Shortly before I photographed the Oxford Powerlifting team I caught the start of the Taekwon-do in the Oxford v Cambridge 2012 Varsity competition. I didn’t have much time so I only managed to photograph three members of the Oxford team, the other two portraits below are of spectators. I made these portraits off to the side of where the fighting was taking place and unfortunately I couldn’t find a clear section of wall to use as a background.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 and 110mm lens with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b) 1:31.
Fighter #1
Fighter #2
Fighter #3
Joram helping me test my lighting
A cool looking spectator that I thought would make a good portrait.
I think I kind of prefer the out of focus area as a frame, like you see in the third and fifth images here, rather than a blank wall….
Thanks, Gerard. The background isn’t as distracting as it could have been. I was in a rush to set this up and I had hoped to get a darker background by having the subjects stand away from it and I didn’t expect the strobe to illuminate the back wall as much as it did.
Maybe next time I’ll take a digital body as a Polaroid. I prefer not to rely on it and did this without.