First sideline shoot

[SenorNikonMan]

I'm going to be photographing a college football game here in Texas tomorrow night. My son-in-law publishes a local sports magazine and he got me a media pass to be on the sidelines. I have done wildlife photography for many years, but this will be my first on-field football game so I need some advice.

I have a Nikon D200 with an 18 - 200mm F3.5 - 5.6 VR lens. While this is a great lens, I know that it is too slow for a night football game so I'll be using that lens to take shots of the tailgaiters and possibly some of the pre-game activities. I also have a Tamron 400mm F4 manual focus lens. My son-in-law is renting me a Nikkor 70 - 200mm F2.8 VR lens as well.

Here are my questions:

Should I bother to carry the Tamron 400mm lens around with me during the game or should I just stick with the 70 - 200mm lens? It would be much easier to just do the latter, but will I be missing shots if I don't have a longer lens with me?

Should I use a monopod or can I handhold the 70 - 200mm lens and still get sharp shots?

What ISO and minimum shutter speed should I set my D200 at?

What WB setting should I use?

I'm sure that I'll have more questions later, but for now having these answered will be a great help. Thanks!

[JSPhoto]

First off welcome to the forum!

Monopod: I don't like them on the sidelines, players can be injured, and as a photographer I don't see a need for them, even shooting with a 400mm they are not needed. I can't count the number of times I have been hit with them on the sidelines. If you use one, make sure your insurance is paid up.

As for the 400mm, it depends on the lighting. If your at a D1 school you should have plenty of light.

The 70-200mm this will be your main lens. You won't get real close to get good sidelines shots of players on the bench,

Now if your at anything but a D1 game things are much more relaxed, more like being at a high school game, and the lighting is the same as some high schools too.

As for your settings, without having shot at that location I can't tell you. You'll need to do some test shots and look at your histogram and go from that. Same with WB.

OT may be able to tell you how low a shutter speed will work on your setup as he shoots Nikon, but I can go 1/160 if needed but normally use 200 or 250 with ISO from 800 to 1600 sepending on lighting. I also use a flash for most night games set to fill flash to get the shadows out.

Hope this helps.
JS

[Old Timer]

John pretty well covered it all. As to shutter speed I wouldn't think about going any lower than 1/160 and then only if there is no other alternative. I like to stick at about 1/250 and you will still get a some blur there. When shooting with the D200 I can go with a little higher ISO than with the D2h, but prefere to stay in the 800 range if possible. On most high school fields this is impossible however without the aid of some flash. If you get a little blur at the feet or the off hand or the ball leaving the hand something like that it can enhance rather than detract from you photo, so don't sweat it. The amount of light that you have on the field is the big question mark. Pray for good light and you'll have good pics even with the f4 but if they aren't stick with the f2.8. Good luck and welcome to the forum. Be sure and share your results with us.

[SenorNikonMan]

Thanks JS! Your answers did help. It is a D1 game I will be photographing at.

I'm still new at digital photography, having finally made the jump from my F3's to my D200 a couple of months ago, and I don't know how to read a histogram. Where can I find out more about how to interpret them?

[JSPhoto]

Some D1 stadiums are like shooting in daylight with the lights on. That makes shooting easier. OT will have to help on the histogram and the Nikon's. . As for how to read a histogram do a google search as unfortunately I don't have time to explain as I have a two hour drive to tonights game

JS

[Old Timer]

Check out this info, it should help.

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=histogram

OT

[JSPhoto]

Oh, you will want to get there early and get the sideline rules from those in charge or a "regular". They get pretty strict about locations you shoot from. If you take your monopod for the 400 keep in mind you'll be going up and down the sideline, sometimes running with 50 other shooters. It can be a madhouse on the sidelines, elbow to elbow. And part of the ettiquette is the TV crews have priority and WILL get in your way, but do not get in their way or you won't get credentialed again. Also on the sidelines watch out for the place kicker practicing as I have seen photogs get kicked or hit with the ball not paying attention.
Do not turn your back on the field during play and don't look at your photos during a play, thats when ya get runover.

JS

[SenorNikonMan]

Those are great tips JS! Thanks! I know that I am going into this as a complete greenhorn, when it comes to shooting a football game, so I can use all the advice I can get. I can tell already that my experience as a wildlife photographer won't help me too much when it comes to shooting a football game from the sidelines. I'm used to sitting in a photo blind for hours upon hours and waiting for something to show up that I can photograph. I have a feeling that I'm in for quite a learning experience tomorrow night. I just hope that I, and my equipment (especially the rented lens), come out of it in one piece.

[SenorNikonMan]

Here is a link to what I consider to be my best shots from the football game I photographed Saturday night:

http://leguerra.sharpcast.com/albums.../4_17196620638

(Click on "View Slideshow" in the upper right hand corner of this page to view the pics in a slideshow format.)

My son-in-law wanted pics of the pre-game activities so the first shots are of students tailgating. He also wanted me to get some individual shots of some of the players so I took some during the pre-game warm-ups too.

Apparently my son-in-law thinks I did O.K. because he wants me to shoot another game for his magazine later in the season. I'd like to improve on what I did this time, so I'd appreciate your comments on and criticisms of these pics. Especially of the ones I took during the game.

I know that I need to work on blurring my backgrounds more, I shoot have shot in aperture priority mode at 2.8 instead of in program mode, and I know that I need to work on getting better colors, but other than that what else can I do to improve the next time? Thanks!

[JSPhoto]

I'd say you did pretty darn good for the first time out!

What I would suggest on some are:

Use the Highlights & Shadows to bring out faces and other details lost in the shadows
I wouldn't worry too much about action shots that don't have the ball. If it's a reaction shot, good or bad they don't need a ball.
The one in the endzone I'd focus on the player and have the officials out of focus, otherwise great job. :thumbsup:

John

[VinnyC01]

Here is a link to what I consider to be my best shots from the football game I photographed Saturday night:

http://leguerra.sharpcast.com/albums.../4_17196620638

I really love some of the shots. "The jumper" "#10 making a tackle" "The Field goal or EP"

My least fav: the fat guy! come on man ...

[JSPhoto]

I really love some of the shots. "The jumper" "#10 making a tackle" "The Field goal or EP"

My least fav: the fat guy! come on man ...

lol, but it's ALL part of the game! :thumbsup:

JS

[SenorNikonMan]

Something I need to improve on the next time I take pics for my son-in-law are the backgrounds. As I said before, I should've had my camera set to Aperture Priority mode at f2.8 instead of in Program mode at whatever f/stop the camera selected for me. That would've made the backgrounds more out of focus and made the players stand out more.

One of the pics I especially wish I had done that with was the one where #81 is flying through the air with his legs and his arms all spread out during warm-ups. I really like the pic, but the player blends in too much with the background.

I showed that pic to my brother Juan who is a wiz at photo-shopping pics and I asked him if he could blur the background for me. Well he did and I really like the way it came out. As a matter of fact, he did three different versions for me. He even created a zoom effect in one of them. Here is a link to an album that shows the original and the three different versions he came up with:

http://leguerra.sharpcast.com/albums.../4_17196735721

The first one is the original, the second is a cropped version of the original and the other three are blurred and/or zoomed.

What do you think? Potential cover shot?

[JSPhoto]

Something I need to improve on the next time I take pics for my son-in-law are the backgrounds. As I said before, I should've had my camera set to Aperture Priority mode at f2.8 instead of in Program mode at whatever f/stop the camera selected for me. That would've made the backgrounds more out of focus and made the players stand out more.

One of the pics I especially wish I had done that with was the one where #81 is flying through the air with his legs and his arms all spread out during warm-ups. I really like the pic, but the player blends in too much with the background.

I showed that pic to my brother Juan who is a wiz at photo-shopping pics and I asked him if he could blur the background for me. Well he did and I really like the way it came out. As a matter of fact, he did three different versions for me. He even created a zoom effect in one of them. Here is a link to an album that shows the original and the three different versions he came up with:

http://leguerra.sharpcast.com/albums.../4_17196735721

The first one is the original, the second is a cropped version of the original and the other three are blurred and/or zoomed.

What do you think? Potential cover shot?

Cover shot? nope, he's not catching the ball, and thats the catch 22, nice photoshop work though.
Instead of shooting in those modes shoot in Manual mode and select you ISO dhutter speed and aperature, those other modes are pretty useless for sports to be honest. I wish thsy'd drop most of them on the pro bodies completly.
So are you going to buy that lens now your brothers got you shooting these?



JS

[JETA]

Welcome to the forum! It's all been gone over, but wanted to say just a few things.

You did fantastic for your first time out. Your pics would have been even better if you tossed P mode in the trash.

When I first came here I'd have different assignments for each game I shot. I think my first game I used aperture priority at 2.8 (which is a must for sports imo) and the next game I was fully manual. Now it's just second nature to me adjusting everything, as I go.

I swear it's not as scary as it sounds and since you have the equipment, go for it!

Again, welcome!

[SenorNikonMan]

Thanks JS and JETA for the kind words and for the advice. I can kick myself for not using M or at least AP mode for these shots. I have been a photographer too long to make a beginner mistake like that. But the fact that it was my first sideline shoot combined with the fact that I'm not yet comfortable enough with my D200 to remember how to change the settings without having to either look them up or scroll up and down the menus until I found what I was looking for had me very distracted.

Hopefully, as you say JETA, as I do this more often and as I get more comfortable with my camera, it will become second nature to me too. In the meantime, I'm glad that I was able to get some shots that my son-in-law is happy with and can use in his magazine.