HS Football field lighting...

A lot of good discussion about night football and how to try and get the best exposure on here. But I think one variable not discussed a whole lot is the brightness, or lack thereof, of the fields we shoot on. So I thought it might be interesting to show each other what each of us is dealing with when we shoot HS football under the lights.

So the next time you shoot HS Football (tonight for me) and it is night time to the point that the field is being lit by the field lights, take a shot of the field at ISO 3200, f/2.8 and 1/500 with no flash or supplemental lighting and try and include the brightest part of the field, maybe around the 50 yard line. Also try to get a player or ref in the shot. Then without any post processing to exposure, etc. post your shot on here. This way we can somewhat see apples-to-apples what we each are dealing with.

I am really curious how bad the field(s) I shoot on are because I've been told that the HS I shoot for most of the time is one of the worst in our area.

Here's mine...

Our first game is friday, but the lighting is AWESOME.
Will post.
My camera doesn't do iso3200, so im just going to use my 50mm @f/2.0 in 1600, 1/500sec

First game still a week away.

First game this Friday. Lighting is above average at our home field. First game is also homecoming, a lot of disgruntled people about that move, but it makes my job easier.

Wow that is weird to have HC that soon in the year.

I probably have a few like that from previous years. Here are some that I've posted up here at various places. So only one probably exactly fits your criteria, though the others come pretty close. Just to give you a representation of what I typically shoot at. All four are different schools in and around Knoxville.

ISO 3200 | 1/500 | f/2.8 (Christian Academy of Knoxville)

Shooting an away game tonight, different field. I hope to remember to get a test shot there to post and compare to the home field I shoot on. So far it looks like my home field is among the dimmest I've seen here... which explains a lot of my troubles and efforts to figure out how best to deal with it.

Dermit wrote in post #10843547
figure out how best to deal with it.

Use a flash unless it is not allowed. Most high schools generally allow flash during football games.

Dermit wrote in post #10843547
...my home field is among the dimmest I've seen here... which explains a lot of my troubles and efforts to figure out how best to deal with it.

A dim field is actually easier to use flash because it's easier to over-power the ambient by the required 2 to 3 stops to prevent ghosting

I'll take one tonight. Will be my first time at this out-of-conference school location. Last week was pretty bad. 2nd half was dark on the field due to poor lighting. concentrated on getting sideline shots only. Can't see going to ISO 5 million on the 7D to get 1/400 on the shutter knowing all the while, the shots aren't going to be any good anyway!

dave

jacuff wrote in post #10843783
Use a flash unless it is not allowed. Most high schools generally allow flash during football games.

Oh, I have been using flash and know how to deal with it. The main reasoning for my post here is due to all the debate I see about using flash or high ISO. And if flash then if you use ETTL with FEC and high speed sync, or whether it is better to shoot in manual flash with a max sync speed of typically 1/200 and underexpose ambient to make sure the flash duration freezes the action. And I came to realize that a lot of how to shoot may depend on the field lighting conditions.

Currently I do use flash. In fact I have been using two White Lightning x1600s on the press box roof and triggering with a PW.... and a flash under camera on monopod. And in another post I get some negative feedback about doing this and the typical debate started up about flash/no flash, etc. Which led me start this thread. So with a field as dark as my home field the X1600s and 580EX II works great. But at tonights away game maybe the ambient will be light enough to mostly depend on it with maybe some fill from the 580EX on monopod.

I would imagine the negative feedback comes from using the White Lightnings from the press box roof. Your 580EX is more than capable of illuminating the action from the sidelines and is much less distracting to the spectators.

jacuff wrote in post #10844795
I would imagine the negative feedback comes from using the White Lightnings from the press box roof. Your 580EX is more than capable of illuminating the action from the sidelines and is much less distracting to the spectators.

In thought only. In actuality the White Lightnings are far less intrusive/distracting than the 580. People imagine that the WLs would cause more of a distraction but when asking around after a game no one I asked even knew about them until I mentioned it. And even though the 580 does pretty well, the WLs help a LOT when the play is down field. And the ability they have to eliminate/minimize the flashy look and shadows from my 580 is great!

The other Love/Hate is that they create very directional lighting and depending on how I choose to mix with ambient I can really get it to be dramatic. Which is VERY cool for some shots, not so much with others. So they give me a lot more options and so far I am loving having them available. The ONLY negative feedback I get is from people who THINK they would be distracting.

Shot my first Varsity Game Last night. I had only shot one other football game a JV a couple weeks ago.
THis is Brighton High school In Michigan.
No P&P also no Noise or color reduction.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.