Sport or therapy?

One of my sons has belonged to a mock combat group here in the Washington DC area for over twenty years. It's called "Dagorhir" and about once a month in the warmer seasons they have large pseudo combat meles. The format can vary from ancient costumes to Roman to medieval...or goofy. They use foam protected weapons and include women in the battles. Unlike most sports there's no score kept; except a surplus of victories yields temporary bragging rights. Otherwise it's a great way to vent one's frustrations and leave the field "unstressed."

I used my new Sigma 120-300 without TC for most of the shots. Otherwise I used the 2.0 for cross-field combat shots. Man. I love this lens. 120-300 is perfect for this type activity as well as sports and birds. I think the only other lens which has given me so much instant satisfaction was the beast. The colors are so lush; and thanks to Flew for the secret to BIF technique which I adapted here! One other problem, I used the high speed crop at the beginning...not a good idea' therwise the last shot would have been even better.

Here are some of the players and some idea of the combat. It's pure chaos...likely the same as on olden battlefields.













Look at the guy seemingly at peace in the middle of the chaos.






Rich

 

Absolutely. It takes a lot of work (like shooting birds in flight) because there is so much going on you get overloaded. I've been doing this for about three years now, but this particular lens range, like in sports, is perfect. People move around so quickly (to and from you) that you need to move in and back out qickly. I really, really like this lens! Can you tell?

Rich

 

Especially if you have a lousy boss!

:tongue:

 

Either should do. I have the 1.4 and 1.7 TC for the 70-200 should you need it. I forgot about the renaissance festival...right!

Rich

 

At first the "rookies" cheat a bit, but recognition as a "fair" player means a lot so for the sport of it they conform to honest acknowledgement of wounds. Occasioanlly a type A personality will rationalize himself to invinceability. Basically folks then shun him..it all sorts out. You lose an arm by immobilizing it, or a leg by gounding yourself and fighting from there. You may see that in a few of the images. It's exhausting but great fun. There rarely are serious injuries. I did notice one of the amazons with a knee brace. The team leaders inspect all weapons beforehand and persons for injuries or exhaustion during the melees. I've atended about a dozen or so and never saw any blood or more serius injury.

Rich

 

Ha! Ho, I never got much out of bashing people. Mark, my middle son, despite turning 40 this year loves it.

Rich

 

Thanks, Mike. Like all things in life you have to balance your needs with wants. I could never have afforded the 300/f2 and this gives me all the challenge that I can handle.

Rich