blog | photography by David Kennedy » mixed martial arts http://blog.david-kennedy.com blog.david-kennedy.com Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:44:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 A Fightin’ Family: Inside Hulett House Gym http://blog.david-kennedy.com/2009/05/13/a-fightin-family-inside-hulett-house-gym/ http://blog.david-kennedy.com/2009/05/13/a-fightin-family-inside-hulett-house-gym/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 01:35:04 +0000 David http://blog.david-kennedy.com/?p=363 At long last, our group project for Advanced Techniques is done….sort of.  In many respects, this is a first draft of our story of Hulett House Gym, a mixed martial arts team in Columbia, Mo.  I’m sure that come this fall, when classes reconvene, we can find a way to perfect this into something that we might submit to cPOY.

Many thanks to my teammates, Chris Dunn, Elisa Day and Matt Cloud, for their hard work towards making this project a success.

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]]> http://blog.david-kennedy.com/2009/05/13/a-fightin-family-inside-hulett-house-gym/feed/ 2 Multiple Flash for Action Events http://blog.david-kennedy.com/2009/04/21/multiple-flash-for-action-events/ http://blog.david-kennedy.com/2009/04/21/multiple-flash-for-action-events/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:55:55 +0000 David http://blog.david-kennedy.com/?p=295 Recently I’ve been trying to make photographs of the fighters at the Hulett House, a mixed martial arts training gym run by Rob Hulett and part of the Midwest Fight League, while sparring with each other using at least two flash heads for cross lighting. One of the greatest challenges is to ensure that the light stand (I’m triggering wirelessly either with Canon ST-E2 transmitters of with eBay “poverty wizards”).

Lighting setup for the photo of Croom and Ward. (Click for larger version)

Lighting setup for the photo of Croom and Ward. (Click for larger version)

In this case, I’ve lit the scene with two 550EX Speedlites aimed right at one another. I was using daylight white balance because I was letting the flash heads overpower the ambient light, but now I regret that decision and wish I had gone with a CTO gel and tungsten white balance to make the overhead lights appear white. C’est la vie.

Also, the shadow cast by the strobe on the right is a bit distracting. But what made this, to my mind, the strongest of the images was Croom’s expression paired with the position of the bright red boxing glove in the lower right-hand corner.

Without that glove as an anchor for the composition, this wouldn’t be a successful image at all.

Kevin Croom (right) takes a swing at Eric Ward during an evening practice at the Hulett House Gym in Columbia, Mo. on April 7, 2009, three days before their Midwest Fight League contests at the Blue Note. Croom said that in a week before a big event, he “…just wants to hit people.”

Kevin Croom (right) takes a swing at Eric Ward during an evening practice at the Hulett House Gym in Columbia, Mo. on April 7, 2009, three days before their Midwest Fight League contests at the Blue Note. Croom said that in a week before a big event, he “…just wants to hit people.”

More photos after the jump.

The same setup for a photo of Croom and Glen Baum.

The same lighting setup for a photo of Croom and Glen Baum.

I enjoyed the shadows cast by the two lights in this image. However, I had to brigthen it a bit as the fighters were farther from my key light than I expected so I was about 1/2 stop underexposed.

I enjoyed the shadows cast by the two lights in this image. However, I had to brighten it a bit as the fighters were farther from my key light than I expected so I was about 1/2 stop underexposed.

Finally, this image employed two strobes in cross light, but bounced off a wall and ceiling, respectively, with a third strobe acting as fill.

Finally, this image employed two strobes in cross light, but bounced off a wall and ceiling, respectively, with a third strobe acting as fill.

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