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How to take photos: Sumo
Practice Sessions |
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Also see:
'How to use your SLR'. Bookmark
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Basic gear you need:
 | A 75-300mm zoom lens (or
300mm 2.8 lens) |
| A steady hand |
| Your morning coffee |
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The
Aim:
| To show something unique,
original, that others haven't done or seen before |
| Get a great / dramatic
picture |
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A practice ring at Seven Flowers
Park, Kuwana City, Mie, Japan |
How:
| ISO: Usually, it's
best to use iso400 as wrestlers usually practice under a shelter, and you
want to have as little noise
impacting on your picture as possible |
| Aperture: Anywhere
from F5.6 to about F11, as there's usually other people near by, and
unattractive junk in the background which can be distracting in your
photos, so you need about F5.6. |
| Shutter Speed: I've
tried to use 1/125, but there was too much blur. It seems setting your
camera to Shutter Speed priority, and having that on 1/200 might be best,
usually. I didn't use a tripod, as I wanted to respond to sudden movements
quickly, whereas a tripod would have been cumbersome. Though, I did see
one old guy with his portable stool and tripod set up. |
| White Balance: Be
sure your white balance is
set for the the light conditions, usually "Shade", or custom (if you know
how). |
| Filters: Not
needed, as there's already difficulty in getting enough light on your
subject. |
| Lens: I found I
could only use my 75-300mm zoom so I can be far enough away from them
(don't be too close). Wrestlers are concentrating on their techniques, and
so they need absolute quiet from the watching crowd (or they'll chase
everyone away). My camera's shutter could be distracting, especially at my
firing rate, and so I knew I needed to be in the crowd, rather than at the
front. I used usually 200mm plus. |
| Etiquette:
With the noise of the shutter, I had gone to two other practice places
before, but was unable to take pictures, as the sound would have been too
distracting. To you, it might seem trivial, but for them it's a serious
issue. The heya (group) that was practicing (pictured below), was the
third I'd gone to before I was able to begin to get pictures, and because
the area was open, and easily accessible, and close to where I live. I
want to go back again, and so it was essential that I follow proper
etiquette. Oh, and, no flashes can be used; you must rely on the ambient
light. |
| Quality Issues: Be
sure there's no distractions, or unnecessary junk in the fore or
backgrounds. Plan it, so everything that you see through the lens is
there, because it needs to be. That includes no bags, no drink bottles,
people's heads, no garbage bins, or other; unless it adds to the
atmosphere of the picture |
| When:
I think all sumo groups practice from 7 to 9 in the morning. They
usually start practicing in the local area about 10 days before the
tournament begins, and every morning during the tournament. The big famous
guys are permitted to travel away from their own groups and practice with
another, so some times, you may get lucky. |
| Issues With Zooming:
Also, if you zoom right in onto any object, then your camera will wobble a
little from any hand shake, including from just pushing the shutter. Being
so zoomed in, and from a distance, any small movement is exacerbated. The
images you get, usually aren't going to be fit for high quality
publishing. Also note, you cannot use a flash; they'll simply tell you
you've been a bad boy, and to either stop it, or leave. |
| The
statistics To
get the raw data, I've used Wega2, as it has an interesting extra: "ExposurePlot
Graphics". This feature gives a statistical view of what you do. In a
comparison with other photographers, you should get fairly similar
results if you shoot the same subjects together.
Here, you'll notice a
zoom lens was used, and in the light conditions and distance, meant that
higher shutter speeds were required, and to achieve that, higher a
higher iso was needed. Early in the piece I experimented, starting from
my prefered settings to what you see was mostly used. In this situation,
you should adjust your settings until you find what best suits the
conditions, too. |
Click on this picture to
view
Also see:
Photo Statistics |
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Examples from the Minezaki Heya:
Using a higher ISO gave me
better shutter speeds, which helped to reduce blur and camera shake.
Additionally, it opened the aperture more, so the background could be less
distracting.
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< F8, 1/125,
iso 200, 75-300mm at 300mm |
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< F7.1,
1/125, iso200, 75-300mm at 300mm |
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< F5.6,
1/125, iso200, 75-300mm at 150mm |
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< F5.6,
1/200, iso400, 75-300mm at 210mm |
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