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You are here: Home / Jiu Jitsu / Shooting and Rolling: Some Photo Tips For Shooting Jits

Shooting and Rolling: Some Photo Tips For Shooting Jits

September 21, 2019

I realized that between rolling with the homies and being in photographer mode, I sure spend a lot of time actually on the mats when I’m at the gym.

People are interested in the photography that I do and I get a lot of questions. I thought it might be cool to lend some insight into what goes on in my mind while I shoot by showing you some good and not so good frames from the last couple of visits to J2L.

If you’ve watched me in action, I have a whole system of movements with a camera in my hand. I got the back roll, the shrimp and the bulldozer side roll. It’s really quite complex. But really, I realized that 99% of photographing jiu jitsu is being in the right position at the right time. If you want to take photos like this, here’s a few tips.

Tip #1: Show a Face

If you can’t tell who it is, there’s really no point. No one wants to see a photo of someone’s faceless body in gi. You need the intensity of the guard pass, the grimace of top pressure or just the concentration of a skilled player. One face is great, both faces is even better.

Juan’s head pressure on a faceless opponent. See tip #3 why I don’t love this photo.
I love seeing the duality of top and bottom game. You can almost see the thoughts swimming around in Lee’s head as Ben waits patiently to feel out the next move or counter.

Tip #2: Get Close But Not Too Close

I spend most of my time moving in and out of a match trying to get as close as possible to fill my frame without getting kicked in the face. I shoot with an attachment lens on my x1ooF that’s an equivalent of 28mm, which is moderately wide. I sometimes like to shoot with the 35mm or 50mm to get in tight. I honestly like the look of a narrower lens but when there’s other people on the mats, it helps to get close and use my subjects to block out everyone else. See #3.

Sometimes people’s belts also get in the way, whether they are messily laying on the mat or wrapped around the opponents, a loose belt can ruin the shot if it’s splayed out wrongly. Here, Masai’s belt is loose but not distracting.
Here I’m not so much a fan of his belt. Also, I try to make sure that I get all limbs within the frame by shooting far enough away but the game sometimes happens so fast, I can’t move fast enough to keep it all in frame.

If helps by laying down on the mat, so you can get a slight upward angle too. I think that little difference in perspective really makes you feel like you are there as a participant rather than a spectator.

Mat level makes you feel like you are there.
Getting low to get the sweep and reactionary post. I had to snap this photo and quickly make my escape to avoid getting crushed.
Obligatory artsy photo when it’s really this is just an excuse to get out of jogging. all jokes aside, I really like this frame. Heidi better change her profile photo to this or I’m gonna be offended. For this one, I wanted the depth of the two layers of runners to create some frames within the frame. I got lucky with the timing.

Tip #3: Subtract the Unnecessary

This is definitely my favorite of the bunch because it’s so damn clean and empty. Just Chris and Masai having it out on the mats against a white wall. You can see the will and determination on both their faces as they engage in battle.

This really should have been Tip #1.

If the mat’s are super crowded, I don’t even try to shoot. I end up with too many random limbs in the corners of my photos or even worse, someone sitting on the wall whose head is randomly poking out someone else. That’s why you’ll see me trying to shoot against the white wall more often than not. It’s just a cleaner look and the viewer can then focus on your subject better. The windows at the gym are ok too but I hate the OPEN sign from Kamal Palace, you’ll see it sometimes in the background. Same with the clock, and the emergency fire switch. Lastly, that surfboard in the corner, I’m at least happy that it’s not that blue SUP board anymore. It actually kinda looks cool with the white board and plant now. Thanks Kevin!

This is a cool photo but it’s distracting. One, the plant and surfboard in the photo don’t really work here for me. Two, the other players in the shot are just a messy blob of off white people. There’s just too much color happening in this frame with the green, black, beige and white. Nice moment but subpar frame.
Got a little tighter here but you can still see Juan’s off white gi giving me grief on the left side. George’s face tells it all.
Here’s a great example of the persons face popping out of someone’s body. If I were to publish this on on social media, I’d probably crop out the door, face and put the focus on Adrian’s smile. Such a great capture otherwise.

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Filed Under: Jiu Jitsu Tagged With: jiu jitsu, Long Beach

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lee Turnbull says

    September 21, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    What a wonderful insight. Really interesting. Thanks for that. Great work as always.

  2. masai says

    September 21, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    dope

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