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Learning to Shoot Boxing Matches
Taking pictures in a boxing gym during regular training is a unique way to learn to understand when ‘the moment’ – a hit, a miss, a bob or a weave – is coming and develop an instinct for composition – Initially published on 35mmc.com This is important for two reasons. Firstly, as always with sports photography, you need to know the discipline you want to shoot and practice different options. But, in a classic Catch 22, if you don’t attend a fair number of bouts at ringisde, you won’t know the discipline and learn how to photograph it. Spending time in a gym, then, is the best second best option…
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How to Shoot an Handball Match with a Film Camera
Shooting an handball match between Italy and France, unfortunately with an unhappy ending for my Country, was an opportunity to bring back to life the rugged Canon Eos 1V, the mighty fifty and a roll of a (unexpired) Kodak Tri-X 400. When I shoot sports and, in general, events where shutter noise is not an issue, I made a point, indeed, to always carry a film camera, so this time it was Canon’s turn. Shooting handball matches is quite challenging for a number of reasons. The first thing to stick in mind is that the ball is everything: if you miss it, the shot is more often than not a…
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The Expired Film Series – Episode 7 – Kodak Portra 160 – June 2015 shot in Oct. 2023
This is the seventh episode in a series documenting the use of expired film in various contexts. Episode 6 features a Kodak Portra 160 shot with a Canon Eos 1V and a Canon EF 50 1,8 at the Trofeo Judo Italia. The film was not overexposed, and processed with Affinity Photo 2 .
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Backstage, Before the Downbeat
Shot on Kodak Portra 400 with a Canon EOS 1V and the humble yet reliable 50mm f/1.8, this frame captures the unspoken moments before the music begins. No spectacle, no spotlight, just the quiet mechanics of musicianship. I focused on the baritone saxophonist, half-turned, reading the score with that blend of tension and calm that precedes performance. Portra’s muted tones did exactly what I hoped they would—warm but never too rich, soft on contrast without washing out the mood. Skin tones stay honest. Brass textures from the saxophone register with depth, neither overly polished nor artificially gritty. The background instruments bleed into shadows, helped by the lens wide open at…
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A Pensive Nun
I took this photo during a quiet moment in a Roman church. I wasn’t looking for drama. I wasn’t even looking for a nun. I was watching light — soft, diffused, the kind that reveals more than it conceals. Then she shifted her weight, her arm fell to the bench, and the composition drew itself. The image balances solitude and collective presence. She sits in isolation, yet she’s surrounded. Everyone in that frame is turned inward — praying, grieving, thinking, hiding. It’s an ensemble of introspection, and she anchors it without knowing. I shot this on film. Ilford HP5 pushed to 1600. The grain works with the silence; it has…
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Having Sax
This shot isn’t about music. It’s about friction — brass on fingers, sweat on grip, breath on reed. I didn’t wait for the solo. I framed the pause before it, when everything is coiled. The hand is relaxed, but not idle. It knows exactly where it is. I shot tight with a fast prime, 85mm wide open, to isolate the curve of the bell and the roughness of the horn’s surface — pitted and worn, not polished. This instrument has stories. It’s been around. The monochrome helps strip it down to form and texture. You feel the decades in that metal. The grain is intentional. So is the low-key lighting.…
