Football in the Rain

It was a cold, windy, and wet day. It rained for most of the game and at times very hard. I brought everything but the kitchen sink to try and keep my camera equipment dry (umbrellas, large black trash bags, paper towls, regular towls, lens cloth, duct tape, ultra large ziplock bags, 5th of whisky). Okay, just kidding about the whisky, but I brought everything else. I didn't know what I was going to do until I got out on the field. I ended up starting with the ultra large ziplock bag. I tore a hole with my finger and then stretched it over the tip of the lens. It fit very tightly and I didn't have any problems at all. I put the bag opening at the bottom and slipped my hands into the bag to operate the zoom and shutter button. I looked through the bag into the view finder. I could see the subject clearly enough but I couldn't judge if the shot was in focus or not. Luckily, most of the time it was in focus. For the brief few minutes when it wasn't raining, I just raised the bag over the rear of the camera and left it attached to the front of the lens. My camera stayed completely dry for the whole game.

If I planned on shooting in the rain very often, I'd invest in something designed specifically to keep camera equipment dry. I don't plan to shoot in the rain every again!! It was miserable. With that said, I did throw an extra large ziplock into my camera bag...just in case.

Here are a couple of photos from the game. I've only shot football a couple of times and this is the first (and hopefully last) time shooting in the rain. Any suggestions for improvement would certainly be appreciated.

I wish they stopped making nfl games in the domes so we can see old football style in the rain and mud again like the highscool and college kids play.

Thanks! Any C&C on the photos?

You could up the color a little bit on the photos. Since the rain makes it look a little more dull. The first picture I would personally prefer if you had the front of ther jersey so you can see someones face whether it be the QB or the defensive guy tackling.

Nice shots, I'm with jsanz football is supposed to be played the outdoors.
I remember one year while covering high school football for a local weekly, it rained something like 7 or 8 games. The first playoff game an intern for our daily was shooting with a towel over her camera, I friend was keeping dry ones and her spare body, and I was using the plastic bag trick. The next game it rained again and we both had a laugh, she was using bags and I towels.

Jack

jsanz11 wrote in post #4387873
You could up the color a little bit on the photos. Since the rain makes it look a little more dull. The first picture I would personally prefer if you had the front of ther jersey so you can see someones face whether it be the QB or the defensive guy tackling.

I'll try and bump the color up a little. I also agree with your comment on the first picture. A front view would have been much more interesting.

The first pic is great though!
You can see the defender in mid flight, thats awsesome!
The color looks fine to me. What it should and did look like in the rain. Im not a big fan of action shots looking like super saturated lanscape feel to them.

mikeassk wrote in post #4389170
The first pic is great though!
You can see the defender in mid flight, thats awsesome!
The color looks fine to me. What it should and did look like in the rain. Im not a big fan of action shots looking like super saturated lanscape feel to them.

Thanks!

Boy that looks wet! I've shot a few games where I had to juggle the camera and an umbrella, it's never any fun. Especially on Friday night!

Unfortunately it looks lke you were on field turf... I always hope for a good mud bowl in a big rain storm, it makes the pictures more dramatic when the players are coated in mud.

I like the first one, it's a shame you weren't on the other side though.

The second could use a little brightening I think, just to get under the helmet a bit.

I think your focus is off on the third, it looks like the guy on the ground is in focus instead of the ball carrier.

The first one could use a little straightening; the bleachers are just a tad crooked. For the most part your horizons look good though.

Focusing in the rain is always tough. Your camera's AF has trouble picking between the drops of rain and the players. You've captured a few good moments, though, however the last one is definitely out of focus.

I would boost the contrast a little, and like Kevin said, do a bit of brightening on the runner's face on the second one. You can do this by selecting his face (using one of the lasso tools in PhotoShop then doing a Shadows/Highlights adjustment on the selected area - be careful - normally not good to go any more than 20% on the shadows, and don't do anything to the highlights).

If you shoot a lot of football (or even some other sports at higher levels, where everyone doesn't run and hide at the first grey cloud sighting), good rain gear is essential equipment.

Thanks for the suggestions! I recently got CS3 but I haven't taken the time to learn how it works. The face highlighting suggestons will certainly be worth a try.

I'm shooting the regional playoff game today and there is a 30% chance of rain. I'll certainly be packing a plastic bag just in case. Fortunately it's supposed to be 70 degrees so at least it won't be as cold as my last outing where it was sub 40.

Really appreciate the comments!