Daily Inspiration #436 by Jody Wallington

Hi Steve! First off let me start by saying great site.

I have a couple of passions in my life. The gym and photography. I have wanted to combine the two for a while and have started doing just that.

I got tired of seeing all the pretty posed pictures of fighters and bodybuilders and wanted to capture the training they have to go through before they step into the ring, the cage or onto the stage as this only shows 1% of what these people go through day in day out. I am putting a site together called ironsportsphoto.co.uk and it will hopefully be going live in the next month.

None of my pictures are posed or staged I am simply in the background taking pictures while these guys get on with it. I have included a few for you to hopefully have a look at and feature. The Thai boxer was taken with a canon 1d mark 2 with a 50mm I believe and the colour one with the Canon 1ds mark 2 with the new sigma 35mm 1.4 and the black white resting pic with the fuji x100s.

Software used was aperture with nik software plug-ins.

Thanks very much for your time

All the best

Jody Wallington

resting

strapping up

thaibox

21 Comments

  1. Jody your photos are very nice. I like the contrast and feel of the subject matter. Steve M’s remarks are those of a hater not a critic. Give little attention to these types of folks. You will be better served to do so.
    Howard

    • I agree completely! Steve Mark is contributing nothing and is probably just seeking attention. And as for the clarity slider comment – do what feels right to you and it will serve you well. You should never feel like you have to fit in to someones opinion of what photography should look like. Some folks like punchy harsh photography and some like more subdued photography. I like the pics you posted and would like to see more!

      • thanks kendrick,i myself like the harsh look to the pictures as does the bodybuilder in question,so its a win win for us..but we are always learning and i always listen to people,well nearly always;-),really glad you liked the pictures and i really appreciate your comments,cheers mate

    • thanks howard i appreciate your comment,i take on board all of the constructive criticism on here for sure,and you are right what you say completely about the hater:-) cheers buddy

  2. Come on Steve! Photography is a very personal thing and it puts anyone who shares theirs in a very vulnerable position. When somebody is excited that their work just got posted, a harsh comment like yours can really knock the wind out of their sails. I think we need to be more sensitive when we critique each other’s photos than when we argue about gear.

    • You’re right Bernd. Let me rephrase what I said in the first comment.

      To Jody Wallington, I’m sure you are quite excited about sharing these pictures and putting up your own website. But once you chose to post these shots online, you open yourself up for critic. Hence, in my humble opinion, you should have chosen better shots. Two pictures were of the same person, both sitting down, facing away from you. All shots were taken when people were minding (?) their own business and you’re trying to get in their face just to make your shots.

      Personally I would mind it if someone shoots at me randomly while working out. It’s hard to focus and be in the zone let alone stay in it with someone hovering over holding a camera. Unless you did ask permission first, in which case, these shots were posed. I know I wanna do better and look my best if I knew pictures were being taken.

      Your tongue-in-cheek comment about putting 4 pictures one each page is utter nonsense as well. Keep on shooting these shots and I’m sure your site will bomb faster than yesterday.

      Was that better critique Bernd?

      • thats a nicer way of putting it steve..cheers for comments..and i am not in anyones face i assure you,i spoke to the guys today and they really like the shots and didn’t mind me taking them,but i promise the minute one of the lads tells me to stop taking pictures i will,all the best:-)

    • thank you bernd,but some people love to be negative without any constructive comments….appreciate it 🙂

    • thanks for the comment,will note what you say for sure,this is the kind of comment i was looking for by posting work here by you guys…constructive:-) cheers buddy

      • No prob! Many people, including myself have fallen victim to pumping up the files a bit too much. You really need to step back and process with a fresh set of eyes. Less is usually more. One more small critique would be the irregular crop ratios. This is personal, but I prefer photos in original ratios of 2×3, 6×7 or 1×1. Good luck and keep shooting.

  3. You plan on opening a website with three shots, two of which has the same person? Goodluck with that.

    • thanks for the comment steve,i will take your comments on board and try to get four pictures on the website…four pictures four pages should be awesome

      • Hmmm. Not so awesome. I’d suggest try Flickr instead if that’s the case.

        While you troll your own comments, I would say that based on your pictures you are trolling these guys who are at the gym trying to get a good workout while you hover around them trying to get your pics.

        And if you say you asked for their consent before shooting pictures, who’s to say these aren’t posed? Merely asking for their pics will cause them to subconsciously be mindful of their actions.

        • I have more than four pictures,it is hard to be subconscious that your picture is being taken during a ten plate leg press, and after when i show the guys the pictures that i have taken whilst trolling them as you say they are made up because they have no such pictures of them selves… So if they are happy that they have these kind of pictures then i am happy to take them..

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