High School Freshman Football (this isn't easy)

Wow, shooting football is hard!

I watch football for hours each week on TV and can follow the action well, but it's a much different game when shooting. Wow is all I can say. That was hard.

Local team. Got a couple decent shots.

Any C&C is much appreciated. I know a lot about football, but not a lot about shooting football. I'm using a Rebel XS (slow when shooting raw) and a Canon F/5.6 100-400 L USM IS.

I'm getting a lot of blur due to camera shake and more. Any suggestions? And what mode of IS, one or two?

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IS isn't going to help you in sports. Best thing to do is turn it off.

If you're getting blur, try bumping up your shutter speed. Set your lens to wide open (f/5.6) and raise the ISO until you get a shutter speed of at least 1/500. This should be easy to do during the daytime. Its much more difficult at night football games. The higher the better though. You should have no problems getting shutter speeds of 1/1000 or more. That should help with the blur.

Try to shoot the kids head on as much as possible. Your images don't look too bad. Get faces and the ball as much as possible. And keep practicing; it definitely takes a lot of that! Have fun and post more from other games!

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #8744736
Any C&C is much appreciated. I know a lot about football, but not a lot about shooting football. I'm using a Rebel XS (slow when shooting raw) and a Canon F/5.6 100-400 L USM IS.

I'm getting a lot of blur due to camera shake and more. Any suggestions? And what mode of IS, one or two?

During the day, I also shoot youth football with a 100-400L. You have plenty of daylight, so keep your shutter speeds between 1/800" - 1/1000" and turn IS off.

The IS on the 100-400 is older generation and takes a while to spin up.

#1 really is my favorite. let me tell you...football isnt easy..thats for sure

#2...is that the quarterback getting his head ripped off?

As others have said if you are shooting day time games camera shake should not be a problem. My IS is always on I don't know why everyone says to turn it off. I find it much more stable with is on, especially hand held. That is on my 300 I don't have IS on my 70-200

Same as Dan-O. I shoot with IS on all the time. And BTW, most of your shots were acceptably sharp...a couple exceptionally sharp. Last one was OOF, but for the most part pretty good.

Other bit of comment on your work: Crop much more closely. Good example are the three kids at right of #2 pic aren't really part of the action. Crop them out!

As others have mentioned, 1/500 is absolute minium. Preferably 1/800 to 1/1000 will stop HS Football quite successfully.

One tip: PLAN what you want to shoot rather than reacting and spray shooting everything. First down is probably going to be a run play. Prefocus on the QB and wait for the handoff. Keep your focus button pressed down and try to isolate the running back. Shoot off 3-4 frames and you might get the running back coming through the hole. Stuff like that.

Have fun and keep shooting!

dave

Dan-o wrote in post #8746902
My IS is always on I don't know why everyone says to turn it off. I find it much more stable with is on, especially hand held. That is on my 300

snyderman wrote in post #8747401
Same as Dan-O. I shoot with IS on all the time.

The stabilizer on the 100-400L is the first generation IS. I have the same lens as the OP... it's much slower than the stabilizer on my other IS lenses.

If you don't prefocus for about a second to let the gyro spin up, then you can get some wobble. I've tried it both ways. My rule of thumb is that if the shutter speed is faster than the focal length (e.g., faster than 1/400"), then I turn IS off.

If IS works for you at all times on your 300/2.8L, that's fine, but I'm only recommending that the OP try turning it off on a few high-SS shots.

snyderman wrote in post #8747401
One tip: PLAN

I'll add just a little to Dave's suggestion and that is to not only plan for what play might be run and where to but where you think the game itself will develop. I see guys (ladies too so I can be an equal opportunity critic :lol run all over the place during games and then complain that the game must be out to get them since they plays always seem to be happening elsewhere. Riiiiiiigggghtttt, its a big cosmic plot to keep shooters from capturing a game. Think ahead based on what you are watching. Is one team much stronger offensively, do they tend to run certain plays or key on certain athletes? Watch just a little and you'll begin to get into the flow (almost seeing things the way the coach might) and that will help you position accordingly. Rule two on that is to then be patient. Let the action come to you and let the play develop. If you read things right, plays will come your way and you'll have you chance for that portfolio shot. This brings me to the last rule...be ready. After all this thought and such, make sure the play doesn't happen in front of you and you aren't ready to nail it.

Guess that's my addition to the thread. I can't tell you how many times some of our local "pros" have asked how I manage to get so many usable shots even though I don't seem to move very much. Its really not rocket science as you can see above. The downside is that some of these guys probably put in a 10k every game running around so at least there's more exercise involved! Don't get me wrong, there are time to move but don't waste all your time at a game chasing action. Not only can you get plenty if you follow some of the "rules" above but by changing focal lengths and orientation, you can even get many different "feels' from the same shooting location.

namasste wrote in post #8747697
...many times some of our local "pros" have asked how I manage to get so many usable shots even though I don't seem to move very much.

...there are time to move but don't waste all your time at a game chasing action. Not only can you get plenty if you follow some of the "rules" above but by changing focal lengths and orientation, you can even get many different "feels' from the same shooting location.

+1

I've found that I can stay at about the 20 while the team drives up the field. As the line of scrimmage passes me, I get good shots of the QB hand offs, plus good faces of the defenders, plus good faces of the running backs as they run laterally to my sideline before taking the turn upfield.

When the line of scrimmage crosses the 50, I'll move to the other 20 yard line as they approach the endzone.

Add in a couple of sessions behind the endzone and you end up with a pretty good mix of close/wide/front/rear angles.

clarence wrote in post #8747787
+1

I've found that I can stay at about the 20 while the team drives up the field. As the line of scrimmage passes me, I get good shots of the QB hand offs, plus good faces of the defenders, plus good faces of the running backs as they run laterally to my sideline before taking the turn upfield.

When the line of scrimmage crosses the 50, I'll move to the other 20 yard line as they approach the endzone.

Add in a couple of sessions behind the endzone and you end up with a pretty good mix of close/wide/front/rear angles.

yep, basically what I do as well. I think it's especially effective for night games when using flash since you get a better sense for exposure in those three locations (rather than remembering every hot spot/dark zone setting) and the athletes also tend to be at more "consistent" distance from you which also helps on exposure since you are required to make fewer adjustments and can spend more time shooting. Again, just my experience but that's how I do it.

camera shake, do not be afraid to use a monopod. shoot from your knees.

all of the Shutter speed advice is good. Plus - remember - you are shooting FRESHMAN who are really not as fast and hard hitting as the varsity. It gets fun! Sooner or later you will get a dark day or night game and your lens will really challenge you with motion blur. Your pic's here are quite good. on the contrary, I also always have trouble with the blown out white on bright days. (i.e. your helmets).

As for shooting football, it is actually a simple sport to shoot, in my opinion, baring the ref's butt in your way and multiple lineman. Soccer Kills me! Know the plays. Start with the QB if you want to shoot the play. Position yourself 15-20 yards ahead of the team you shooting. (you will have no ref in your way, nor any team players/coaches).

Follow the QB withe focus and keep you other eye OPEN and on the RB's. You will learn to see the QB's hand for pass or run. If he is passing, you can always shift the camera to a receiver and defensive-back, while looking where the QB is looking. (if that makes any sense.)

For shooting defensive players, reverse your position on the sidelines and be 10-15 yards behind the play.

Night football is rough, as you can tell by all the many posts here on night football, flash & ISO!!!

Enjoy! Keep up the good work. And just when you get it right ... you'll go inside for basketball/wrestling/s​wimming, etc!!

Thanks for the great advice.

As per #2, that's actually the running back getting his head torn off. Yeah, he got nailed pretty hard, but luckily he had a good blocker take some of the impact for him.

The running back was consistently getting good yardage, but with a lot of fumbles and interceptions thrown, our team didn't fare well.

#5 is my personal favorite, because it was an amazing catch (unfortunately the wrong team). It was third and eight, and our team held them to just two yards for the entire drive. Then, on third they went to the air and just nailed a perfect 35 yard pass. And then the receiver actually broke those two tackles and scored on about a twenty yard run.

Then they got the conversion.

Then later they scored again with no conversion and won 14-0.

Mike,

those are darned good shots! Looks like for the most part, you did have high enough shutter speeds. And if you're anything close to new with a heavier lens and sports shooting, proper and better handling will come as you get more comfortable wielding the gear!

I just shot a JV game yesterday. Cold, gray skies for the most part with momentary breaks of sun peeking through the clouds. I was able to get shutter speeds of 1/800 on the low side and 1/2000 when the sun came out for more than a few seconds.

On a sunny day like that, maybe setting the camera to the mode, (AV or TV ... can never remember which because I don't use them!) where you can keep the shutter speed constant at 1/1000 or 1/1250 and let the camera choose the corresponding apeture setting might help. this way, you'll always have fast enough shutter to take most of the motion blur out of the equation for you.

Good luck and keep showing up and shooting the kids! Lots of fun, isn't it?!!

dave