I have never been a boxer and really have never had the urge to punch anybody (well, with the odd exception over the years!) but I was delighted to be contacted by a young London property guy who was looking for photos of himself doing his boxing training.
Although this wasn’t full Muay Thai, the subject of boxing has certainly been in my mind for some time, so I was delighted to be asked to do the shoot.
I was informed that the photos will be used on a corporate style website along the lines of “Meet our dynamic, young managing director”. Well, cool, I am always up for a challenge!
Our first location was Lanna Muay Thai Kiat Busaba gym located in the Chiang Kien area of Chiang Mai. Talking to the owner, she informed me that hers was the original Muay Thai training gym so it really felt good to be photographing there.
My young client warmed up whilst I checked my lighting and decided where it would be better to use the Elinchrom Quadra Ranger lighting opposed to the California Sunbounce reflector. Andy, my assistant, busied herself connecting cables, checking batteries, erecting stands and assembling the reflector whilst I checked the Sony A7Rii camera that has become such a constant joy to shoot with.
I knew that I would be using a combination of the Sony 90mm f2.8 macro lens along with the Zeiss Sony 35mm F1.4 that is thought by many to be the current best 35mm lens available today. I also used the Sony Zeiss 16-35mm F4 for a couple of wide shots that I needed.
It is interesting to know that I could actually have shot everyone of these photos without the use of a single light or reflector BUT, I didn’t. Why? Well, simply put, the manipulation of light by using either reflectors to bounce natural light or portable studio lighting, or even the lowly on camera flash is what makes photos “pop”. Professionally lit images will always stand out from the pack.
We got great images at our first location but my client wanted variety of shots and his hard working PA had arranged that we would also shoot at the Chiangmai Muay Thai Gym, a more modern facility which, for a photographer, has great light flooding in from 2 sides. Hey, but to get the shots I achieved I was actually using 2 studio rated flash heads with big lighting modifiers. These were used to balance the abundant natural light that was generally coming from behind the subject. I knew the exact shots I wanted to achieve so then it was just a question of balancing all settings.
I absolutely love using light to create photographs that my clients will treasure, be it in my Loving Light Studios in Nimmana Soi 17, Chiang Mai, or out on location, I have the equipment to cope with almost every situation and, if I don’t I’m the master of innovation!
I just want to add a little footnote to this article. As you will have seen talk about the 35mm I used and also the 16mm-35mm, well this article from our friends at PhotographyTalk.com is related as it gives the 5 top reasons as to why you should own a 35mm lens Please take a look below;
Top 5 Reasons Why You Need a 35mm Lens
