Work, life, and culture in Japan and Asia

• A 70-200mm zoom lens (or 300mm 2.8 lens)
• A steady hand, monopod, or tripod.
• Your morning coffee

• To show something unique, original, that others haven't done or seen before
• Get a great / dramatic picture

A practice ring at Seven Flowers Park, Kuwana City, Mie, Japan

• ISO: Usually, it's best to use iso100 to 400 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, but a monopod might've helped a lot. 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 70-300mm 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 preferred 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

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.

	< F8, 1/125, iso 200, 75-300mm at 300mm
	< F7.1, 1/125, iso200, 75-300mm at 300mm
	< F5.6, 1/125, iso200, 75-300mm at 150mm
	< F5.6, 1/200, iso400, 75-300mm at 210mm
	< Another batch / gallery from July 2009.