For a few years as part of my work with Thai Boxing Store I was provided the opportunity to photograph some top level Thai Boxing (Muay Thai). I had previously photographed some local amateur level Muay Thai shows but I never really had the chance to photograph top level fighters. The shows put on in Bolton were double stack shows often lasting around 12 hours a time and this provided an ideal opportunity to photograph some truly incredible fights from ringside.
Photographing sport is technically challenging. You need to be able to track the movement and anticipate key moments. At the higher levels, athletes move faster and everything tends to be more tactical and deliberate. Having some degree of observational experience or direct experience helps so if you are planning on photographing any sport do some prep work. For me, I had been practicing Muay Thai for fitness and for fun for several years. I am in no way any good at the sport, but having an understanding of the basics which helps with understanding what is going on.
Factors you have to work around for this type of indoor event are the lighting, finding a place at ringside to setup, the ropes, the people in each fighter’s corner who can get a little saucy at times, the audience behind you and the sheer length of time these shows ran for. I started off using my D800 and quickly worked out that it didn’t have the ISO capability for the light levels and the speed of movement of the fighters. This was one of my reasons for buying a D750.
There were many memorable moments, but my top three are:
1) Bernise Alldis vs Tanya Merrett
Getting splattered with blood from Bernise Alldis’s spinning elbow. Initially I thought it was sweat before realising that Tanya Merritt has just worn a belter of an elbow and blood from a cut in a previous round covered those within about five foot of the corner.
2) Karim Bennoui vs Darren O' Connor
Darren took a hammering in the first two rounds as Karim came out of the gates with the intention of finishing the fight early, only to have Darren change tactics and fight back to what many on the night thought was his fight. Either way, both fighters put on a classic.
3) Keith McLachlan vs Paul Karpowicz
Paul Karpowicz’s broken nose. One of the most savage nose breaks I have ever seen. It caused some controversy at the time with many questioning if Keith McLachlan should have landed that kick. The most impressive thing was that Paul got straight back up and went right back to work as if nothing had happened.
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