High School football (first post)

[ShootinHoops]

Hello all, here are some shots of a high school game last Friday. This is the third season I have shot football, and am looking for any feedback/advice. BTW, here (North Dakota) it starts getting dark by the second half, and despite fooling around with several settings on my Rebel XT, I havent had any success with dusk-time lighting. I use primarily a Canon 75-300 lens and a Tamron 200-500-which I just got and this was my first outing with it.

[liza]

Buy faster glass. That's the only thing you can do if you're shooting night football. The Sigma 70-200 would be a fairly affordable alternative as would the Canon 200L with a teleconverter.

[cbock]

my first try at football was with my sigma 70-300. i found it to be too slow even in good light. others here have shown me it was probably my talent (or lack thereof) not the lens. however, since i bought my sigma 70-200 f2.8 and upgraded from a 300d to a 30d, i've had much better success. also, i did what you are doing and received lots of valueable feedback.

lots of good info from other members in my thread
it's really only for day football though.

good luck. it's tons of fun and good challenge!

[troutbreath]

cbock,
Have you had more keepers with the 30D, as opposed to the 300D? I keep reading on this board that the 30D (and 20D, for that matter) are optimized for large aperture lenses, and have considered upgrading. But, before I do that, I want to make sure I have a sound reason for spending the $$. (I'll probably wait to see what Canon does with their pricing following the 400D release).

[cbock]

i certainly have had more keepers! however, i believe the two most significant factors for my keeper rate increasing are using what i've learned on this board and the much improved AF of the 30d. remember though, i was coming from the 300D not the XT.

i can't speak to the 'optimized for large aperture lenses' comment. one thing to remember with the 400D, the body is not as durable as the 30D. unfortunately, i've had the durability of the 30D tested by my wife. it survived a major fall. my 300d would not have made it. something to consider if you're shooting football.

[troutbreath]

Thanks for the input. I'd definitely move to the 30D, I'm just hoping Canon moves the 30D closer to me now that they have something new on the market.

I agree with your suggestion for OP, too. I have leared a lot from this board about shooting sports.

[cbock]

seems there's a thread about the 30D price dropping.

i've got some good suggestions from the OP's first responder, liza.

[liza]

With the new B&H code for September (I think it's pssept), the 30D is around $1100. Check the market watch section, but I'm pretty sure this is what I read.

[ShootinHoops]

Originally Posted by liza

Buy faster glass. That's the only thing you can do if you're shooting night football. The Sigma 70-200 would be a fairly affordable alternative as would the Canon 200L with a teleconverter.

Thank you...so is the Tamron I just spent $1,000 on not as good as I was led to beleive?

[DwightMcCann]

I was told ISO1600, HSS flash, f/3.5 at 1/350th. I used this with my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and 580EX last year to pretty good effect. It was advice from the local newspaper photographer along with other advice like, "Don't stand on the sideline between the side judge and the direction of the offense" ... this was after I had been run over a couple of times!

[superdiver]

Dwight, how far away will that 580EX be effective too?

[DwightMcCann]

Originally Posted by superdiver

Dwight, how far away will that 580EX be effective too?

About half the width of the field it is very helpful but burns batteries like there was no tomorrow using the HSS ... I finally bought the Canon external battery pack so I wouldn't have to make two changes during a game, so hope that will help. I am shooting for the quarterback's Dad but since I give images to the school they let me do anything (and my cameras look impressive!)

[superdiver]

Half the width of the field!?!?!? that amazing....

do you ever use it during basketball? How do people like you and Gmen use the flashes and NOT blind the players? I would think they would get upset...

[DwightMcCann]

Well, it just acts as fill under the helmets a bit so you can see faces a little clearer.

I don't shoot sports often and only shot one basketball game with adequate available light. Gavin has a setup he uses at basketball that is probably documented in his Q&A over in Talking About Photography. Flash is used a lot in basketball even on the backboards but I have no idea what the impact on players is. Sports are odd ... some, like tennis or golf you are not allowed to sneeze and others like football and volleyball almost anything goes. Guess it depends on who sets the etiquette.