Commack High School Varsity Wrestling vs. Smithtown West - Senior Day
Congratulations to the Commack wrestling team on their senior day win over Smithtown West.
For wrestling at Commack I’m using a 135mm prime. The gym lights are out except for the lights directly over the mat so this lowers the average exposure in this gym by a full stop. I’m shooting at 1/500 sec. @ f/2, ISO 6400. I can get a away with the lower shutter speed because there’s not a lot of fast movement in wrestling most of the time. I generally shoots sports using auto-ISO but with the lights out over the bleachers you have a very dark background that can give you an overexposed reading so I’m shooting full manual here.
The key with wrestling, and any sport for that matter, is to get the athletes’ faces. You have to wait until they turn towards you. If they’re low on mat it helps if they’re on the white part so the light reflects upward into their face. Otherwise you’ll just need to open up the shadows in post.
I try to get as many photos as possible at the beginning of each bout. That includes the handshake at the start because you never know how long a bout will last. It could be over in seconds and all the action could be facing away from you.
