Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

My 19 year old grandson is participating in an indoors Brazilion Jiu Jitsu match this weekend. I would like to shoot some of the events with him in it. Having never been to such an event, I am looking for advice on how to go about getting some good shots.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Before anything, make sure a flash is allowed if you plan to use one.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

I don't even know if camera's are allowed, I will try to contact the venue.

MJPerini

If the venue is not too far away, I would suggest a visit if that is possible.
You can ask any questions , and maybe even see the venue, see how far away you will be and maybe even gauge what the lighting looks like .
Once you have seen a place, you will be in a much better position to judge what lenses you need.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

I just made contact with the venue. Camera's and flash are good to go!

Dmazur Loc: Wisconsin

For a few years I photographed gymnastic meets. I will assume the challenges are similar. My guess is that you will not be allowed to use a flash, but if you do make sure it is powerful enough to reach your subject since you will never be as close as you would like. Bring a decent telephoto or zoom. Something in the 200-400mm range should suffice, depending on the size of the venue. Use a tripod or monopod. Decent light will be your limiting factor so be prepared to pump up your ISO as high as you can tolerate depending on the megapixel capability of your camera. Don't just sit in the bleachers stuck in one spot. You wont be allowed on the mats, but there is a decent chance you will have access to ground level. Don't be afraid to walk around hunting for a good angle or taking shots from the floor perspective. If you choose to wander (like I liked to do) be aware of other photographers and don't interfere with their shots. Good luck. Post something that turned out well for you.

Equus Loc: Puget Sound

I would add that getting there early so you can watch some matches before your grandson is up will help you figure out some of the best shots. if your camera has it use dynamic focus (Canon is AIServo) and fast continuous shooting. (you can forget the last if you are super good at anticipating action. I once knew a photographer of major horse jumping events who used a 4X5 and got wonderful shots but that takes a lot of practice and knowing your sport.)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

When I've done indoor sports I've used a long lens, wide open and with a very high ISO. I used to just accept the noise. Now we have very capable post processing tools for high ISO noise.

Camera stability is hard to accomplish and you need it. Tripods cause trouble because you can't follow the subject fast enough. Monopods can help a lot. One of my favorites is to use two of a tripods legs with the feet stuffed in the front pockets of my Levi's. You can follow the subject by moving your body. And, your body is a lot more stable than your extended arms. It might look a little strange to some and I've never seen anyone else do it. But, it works.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

You might try to contact a new UHH member - RangerJohn. His son was a wrestler and I think participated in Jiu Jitsu. He maybe able to give you some tips. He has posted some images of his son in these sports.

Don

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

My son and grandson are into Ti Wuan Do (or however it’s spelled). I’ve found 1/250 shutter speed works best. It freezes most motion yet sometimes leaves a bit of blur on the foot at the end of a kick, which does give the impression of movement. I’ve used an 80-200 2.8 and an 80-400 4.5. The latter works best. Sometimes the depth of field is too shallow at 2.8. If they are using old style fluorescent lights, have the flicker reduction turned on if your camera has it. Without you can have images fraction’s of a second apart that have widely varying colors and contrast. The studio I shoot at has some lights that are out or going out and I had lots of problems. Folks here told me to make sure the flicker reduction was on. I did find that setting it to 60 hertz worked better than the auto setting. Good luck.

Also find out how many shots it takes to fill up the buffer. When it’s full the shooting really slows down or stops. You don’t want miss a good part while the buffer clears.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

You want tracking on, Zone focusing, auto focus CONTINUOUS, shoot at least at 1000 sec. on higher, shoot RAW, check for flickering, set aperture two stops down from wide open, use a 70-200 2.8 lens, before the match take a meter reading off someone in the center of the playing surface, meter both ends of the playing surface to make sure the lighting is the same and adjust for any differences, shoot in manual, shoot as many frames per second as possible, practice panning and keeping your camera moving as you take the image, and good luck to you.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

My suggestions:
Do not use a flash. You need to be invisible and a flash will call too much attention to yourself that will not make it easy for you to maneuver where you want to be. It’s also distracting to the fighters. Your flash will probably not be powerful enough anyway, depending on how far away you will be.

To overcome your need for flash, up your iso and denoise in post. You did not mention which camera you are using. Make sure you keep your shutter speed high enough to eliminate blurry images, especially if it’s a high resolution camera.

I would shoot RAW, not jpeg
I would use an 80-200, if you get lucky and can be close, 24-70 or 14-24 could be great as well. If you have access to them, take them.

White balance to auto.

Consider using auto ISO, set your shutter speed to at least 1/250 or even higher and your aperture to f/4 or less. Test this and see how your test images come out.
Be aware of the background. You probably want it blurred out (low number f-stop like 2.8, 4.0) and you don’t want bright object in it, like lights or large white things that easily burn out.

tshift Loc: Overland Park, KS.

He already said they allow flash.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

I saw that. Does not mean that I suggest it. I would not use a flash.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

I have never photographed a Jiu Jitsu match but have shot high school wrestling many times. My usual settings for wrestling would be 1/500-2.8 with a 70-200 zoom. I assume Jiu Jitsu is a faster sport so 1/1000 may be a better choice. Your ISO will most likely be 3200-10000 depending on lighting. Use Auto white balance unless you’re comfortable setting manual kelvin/tint or using a white/gray card for a custom WB. I would not use a flash, and I’m surprised you were told it was OK. Flash on-camera images will look old and dated to when ISO was impossible to change on the fly as it now is with digital. It is also distracting to the athletes and referees. Look to magazine or newspaper photos for current examples of how pros shoot the sport. Good luck.