Beyond Taekwondo has a mission “to give as many people as possible the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to be their best selves.” I had two cousins who were part of the black belt testing which is how I got involved.
A lot of sports photography focuses on pictures as crisp as possible. I disagree and believe the right amount of movement blur captures the moment even better. Finding the right shutter speed to show off the motion blur is an art. I got a number of good photos in that style from this event.
The lighting was honestly hell. It was very immersive in-person with the dramatic lights and colors, but it made taking still photos very hard. Getting the right exposure took a high level of skill and had to be executed instantly. Everything moved very quickly making it hard to capture perfect shots before they were gone. Luckily, it was possible to tone down the dramatic lighting and colors in editing.
