Football!

[nkmaurer]

Hey,
So I have this cousin that asked me to come out and take action shots of the little league footballers. Tons of teams all saturday morning. He isn't the type to really let ya butt in and say no and doesn't realize the difference between portraits and sports, so pretty much I am doing it. Tons of cousins will be playing football plus I figured I could pass out my business cards and get my name out to more people.

Any suggestions from you sports photographers? It is during the morning and it is supposed to be summy with a high of 80. The equipment that I have is a Canon 30D and Rebel XT, and the kit lens with each of those (18-55 and 17-85) as well as the 70-200 2.8. Then the Canon 580 flash, one tripod and I think that is about it.

Any tips or problems to avoid would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[DeepSpring]

I would say put the 70-200 on your 30D as your main body then sling over your neck the xt with which ever lens is better, I think it's the 17-85? You probably won't need it much but it can be good for those close shots. You will find 200 might not always be long enough but you will be able to crop them some no problem. Stay down at 2.8 to get the great bokeh on the backgrounds. You can probably use iso 100 and have fast enough shutter, if not bump it to 200. You won't be needing your flash unless you just want to use it as a little fill. Since there is plenty of light I would say skip the tripod. I find tripods to be a lot of extra hassle. If you think it will be hard to manage both cameras maybe look at a small monopod.

As for the shooting stay ahead of the ball. You want the plays to be happening towards you, not the back of heads. Since canon is the "official camera of the NFL" they have a little video series someplace on their website. I just watched it the other day. Some information is pretty trivial but he talks about a few good things.

Let me add I am by no means professional, just shot a few games.

 

[Keith Gebhardt]

id grab a monopod just for that extra stabilization assuring crisp, clear action shots.

flash wouldnt be a bad idea for like deepspring said_fill

Iso 2100 for football is questionable.. depending on your lense speed. id stick around 400 to be safe, unless you notice your exposure metter over.. then lower it.