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Fitness

Capturing Life on the Mat – Doug Kline (Featured Photographer)

For Doug Kline, photography started as a hobby and developed into a passion for capturing grapplers' stories.

Mindith Rahmat

Written by Mindith Rahmat Last updated on Oct 20, 2021

Sometimes in life you know what exactly path you’re on and can plan for every step of the way. Other times, life throws us unexpected surprises that grow organically and develop into more than we could have imagined. For Doug Kline, photography falls into that second category.

Photography began as a past time and a way to capture some of Doug’s son’s wrestling matches. From there, he started taking photos at jiu jitsu meets, and it all grew from there, as he explained:

It started out with me taking pics of my friends and teammates. Then other competitors saw my work and started to request me to cover their matches as well. One of my team mates would post pictures on Facebook and give me photo credit as “D Kline Design.” It had a nice ring to it, so it became my new identity. It got to a point that I had no choice but to start up my own website where competitors could go to view and purchase images of them competing.

What began as a hobby developed into a passion for shooting grappling. For Doug, photographing grapplers is a means of telling a story, not simply capturing movements. As he explained, one of Doug’s favorite stories to capture is the moment of victory or defeat.

I love to capture that raw emotion of the competitor at the end of their fight whether it be an exciting win or a devastating loss. I captured a particular moment at a tournament that explains this to a tee. It was a close back-and-forth fight, and the fighter who was losing managed an incredible “come from behind” victory. As the referee raised the hand of the winner, you saw the joy in one man’s face and the agony in the opponent’s face.

Doug noted that the most difficult aspects of action photography are lighting and timing. “There are no ‘do-overs’ in action sports,” noted Doug. “If you miss that shot, it’s gone forever.” To address this challenge, Doug gets into the action himself, which is his favorite part of shooting meets. “My favorite part is being down on the floor, just a few feet from the action. Other than the referee, you literally have the best seat in the house.”

But in the end, the joy of photography all boils down to creating a memory for athletes to remember, as Doug described:

I absolutely love showing an image on the back of my camera to a competitor who just walked off the mat and seeing their response to an epic shot. To be able to capture a key point in someone’s life and provide an image that will last a life time is pretty damn cool, if you ask me.

Photos courtesy of D-Kline Design Photography:

To see more photos, visit D-Kline Design Photography.

Mindith Rahmat

About Mindith Rahmat

Mindith is a born mover. She has spent her life exploring various athletic disciplines, starting with ballet and modern dance from an early age. She went on to become a E-RYT 500 certified yoga therapist and teacher and discovered CrossFit after the birth of her daughter.

Mindith coached CrossFit at a number of boxes near her home in Southern California, which lead to her involvement in Russian kettlebells and Olympic weightlifting. She has coached a wide variety of populations and cares deeply for women’s health, specializing in pregnancy and postpartum fitness. She is currently studying the principles of Natural Movement and Kettlebell Sport, and is working to complete an additional teacher training in the Taoist art of Yin Yoga with Master Paulie Zink.

Mindith founded Breaking Muscle in 2011. Over 5 million people a month have visited the site, hundreds of thousands of them follow Breaking Muscle on social media, nearly 2,000 coaches have written or appeared on its pages, and there are thousands of free, fully-formed training plans freely available. Breaking Muscle has won numerous awards in the industry and is recognized for pioneering new approaches to fitness and coaching techniques. In 2021, Breaking Muscle was acquired by Barbend. Mindith continues to devote time to her kids, pursue her doctorate in psychology, do research, and teach.

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