Another photographer put out a shout for help covering an event that evening. Luckily the event was only 30 miles from where I live so after a quick chat and showing my portfolio, off I went.

The Boxing tournament was being held at the amazing Ocean in Exmouth. The Exmouth Amateur Boxing Club organised the event and I came in very last minute as the boxing photographer. For these types of events, I have a very fast turnaround for editing and delivering the photos.

Let’s have a look at some examples of the 400+ photos I delivered within 12 hours…

I like to tell the story of the evening so I was using different lenses for different parts. I like to arrive nice and early to get those detail-shots, while also testing for banding, flickering and any other camera issues I may face.

I knew I’d be cranking up that ISO but I also knew the Sony A9’s have great low light performance. I was shooting ISO 12,800 for the matches and around 4,000 for the trophy shots.

It was lovely to see some local boxers at the tournament, including the Torbay Amateur Boxing Club. I was silently cheering them on when they came on 😊

I was allowed to choose anywhere I wanted for the matches. I picked a spot that gave me some top and backlighting, which added that little bit extra to the photos. The photos don’t portray just how dark the venue was. Apart from a few LED lights on just one side of the ceiling, and a TV screen, the room was in almost total darkness.

I had the Godox V1 Speedlight with me but I just used it for the detail-shots before the crowds arrived and the matches started. There was another photographer there who was using the inbuilt flash in her camera. I wasn’t going to risk using flash during the fights so just rode that ISO as high it needed to go.

I don’t think these types of sporting events are as difficult as Theatre or Festival photography, but it is still a wonderfully interesting challenge that pushes your camera equipment pretty hard 😁

If you’re looking for a sports photographer then please contact me by Email or by phone/WhatsApp on 07828 467 753

Boxing Photography Equipment

• 2 x Sony A9
• 24mm F1.4
• 85mm F1.4
• 24-70mm F2.8
• 70-200mm F2.8
• Godox V1 (used for detail shots, not the matches)

I was using the 85mm and 24mm for the pre-match photos. I used the 70-200mm for the crowds arriving and some of the entrance photos. For the main fights, I was mostly using the 24-70mm but also switching between the 70-200mm and 85mm on the other body.

I didn’t arrive home until 1am but I still delivered 410 photos that morning. I’m used to faster turnarounds for theatre and festivals so this was something I’ve got a lot of experience doing.

The photos were delivered using Wetransfer. I also use Google Drive quite often as another option. Depending on the requests of the client I can deliver the photos as Facebook optimised, print-ready or both.