Football: Texas State vs. Northwestern

[jblaschke]

Disclaimer: Although my background is in journalism and I've covered hundreds of football games from high school through college and NFL, this was the first time I've ever tried to shoot one. It wasn't on assignment, it was just for myself, for practice. I knew it'd be tough, but geeze Louise! I took several hundred shots and promptly threw away half. Of the remainder, these five are the only ones that come close to being decent enough to share.

1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2993794257_0cf3247d38_o.jpg

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2994636042_28b976daec.jpg

3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2993792747_9dcbae3aa6.jpg

4.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/2993791947_7630621da7.jpg

5.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/2993793251_a4b46d26c6_o.jpg

[jblaschke]

No. 5 is my favorite, although I screwed up and framed it about two feet too far to the right. :confused:

My screw-ups are many, but it was a learning experience. I was shooting with my old EF 75-300mm. No IS. It's old and slow. I also bungled my camera settings, cleverly shooting shutter priority all day set at 500 to stop the action. Well, that worked fine, except that much of the time the camera set the aperture between 8 and 11, so I got almost no background blur. Next time I'll have to go manual I suppose. Still, it wasn't a complete waste for my first time out. If I'd been working for a paper, I'd be able to turn these in without shame (we were forced to run far worse some Friday nights with deadline looming. Ah, I remember it well).

[lecherro]

5 is my hero. Love the eyes that say almost gottcha. Somehow those eyes draw me into what this player could be thinking. Great capture.

[jblaschke]

Thanks, Lecherro. I agree--being able to resolve eyes in football shots makes all the difference in emotional impact.

[jblaschke]

Two more I found that hadn't downloaded from my card. I like the second one--that helmet's seen action.

6.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2997784265_7f4e5c1e1a.jpg?v=0

7.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/2998624586_41c41e2b5f_o.jpg

[yf920]

no.5 is good:)