Photographing NFL/ college football

Hey all. I have some contacts in credentials. I was wondering what the best thing to do such as glass and spot. Is it best to use a 300mm IS 2.8 or use a 100-400mm IS? Should I stay at one side of the field or should I walk up and down the side lines? Do I have any rights to these images? thanks.

Watch what the other photographers do. And use the 300mm lens.

The 300 F/2.8L IS is your best bet. As for positioning, it all depends on the lighting. Its good to get frontlighting, but if you are in a backlit spot, bumb exposure 1 to 2 stops and use spot metering. If its a night game, adjust ISO to get a minumum of 1/500th shutter.

You'll want to be outside the 40's, thats normally where the team is on the sidelines. Endzone shots can be spectacular, I would recommend a 70-200 for those. Try and get faces and players coming towards you in the shots, not all that easy at times

Easiest shots to get are when the quarterback and running back are outside the pocket, usually isolated and ready to photograph. The kicking game is another favorite target that can be easy to get, just as the punter is about to kick the ball or the place kicker and holder together at a extra point try or field goal. If you are a student of the game, you can predict runs, passes, blitzes and such. Try and be focused on a running back if you think its going to be a run, the quarteback releasing the ball is great too if you think its a pass. IE, 3rd and 15 will most likely be a pass play, 3rd and 2 will be a run most times.

You'll want to use AI Servo, burst mode, F/2.8, minimum of 1/500th (adjust ISO accordingly to achieve this). I like evaluative metering except when backlit, then its spot metering. I hope this helps, good luck and lets see some photos

In an effort to get educated, may I ask why the 300 over the 100-400? I'm not doubting the wisdom of your advice, just wanting to know why. The 100-400 certainly offers more reach, more versatility, and it is a high quality lens so I'm assuming that the 300 wins out for speed and far superior optics. Is that the case or is there something else that I'm missing? Thanks in advance.

The prime offers more speed, better back ground blur to isolate the players and better images contrast and sharper. The 300/2.8 with a 1.4tc will still be better than the 100-400.

Little Fish wrote in post #2224108
In an effort to get educated, may I ask why the 300 over the 100-400? I'm not doubting the wisdom of your advice, just wanting to know why. The 100-400 certainly offers more reach, more versatility, and it is a high quality lens so I'm assuming that the 300 wins out for speed and far superior optics. Is that the case or is there something else that I'm missing? Thanks in advance.

If you have bright daylight, the 100-400L would be ok. You need fast shutter speeds to freeze the action, F/2.8 really helps with this

Here are two shots using the 100-400mm. I don't know if you will be taking other bodies or glass but if you're only using one camera body I would use the 100-400 because of the simple fact that you won't miss out on the close up action. I think that would upset me more than anything else. I posted these in an earlier thread so I appologize if anyone gets upset over this. As for field position, I would follow the action around. Unfortunately, all the other photographers will be there as well. Just go where they go untill you are comfortable with doing your own thing. It all depends on what kind of shot you want.

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if its a night game, no doubt, stick with the 300 2.8, it will blow the 100-400 out of the water in every way, rather have a crisp in focus shot at 300mm than a crapy blured POS shot at 100mm-299mm or 301-400mm. in a day game you could get away with the 100-400 though, although focus and background blue will still be better on the 300 2.8. as for the game, watch the pros and kind of get a feel for their habits, learn how to position yourself to take advantage of the lighting, keep track of which ways the plays seem to be running. and before you move from one end of the field to the other make sure the game isnt about to turn back and come right at you ( like a 4th down or anything). really if you have an understanding of the game just follow your instincts. after a few games it gets a lot easier, just got to get out there and try. ohh, and have fun, being on the sidelines is a thrill, never ceased to excite me. as for the question about the rights, i guess that comes down to if the person you are shooting for has said otherwise, but i have the rights to all the shots i shoot, so theres no general rule against it.

In all the HS and college games I've shot, I've never once seen a pro using a 100-400, FWIW. I once saw a pro using one at a HS soccer game, during mid-day, though. It's a perfectly decent lens, and not wanting to get into a battle over it, I think you'd be a lot happier with a 300 f2.8 and a 1.4TC. This way you'd be at 420mm f4.0, and would be a full stop faster than the 100-400 is at its max focal length, and as Billy said, you'll be a lot happier with the background blur, AKA bokeh.

Or, you could do what I do, go with a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 which gives you the flexibility of a zoom AND the speed of a constant f2.8 lens. FYI, I also tote a Canon 70-200 f2.8L on a second body for close-up action, though I don't use it nearly often enough 'cuz the Sigma is so flexible.

As for positioning, watch the other pros. You'll only be able to go on the sidelines from the goal line to the 25 (maybe the 30), then you'll hit the player's box. Shooting from the sidelines: use the following as a rough guide: 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, shooting in the offensive backfield. Great for handoffs, QB shots (especially from the QB’s “open” side – the side showing his face) and QB sack shots. Also great for shooting backfield fumbles and defensinve tackles at or near the line of scrimmage. 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, shooting in the defensive backfield. Great way to catch big running plays just as they break past the line of scrimmage (like the shot below - a 50 yard TD run last Saturday, shot from about the 30 yard line - I was cheating a bit into the player's box on the visiting side of the field: you can't always get away with this, especially at NFL games), the QB preparing his throw downfield and catching the defense in their element.

The biggest challenges with shooting from the sidelines are:
a. Half of the plays will be on the other side of the field.
b. Many of the plays might be too close for you to catch, or too far away (depending on your lenses)
c. The action is “stacked up” and compressed, meaning that you are looking across 22 players, several officials, errant coaches, down boxes, ball boys, etc., all running right in front of you across maybe a 20 degree field of view. In other words, you’re shooting over, across, around, a lot of very big bodies, none of whom seem to want to cooperate with your desire to get “the shot”.
d. The backgrounds can be really, really messy, with all KINDS of stuff in the way (crowds, players, etc.), making the shots less appealing. Even with the background blur a good f2.8 lens gives you, the cluttered backgrounds can diminish the artistic merit of an otherwise great shot.

Once the play advances to the 35 yard line in the attacking zone (again, depending on your effective focal length - with a 400mm lens, you can do this from the 40 or longer, especially on a 1.6 crop body), head to the back of the end zone to get the running plays and the passes coming right at you.

You'll notice many pros hang out at the back of the end zone for most of the game, with their big (400, 500 and even 600) lenses 'cuz not only do you get great shots back there, but your background is usually a lot less cluttered when shooting from the back of the end zone. When you're shooting in the end zone and the action is coming right at you, literally, you have to stay alert, and be prepared to move out of the way! 500+ pounds of football players running at you under full heads of steam can do a lot of damage to you, not to mention your equipment (Which is worse? That’s your call).

Dennis
http://www.pbase.com/d​mwierz45/sports_shots

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Lenses aside, and I'd do the 300 2.8 by the way, do your homework on the teams that are going to be playing. Are they a passing team or a running team? Who are the "star" players and what side do they line up on? Is this game scheduled to be a "blowout" or evenly matched? Answering these questions, or getting as close to the answer as you can get, will help to determine where you're going to want to be on the field. Keep an eye on the game and the clock. If a team has a weak left-side offensive line, they're more than likely going to run right. If a team has poor pass protection, look for pass receptions in the flats for the offense shots. If the O-line is just poor over all, or the defense is just that good, watch for some spectacular images of the QB getting pasted. Obviously, game situations can change the course of play and you won't have everything laid out for you in stats, but chance favors the prepared mind.

I'm not a pro, but I do photograph my son's HS football games and occasionally a local college gig. Go where the action is....up and down the sidelines, behind the goal and from the visitor's side, from the ground and standing up.