[VikingPhotography]

By any standard this was a tough first-time assignment, having never shot a UFC or MMA event before; I'd taken onboard the advice given by fellow fight shooters and stuck purely to manual mode - both for exposure and focusing. Even then I found it was tricky to both follow the action around the octagon *and* get good pictures at the same time.

Anyways, here are some of my favourite shots from the night

Paul Taylor floors Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveira with a solid leg kick



Oliveira answers Taylor with a straight left jab



Denis Siver narrowly avoids Jess Liaudin's kick



Cheick "Kongo" connects decisively with a knee strike to Assuerio Silva



Jean-Claude Van Damme eyes up one of the Octagon girls



Lyoto Machida lands a hard left kick on David Heath



Michael Bisping dominates Elvis Sinosic on the ground



Gabriel Gonzaga delivers a cutting elbow strike to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic



Post-fight: Gabriel Gonzaga declares he's ready to take on Randy Couture



Post-fight: Randy Couture eyes up his future opponent, Gabriel Gonzaga



I'll be better prepared for UFC 72 in Belfast on 16th June; I plan to work extensively on my manual focusing technique and also try out some slightly different camera settings to better freeze the action. All in all I have to say I was very happy with what I got from the night.

[fionaB]

ohhh my son is gonna love these! really well done! u did good!

Fi

[bob]

good job, you really caught the action well

[sweet_sac]

Great shots there! It looks absolutely brutal, check out Oliveira getting his manhood kicked in the second frame!

[Sonsey]

Great work VP, you certainly caught the action well. I have to admit my favourites are the last 2 portraits... and the Van Damme shot is an excellent catch

Originally Posted by VikingPhotography

I'll be better prepared for UFC 72 in Belfast on 16th June

Ohhh... need an assistant?

[VikingPhotography]

Thanks fionaB, bob & sweet_sac - glad you liked them

@Sonsey - why yes, I am in need of an assistant for UFC 72; unfortunately (for you) the role has been filled my my missus.

What the Page Ranking folks never told us 'togs was that there would be a fully fledged media desk off to one side of the octagon - replete with power sockets and WiFi access.

Since the set-up will be the same in Belfast, I've tasked my wife with getting pictures off my CF cards and into pre-created folders on the laptop at the end of each bout; she'll also add keyword and IPTC data to shots from saved templates that will be preset in Adobe Bridge.

The other process will be backing up each folder to a blank DVD, thus freeing up the CF cards for use again. This will really speed up the process of getting the shots off to the agency, and also allow me to take more shots at each bout without worrying about CF cards filling up.

Having taken just shy of 1,200 shots at UFC 70, I fully expect to shoot around 50 - 100% more at UFC 72

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by VikingPhotography

@Sonsey - why yes, I am in need of an assistant for UFC 72; unfortunately (for you) the role has been filled my my missus.

Fine!





I'd probably end up slacking off and watching the fights anyway!... Do you know if the weigh in is in Belfast?, as it's normally free I might just drop in to that if I'm about.

[StevieB]

Awe shots mate what lens were you using ?

[VikingPhotography]

Sonsey,

Yep, the press conference and weigh-in will also take place in the city. Typically the UFC contingent arrives about two weeks before the fight night and pretty much take over one of the main 5-star hotels for the duration.

The weigh-ins are open to the public but, if you're a UFC 'Fight Club' member, you get access to a special closed door 'meet & greet' event before the weigh in itself. Go to uk.ufc.com for details

[VikingPhotography]

Originally Posted by StevieB

Awe shots mate what lens were you using ?

For the fight shots I was using two bodies, one with the 17-55 f/2.8 and the other with the 70-200 f/2.8. The press conference headshots were taken using a rented 400mm f/2.8; I specifically elected to use that lens as it would allow me to cleanly shoot over the heads of the seated reporters and get nice, tight portraits at the same time.

Exposure for the fights were ISO800, 1/200 sec at f/2.8, manually focused - all shot in RAW and WB corrected in post.

For UFC 72, I'll switch to ISO 1600 and 1/400 sec to better stop the action. I've found out via post-processing that the WB for the octagon is about 3100K with a +1 tint... so perhaps I'll have a stab at shooting RAW + JPG.