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Monday August 29 2016 - Camera switch: from Panasonic to Nikon with EvilDark + History of EvilDark	Recent matches
I've finally decided to get myself a new camera. I was due for it. So many of my pictures were wasted and badly taken during the Clash because my camera is incapable of taking action intensive pics in an interior environment (like a wrestling ring). I'm officially now switching from a Panasonic DMC-FZ28 to a Nikon D5500. Mind you, the Panasonic accompanied me for more than 5 years in my wrestling adventures... It did take during this time span a lot of great pictures (provided that you stand still and don't move from your wrestling hold), but now I need to move on and upgrade... I have to say, I'm pretty impressed and happy with the new camera. When I was taking shots with my old device, I would set the Panasonic to take 3 pictures in 10 seconds because that was the only option I was given when I have no cameraman and when I need to apply a hold on my opponent. Well, the D5500 comes with an Intervalometer, so now I can set it to take a picture every 2 seconds for ....up to 999 shots. This little feature is probably what I need the most when I set up the camera with my opponents. As for the quality, well the Nikon can take up to 24 MP, but that's obviously way too big for me so I've set it to take smaller shots... and I still had to crop it afterwards because they were taking too much space. The videos are at 1080p (pixels) at 60 fps (frames per second) and they run too slowly on my workstation because they are so huge in terms of space... which also means that I need to replace my computer now. Last, but not least, the best way to take pictures is still to be in group of 3. The 3rd person is the photographer that will catch the action at the right angle. No matter what, the photographer will obviously always perform better and take better pictures than a tripod (even with an intervalometer). In order to try out some of the new camera's potential, I rented the wrestling ring again from Bella, but this time... for 2 hours. My wrestling master, EvilDark (id 1077), was in town this week-end, so we prepped up a couple of wrestling maneuvers and took a record shot of 700+ pictures. I guess I don't need to mention that I do have enough to make a story. Here are five hand-picked images from this set in which I'm happy with the outcome: it starts with EvilDark having the upper-hand with a rope choke. He then experiments and takes advantage of the wrestling space available in the ring. We're so used to wrestling in smaller areas... Why not trade a couple of bearhugs? Loserboy shows he can handle EvilDark with ease... ...but EvilDark turns the table around and shows how he can really manhandle Loserboy! This one is EvilDark's favorite hold: the headscissors. It could probably be his finisher as well... By the way, EvilDark gained a lot in strength and power lately. It was pretty tough to make him tap... We did both sub and pro on the ring. We rented the ring for 2 hours, but that was obviously insufficient. It was EvilDark's first time in a ring. He always wanted to climb in one since he was young... so I was more than glad to show him the basics like the clothesline and the elbow drop. Ironically, I slightly injured my arm with the knee drop. It shows that I'm really not trained for this and maybe I need to also wear elbow pads on top of my knee pads from now on... He picked up very fast that you need to fake the holds by stomping your foot on the ring mats while applying a particular hold. That made him laugh. It's like a child that just found a new ice cream flavor or that just realized that part of wrestling is fake... or at least, that you need to switch to stiff pro to put a little bit more heart (or pain) into your holds. EvilDark's history EvilDark and I went a long way... we started wrestling in a dodgy and shady motel back in 2004 and only in Montreal... then we went afterwards into an even shadier motel because it was cheaper. You can tell the motel was cheap because you can feel and smell the mold and the humidity in the air. Yes, it was that bad. It made the difference between paying 120$ a night or 40$ a night. For that kind of bargain, there was a huge difference, but since I was piss poor back then, I opted for the cheaper one. EvilDark was patient and determined: he was always the one doing the 3 hours drive from Quebec to Montreal, often wrestled only for 4 hours (we eventually extended it to 8 hours after a couple of meets, then an overnight) and driving back another 3 hours back home. Now, EvilDark probably spent more time in his car than he would actually wrestle me. He built this trust with me through patience, never pushing me. We continued to meet every couple of months and we wrestled several more times in that same cheap motel until one night, there was a very loud couple that was fighting upstairs.... interrupting our much needed sleep after our 4 hours non-stop brawl. So, EvilDark then asked me: - "Why don't you come to my home in Quebec City instead? I can host and I have a good amount of space to wrestle and we wouldn't have to sleep and go through this crap". Since then, I would come up to Quebec City once a season to fight him. EvilDark didn't have a beard for quite a while. So, I did tell him: - "If you grew a beard, I would probably fall in love with you...." In the end, he did grow a beard for me. *blush* I almost would have moved to Quebec City back in mid-2008 when I lost my job. EvilDark is very compatible with me and shares most of my interests. He's one of the few who told me that he did not mind me wrestling around at all. Open-minded, nice guy, terrific wrestler (still can't beat him today), if it wasn't about staying close to my family in Montreal, I would probably have made the move. Also back then, my mom started having health problems, so it would have been unfair for me to leave my mom in the care of both my sisters. EvilDark is always very generous with me. He hosted me for several week-ends at his place for free, took me out to restaurants and to the movies, often covering for me and only letting me cover if I insisted because I'd feel bad if he wouldn't let me cover once in a while... He even offered to cover my transportation fees by bus or by train from Montreal to Quebec. He's one of the few people who showed me that he has a big heart and that I should do like him: treat guests and wrestlers who take the time to visit me with generosity or in a similar way. It's also through him that I met Tarzan52 (id 8398) and a couple of other wrestlers in the area. In turn, whenever he visited Montreal, I always made sure to have activities set aside with him like biking and badminton (on top of wrestling, of course). I try to be a good host like him and I tried my best to hook him up with other wrestlers. We are still very good wrestling buddies today and I try to bring him to wrestling events. In fact, he's been with me at 2 Wrestlefests (2014 and 2016), but I think I'd like to bring him to the Clash. I'm sure he'll have some fun. EvilDark also progressed in becoming less shy... if you check our past matches, he was pretty concerned about his identity and was only wearing a mask when pictures were taken. In the set we did today, they were all without masks.
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