BlkAGRaFiXxX Photography Three days ago I got a call from a close brother of mine who invited me to a boxing match.  I was surprised to hear the suggestion alone because we've never gone to any sports event and we've known each other over 18 years.  When I was younger, I've been on several teams, Football, Soccer, Swimming, Baseball yet, I've never liked watching.  I'd be at the park all day, but you'd never catch me just hanging out watching a game on television.  I guess since he knows this about me, he never suggested it.  However; one of the boxers happened to be one of my other brothers sun Ibaheim King who was fighting Delen Parsley. I quickly agreed, got off the phone and  went and prepared my gear for the event.  You never want to be on set unprepared.

I took the train to Atlantic train station in Brooklyn to meet up with everyone going.  There were five of us.  We headed uptown to the Roseland Ballroom and waited for a while to get our tickets.  Mind you, this was the first time I've been to a boxing match so I'm like the second hand on a perfectly tuned clock spinning around watching everything.  There were boxers, photographers, family, fans and an array of people who filled up the well lit lobby.  We got our tickets and walked into the arena.  We were quickly directed by an usher to our V.I.P. seats.  As we walked to our seats, I started pulling out my gear and looking for a good spot to get my shots.

My first stop was on the left side of the ring, however I found myself getting bad shots because of the lighting.  The lighting was also odd in that it was tricking my camera.  Before the ring, all was dark, however when in the ring, it was extremely bright.  My shots were well in focus, however the exposure was off.  

  "This is a point to all you up and coming photographers; always recommend shooting in manual.  If I had my focus and camera in autofocus, I wouldn't have been able to pull off the shots that I got.  My camera is always in manual mode and now my lens was too.  I speed up my shutter speed and set my flash to high out put, TTL exposure.  That allowed me to speed up how quickly I was able to the picture and at the same time get enough light.  I do need better lens, however as an artist & a problem solver, you work with what you have to make it happen."

I began to scan the stage and was directed by one of my brothers to go to the right side.  I got a good spot and began snapping away.  Hearing the sounds of a punch hitting a body, the moan when hit, watching the passion and seeing the sweat fly off of the Pink Cancer supporting gloves made the sport all that more real.  It was a great experience seeing two people who want the same thing go at it.  There were seven fights scheduled for the night and this was the first.  We watched two more fights before leaving.  At the end of the fight, it was great to be able to finally I say I've had the experience to watch a boxing match live and most of all I got to shoot it!...lol  I also got a chance to meet Ibaheim and although he didn't win, congratulate him on a good fight.

CHECK the REST of the FIGHT HERE!