Specs: 1/100s, 22.0mm, f/4.5, ISO: 1250, Tweaked in Photoshop
Photographing Taekwon-Do for hours on end can be exciting when you know you've got some great pictures "in the can" but it can get boring too. That's when I sometimes try to get that extra bit creative and occasionally the result is I get something unusual that I really like.
I wouldn't say the image above is a favourite but it is different. We were at a 2007 World Champs build-up camp at Taupo in November 2006 when I asked Jeremy and Shane if I could lie down on the mat and take pictures of them sparring over the top of me. The image is unusual but, because I was in the way, they couldn't really get into it much, hense it lacks agression and speed to be a really great image.
I've had a few other attempts at taking images of sparring at unusual angles, these ones I really like:
Specs: 1/80s, 18.0mm, f/7.1, ISO: 1600
Johs and Candice in sparring training at the same camp. I held the camera as high as possible at arms length above my head and shot downwards. I was much closer to them that the image looks. They're visually pushed away from me because of the extreme wide angle of 18.0mm ("normal" eye like vision on my DSLR is about 35mm, 2 x telephoto is about 85.0mm).
Specs: 1/100s, 17.0mm, f/3.5, ISO: 1600
Here's a recent image of Carl and Jeremy sparring; with me getting in close trying to make the viewer feel like you are in the fight. This time I got very close to getting a good smack in the chops from a flying elbow or the like! Knowing me I'll keep getting closer until that happens.
