thecaveofthedead
Boxing
rasiguet asked me if I've ever been to Thailand. I was embarrassed to tell him that, although I've been, I spent all my time either watching Thai Boxing or training at Thai Boxing. I don't know if photography types in Thailand even like the sport. But I'm hooked on it.
This was my best action shot from a couple of nights at Rajadamnoen Stadium in Bangkok. I pushed a Fuji Superia 800 to 1600 ISO (note all the grain noise from the scan) and my Nikon F100 did a phenomenal job of tracking the fighters between the ropes (after the judges had shouted at me for getting too close)
In the interests of disclosure I've cloned out some irrelevant and distracting lights in the background.
This kind of head kick will drop a person like a sack of cement if it connects cleanly. Most western fighters don't have the technique of dodging them and will block them with their hands. It takes a fraction of a second to recover from the shock - giving your opponent time to recover for your counter. But the Thai boxers - trained from childhood - simply throw their heads back out of the way; giving them the chance to counter almost instantly.
Boxing
rasiguet asked me if I've ever been to Thailand. I was embarrassed to tell him that, although I've been, I spent all my time either watching Thai Boxing or training at Thai Boxing. I don't know if photography types in Thailand even like the sport. But I'm hooked on it.
This was my best action shot from a couple of nights at Rajadamnoen Stadium in Bangkok. I pushed a Fuji Superia 800 to 1600 ISO (note all the grain noise from the scan) and my Nikon F100 did a phenomenal job of tracking the fighters between the ropes (after the judges had shouted at me for getting too close)
In the interests of disclosure I've cloned out some irrelevant and distracting lights in the background.
This kind of head kick will drop a person like a sack of cement if it connects cleanly. Most western fighters don't have the technique of dodging them and will block them with their hands. It takes a fraction of a second to recover from the shock - giving your opponent time to recover for your counter. But the Thai boxers - trained from childhood - simply throw their heads back out of the way; giving them the chance to counter almost instantly.