Photographing HS Wrestling: Need Tips

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

02/12/2005 12:53:17 AM · #1

Greetings...

Someone here in the past had mentioned that they photographed wrestling fairly regularly. I have an assignment for a high school wrestling match tomorrow night and I have never done it before. If anyone does this and could post some links to your sample photos, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to take a look at some good images before I get a 'trial by fire' on the project...

John Setzler

aerogurl

Nikon D300

02/12/2005 12:59:16 AM · #2

I am no expert as you know.. but my boys are both wrestlers and members of Bandys High School Wrestling Club. I have been all over the state in lots of gyms photographing their matches. I finally gave up on photographing them and started filming them. The reason I gave up is the lighting. Gym lighting is horrible. I'm sure you would know how to handle this situation, but I would suggest going early and checking out the lighting conditions of the gym... :o) Good Luck

p.s. Bandys just won the state championship WooHoo! :)

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

02/12/2005 01:00:44 AM · #3

You are thinking of BradP--PM him!

awpollard

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

02/12/2005 01:01:56 AM · #4

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

I think you're looking for BradP who is currently following the Poway Wrestlers around the state.

ED: Clickable

Message edited by author 2005-02-12 01:05:27.

02/12/2005 01:14:50 AM · #5

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Hi John,

2,100 + shots from this season
Some are individually-edited, many with mass quantities are Adobe slidesows.
When they are wrestling neutral (on their feet working for a take-down) stand up and shoot, then when they are down on the mats crounch down for your shots.
If you are using a flash, watch the backgrounds - bleachers and reflective tennis shoes are a booger. I typically use center-weighted metering and off-camera flash (1/3 stop down) to help darker the backgrounds. Facial-recognition shots are always the best. Study their moves and you will be able to know when to wait that extra 1/4 second to snap the shot.

This is my 3rd year following the #1 ranked team in California doing this.

Edit:
Forgot to add the brag line about my son being ranked 3rd in CA right now - Woo Hoo!
And just brought home 3-A's & 3-B's on his report card too.

Message edited by author 2005-02-12 01:20:28.

02/12/2005 01:26:47 AM · #6

Originally posted by aerogurl:

I am photographing at Newton-Conover tomorrow night and I know the light in their gym sucks because I have shot basketball there before. I'm not sure who else is involved in this match, but it will be a new experience either way.

02/12/2005 01:31:07 AM · #7

Originally posted by BradP:

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Greetings...

Someone here in the past had mentioned that they photographed wrestling fairly regularly. I have an assignment for a high school wrestling match tomorrow night and I have never done it before. If anyone does this and could post some links to your sample photos, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to take a look at some good images before I get a 'trial by fire' on the project...

John Setzler

Hi John,

2,100 + shots from this season
Some are individually-edited, many with mass quantities are Adobe slidesows.
When they are wrestling neutral (on their feet working for a take-down) stand up and shoot, then when they are down on the mats crounch down for your shots.
If you are using a flash, watch the backgrounds - bleachers and reflective tennis shoes are a booger. I typically use center-weighted metering and off-camera flash (1/3 stop down) to help darker the backgrounds. Facial-recognition shots are always the best. Study their moves and you will be able to know when to wait that extra 1/4 second to snap the shot.

This is my 3rd year following the #1 ranked team in California doing this.

Edit:
Forgot to add the brag line about my son being ranked 3rd in CA right now - Woo Hoo!
And just brought home 3-A's & 3-B's on his report card too.

Thanks Brad... this has confirmed my suspicion that 'faces' aren't going to be particularly easy to get... I'm gonna have to shoot a lot I guess. I may take an 'assistant' with me if i can to hold my second flash off cam and provide some extra light... We'll see what happens. All I know is that my sports editor likes tight closeup shots so I will likely be cropping a good bit to achieve that...

02/12/2005 02:15:02 AM · #8

Hi again John,
I shoot A LOT of shots and only toss the ones that are really trash. The kids - er - I mean young men and their families like a lot of the ones that I don't think are very good, so it is in the eye of the beholder.

A zoom is a necessity doing this. Another photographer is usually there with a D70 and a 135mm fixed lens. He has a lot of difficulty getting the crop. One off-camera flash should suffice.
I shoot at ISO80 (160 & 320 too noisy on mine) and have my camera set in shutter speed-priority mode at 1/125. Been working pretty well so far with what I equipment have. If I had a 10D/20D or a D70, I would bump the ISO up to 400, that way the flash can recycle really fast as it will almost be a fill use.

Try and only shoot the guys you are after, in a positive position. No one wants pics of themselves getting whooped, but that kinda' goes without saying.

Have fun, find a corner of the mat to hang out, and be prepared to move in an instant, as they can come at you in a hurry!

02/12/2005 09:41:27 PM · #9

//www.pbase.com/jmsetzler/wrestling

I shot everything in manual mode at either 1/125 or 1/160 @ f/4 @ iso 400 with my flash and the omnibounce. The movement in this sport didn't seem so extreme compared to basketball or football so i started out with a little slower shutter speed. These shots are the 'usable' ones I could have submitted to the paper with faces included. Getting 'two' faces in a wrestling photo is definitely a challenge.

02/12/2005 10:09:19 PM · #10

Glad you got the chance to experience a little piece of my world John. You got some decent shots there.

I generally am not concerned with getting both faces in a shot, as I am there to support and shoot only one team. I too, submit shots for the local paper and other than taking notes as to who the other guy was and what school he was from, his face is not too important.

This collection is a good example, being as I did crop/edit them:

El Dorado Holiday Invitational

It really helps to study and know the sport. Some of the guys have certain moves that they use regularly and I know where to be and just when to click. Keeps me on my toes too. After a 2-day Tournament, I am beat, as I am usually on one knee for 6-8 hours a day, and often don't get the chance to kick back & relax. 14 guys make rounds often, especially seeing as they don't lose often and at ay given time, there may be 2-3 guys on the mats at the same time in a larger tournament with 30 schools participating and 6-9 mats in use.

Only 3 more to shoot this season though, CIF divisional, Masters and the State Finals in the beginning of March.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

02/12/2005 10:16:01 PM · #11

I think our state finals are next weekend.. or there is some sort of 'finals' going on next weekend, but i won't have to cover those. They don't send me out that far as a stringer. It's about 90 miles east of here and what they pay me to shoot this stuff would not cover that :)

I can understand your point in not including both faces when you are looking for specific people. I always try to do it in my sports photography, but i'll settle for one if I don't have a shot with two available. Two of these will be running in tomorrow's sports pages. One will be a 7.8x5" shot on the front page and the other will be a 5.75x7 shot on the inside in b/w. I enjoyed this shoot somewhat, but it is difficult for me since I don't know the rules/regulations of wrestling. I have never even watched much of it.

My light here was interesting. For the final matches, which was what my assignment included, they had a single mat in the center of the gym. There was ONE merc vapor light turned on directly above the mat. The rest of the gym lights were out. I didn't take my extra flash because I didn't have someone available to go with me to hold it. Maybe next year I'll get to try again. I think this season is about over here and I won't get to shoot it again...

aerogurl

Nikon D300

02/12/2005 11:47:22 PM · #12

There is a tournament on the 26th at Saint Stephens High School, its a Freestyle. I think its like $10 and it might be good practice for you, and its close. My boys also belong to the AAU which wrestles all year round, so if you ever have a free weekend and want to take some shots I will know where a match is. Feb 19th/20th is the State Tournament in Winston-Salem, unless I am mistaken. If you want any detailed info let me know and I can get it for you, you know my email. :o)

02/13/2005 12:35:25 AM · #13

Originally posted by aerogurl:

I'm not sure if the HDR will be covering the tournament on the 26th or not but I'll try to find out. They switched my assignment from newton-conover to st. stephens today at the last minute. It seems that the people from SSHS did not send the sports editor the required information to get us to cover the event.

This is a funny thing in a way. Lots of people call/write/email our sports editor complaining about events like this not being covered while they are covered at other schools. He has to tell them that the school administration / coaches did not respond to his requests for things like schedules, rosters, and other items that are a requirement for us to be able to cover them....

02/13/2005 12:36:35 AM · #14

Originally posted by aerogurl:

There is a tournament on the 26th at Saint Stephens High School, its a Freestyle. I think its like $10 and it might be good practice for you, and its close.

I'll add this to my calendar and go if I'm not shooting something else. As for the $10, I should be able to get in for free :)