Photographer in Perth, Western Australia
First Tae Kwon Do
I tendered my resignation from First Tae Kwon Do in early April 2024, and concluded my duties in that martial art organisation over the following months. My resignation came into effect last month, in June 2024, and I am no longer associated with First Tae Kwon Do under Master Vernon Low, Chief Instructor John O’Brien,… Continue reading Moving forward
First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia recently held its winter grading examination for 2024. Master Vernon Low, the school’s master and examiner, and Chief Instructor John O’Brien, 6th Dan, travelled from Adelaide to conduct the event alongside Chief Instructor (WA) Dane Meade, 5th Dan. Apart from the gradings, Master Low and the Chief Instructors taught… Continue reading June 2024 action
On a cool autumn afternoon earlier this month, First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia’s black belt members and invited senior belt members trained together, and potential black belt candidates undertook a practice grading examination. The two hours of intensive training started with warm-up exercises, proceeded through basic technique drills, and culminated in board breaking tests,… Continue reading May 2024 action
First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia held its autumn grading recently under the head of the school—Master Vernon Low, from Adelaide. I was again shooting with my Nikon D700 and Nikkor AF-S 70–200 mm f/2.8 lens, giving me a reasonable amount of telephoto reach and typically excellent background blur in the out-of-focus areas. Students at… Continue reading March 2024 action
The last quarter of training in 2023 has been a busy one for First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia’s members. Several senior belts at the highest coloured belt rank (1st Kup; brown belt with black tip) underwent preliminary testing for black belt status in October. As normal, most candidates did not make it through. From… Continue reading October to December 2023 action
After many years of shooting almost exclusively with an 85 mm prime lens, I picked up my 70–200 mm telephoto zoom lens again, so visual perspective may look different in these photographs. (I will include some technical observations at the end of this post.) First Tae Kwon Do students have continued training through the winter,… Continue reading July to September 2023 action
First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia held its winter grading examination recently. Master Vernon Low and Chief Instructor John O’Brien flew to Perth from Adelaide, joining Chief Instructor (WA) Dane Meade and the WA instructors and black belt members in this major event. FTKD WA students attended as candidates to be tested for promotion in… Continue reading June 2023 action
First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia held its first grading examination of 2023 recently. Apart from the many coloured belt students who earned promotions in rank, several instructors were promoted through the higher Dan ranks (2nd Dan and above). To start off today’s photographs, we have some girls demonstrating excellent side kick and front snap… Continue reading March 2023 action
Time is a limited resource for many people in the present economic climate, but First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia members have continued training hard through the summer. After many years of training, our newest adult black belt member achieved his 1st Dan ranking at the December 2022 grading examination under Master Vernon Low. The… Continue reading December 2022 to February 2023 action
At the recent First Tae Kwon Do Western Australia grading examination, we had two candidates applying for promotion to the rank of 1st Dan black belt. Both applicants ran through a series of tests, including basic techniques, self-defence techniques, and breaking techniques. A key part of the grading is several rounds of free sparring, or… Continue reading September 2022 action