Kung Fu anyone?

I’m not sure what it is about Kung Fu, but its just cool. In my local neighborhood there is this Kung Fu school. Kids as young as 15 breaking bricks with bare hands, awesome moves and just general coolness. The hard thing is getting cool photos in a room with ugly fluoro lights.

Recently I got permission to shoot their grading (my son got his yellow belt). I really wanted some gritty looking lighting, so I opted for off camera flash and extreme side lighting. Most of the lighting for this shoot  was from ground level. This makes for some wicked shadows.

 

 

Shaolin Kung Fu is based on animals, and the attacks and defenses look a lot like the animals they are named after. The monkey is quite hilarious to watch, but obviously effective. It seems to be based on the jabbing and running of a monkey, with loose paws alike a monkey and even a monkey running style.

 

I had wanted to shoot Kung Fu ever since seeing Chase Jarvis’s uber cool Kung Fu shoot

So, while I don’t have the luxury of that kind of equipment available in Northern Thailand, I made do with some bare flash heads.

For those editors out there who need a shoot like this done, we can hire real Kung Fu models and set up authentic asian backdrop for a fraction of the price you can do it in the west.

Please contact us for KUNG FUUUUU!!

 

Stu