Interesting Photo of the Day: A Fighter in Flight

Interesting Photos

Fast-action photography has so much more to it than just shooting at rapid-fire shutter speeds. If you are working with a model, you need to get the timing right and keep in sync with the model so you can capture their expressions within a fraction of a second. Photographer Kyle Buckley took the following image to promote a workout class, but the image is far more impressive than what appears on typical gym advertisements:

“A Fighter in Flight” by Kyle Buckley (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

Buckley took the image on a Canon 5D Mark IV with the 50mm f/1.8 STM lens at f/9, 1/250 shutter speed using a Godox AD400 Pro light with a softbox attached. When he snapped the image, he came to the realization that action photography like this requires its own kind of exercise—that is, in shutter speed and timing.

Looking at the subject’s posture, you can see it has a certain degree of discipline to it; something elegant that doesn’t seem common in kickboxing. That’s because she happens to be a dancer as well. As Kyle explains, the model is actually a dancer that had been taking kickboxing classes.

The patterns and shadows on the background are an interesting touch to the image. Also, the neutral background color helps in drawing all the attention to the action in the front. And the subject’s concentration beautifully reflects the intensity that’s required in kickboxing. A very well taken image indeed.