space on the left, but when I did, I realized it removed the context of the kettlebell- it just looked like I had taken the picture through a paper towel roll. When it's off-center as it is above, I think it's easier to discern that we're looking through a kettlebell.

I wish I was faster with my adjustments. It took me at least 20 shots before I got the shutter speed and ISO set, and then another 10 or so to work on timing and composition. I also had a hard time finding the right distance from the kettlebell- too close and it wasn't obvious what we were looking through; too far and it didn't leave much space for Treefrog. To see a few of the other "almost" shots of Treefrog, and more pictures from today's WOD, check out Chewing Qat. I'll admit, I'm witholding a shot of one of our other athletes until I can process it a bit more, so stay tuned for that in the next day or so...

PS- A word on today's WOD. Today's workout was in honor of the brave men killed in the Battle of Mogadishu today back in '93 (hence the 93 burpees). You remember Black Hawk Down? That was it. I had a hard time getting through the burpees thanks to all the travel I've been doing lately and my slacking off. Porkbelly (dude, we've GOTTA get you a new name!) helped me through them by sharing stories about his old Company and his friends who perished that day, and reciting the Ranger's Creed. I listened while I cranked them out. Thanks, man, it gave me something to think about and got my mind off of the pain.