The Decisive Moment

Sumo New Year Tournament in Tokyo

Photographically speaking, this is a really challenging environment. Three factors work against you:

1. Distance from the action
2. Low light
3. Fast movement

In the light that was available this meant shooting my 300 f/2.8 wide open with a shutter speed of 1/400+ at about ISO 1600. I had a little more luck with the 135 f/1.8 as I could stop down a little bit and get the whole ring in the frame, and during the main event, there were a lot of flashes from the ringside strobe monkeys, which helped illuminate this shot.