August 17, 2007 - Kahuku’s Jray Galeai coughs up the ball after being sandwiched by St. Louis’ Kalani McLaughlin, right, and Steven Donohue in the first half at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 400mm 2.8, Manual, 1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent setting

Well, we’re slowly getting back into the swing of football season here. Preps started this weekend, and I was assigned to games Friday and Saturday.

I’ve always enjoyed shooting sports (even though I don’t follow much sports in real life), and football is one of my favorites. I think it’s the thrill of the hunt of trying to get one of those classical “sports photos” that keeps me going. And since those photos are so elusive, I love going back weekend after weekend, trying to get something good.

Of course, not every game, or weekend, or month, is going to produce a winner, but I try to keep a few things in mind when shooting football.

I always shoot with a long lens. For prep sports I use a 300mm or 400mm f2.8. For UH games I like to use the 600mm f4. High school stadiums are usually dark pits of doom, and it’s a stretch to get 1/500 sec at 3200 ISO. Aloha Stadium is nice for UH games (I can get away with shooting at f4), but they don’t turn on all the lights for preps.

There are a number of ways to shoot football. Ask any photog how they do it and you’ll probably get a different theory on how they approach the game. For me, it depends on the type of shot I want. For the above photo, I was looking for a defensive play, so I was behind the goal line hoping for a sack. Luckily it happened… and even luckier the ball popped out for added effect.

August 18, 2007 - Waianae’s Justin Kauwalu tries to fend off Farrington’s Mark Stowers in the first half at Waianae High. Exposure details: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 400mm 2.8, Aperture Priority, 1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 640, Daylight setting

For this photo, I was looking for offense, and was again in the end zone. I like shooting from the end zone because more often than not your background is going to be clean. I like as little as possible in the frame aside from the actual subjects, and with shallow depth of field, this effect is maximized. Even in broad daylight, I’ll shoot wide open so I can get as little depth of field as possible. This Waianae game started early, so there was still some sun when the game started, so I could shoot at a lower ISO.

August 18, 2007 - Farrington’s QB Alefesio Iu is sacked by Waianae’s Wade Keliikipi. Exposure details: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 400mm 2.8, Manual, 1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent setting

This photo was again me looking for defense. Just hanging back in the end zone and waiting for something.

I’m looking forward to shooting UH in a few weeks, and these prep games are a nice warm up.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 19th, 2007 at 7:47 pm and is filed under football, Photo Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.