Yesterday was a fun day for me, full of unexpected situations and challenges. The plan was to attend an event called Harvest Day in a Transylvanian city called Mediaș. I've been wanting to photograph such an event one time somewhere, and this one came in the right time, at the right place, so I thought why miss it.
When I passed by the event, noticed that the square was already packed, which was strange as the booth or the tables full of goodies were at the edge of the square. Then I saw the stage and some girls jumping up and down on, probably dancing. After offloading my luggage, I went back to attend the event and that's where I learnt that this was more than just Harvest Day. There will be a post about the Harvest Day too, shortly, but what I'd like to show you today is a kickboxing show, presented by the A.C.S Dragon Fight Kickboxing Academy, Mediaș.
I was totally unprepared for such an event, had no idea such demonstration is going to take place on the stage, but could not miss the occasion either, for several reasons. First I thought I would take a couple of photos and that would be all, but then my plan changed.
Professional sports photographers usually show up way before the event starts, test the venue, pick the best place and set up their extremely expensive and efficient gear. They know what lens they are going to use, ISO, shutter speed and all the rest. Giving the moving targets, you needed to know what you are doing, if you wanted results. Otherwise you'd be wasting your time. Me the rookie, totally unprepared with my crappy mobile phone, in the middle of the crowd formed by parents, eager to see their kids performing. You can guess the rest.
So first I had to find a place close to the stage, in such a way, to not disturb the enthusiastic parents and siblings in the first raw, filming and streaming the event. I could never do that, so I thought the side of the stage would do this time. Their experience and joy is more important than mine.
So I stopped at the left corner of the stage, positioned my camera and pressed on the button, then again, then again an took God knows how many hundreds of photos, hoping to get a few half decent ones. After all, life is all about doing the best with what you have, so why step back from a challenge.
This demonstration was brought to the public by the local kickboxing club. There were children of all ages on the stage, starting from 3 to 14 (I guess).
They say you can never start too early and yesterday we saw what that means. Girls and boys of all ages, showed us what they knew.
At first there was a presentation of the moves, coordinated by the coach. Then the kids chose their opponent and performed the moves, then taking turns.
Me totally caught of guard by the event, I tried to capture them in action and also tried to pay attention to their facial expression, choose the pair that was not jut executing the moves in a robotic way, but enjoying it as well and these two guys were the winners.
Look at them, they were having the time of their life.
Ladies also had the chance to take the spotlight and shine.
And this was the moment when everyone's heart melted. Look at the little guy, who stole the whole show. I don't know how old he was, maybe 3, but not more. He's the son of the trainer, the proud dad behind him. You can never start too early I guess, can you?! :)
The boy called Luca, kneeling in front of him, sacrificed himself for the show, playing the punchbag and everyone was laughing.
Bang! The little guy took the job very seriously :))
And he knew how to protect himself as well. No one knows what the future holds but is it possible I just saw the future champion fighting? 😂
All in all it was a fun event. I loved what these kids did on the stage and I'm also glad there are clubs in that city, trying to raise the next generation of champions. As about me, it was a nice learning experience. It put me to the test, but I think I did an acceptable job, considering the conditions. There was not one photo that had to be deleted and what you see here was not edited either. Could have done better with a decent camera, but maybe in the near future :)
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
