High School vs. College Football; Differences

[Trainz35]

It's go time y'all,

I'll save the specs until after the game... But anyway, I have an on-field media to a NCAA Div. 1 game in November. You bet your britches I'm pumped! :mrgreen: (Note: It will be an outdoor afternoon game).
I've been shooting Div. 1 high school football for a few years, so this is a big jump for me. The real question is; how small will my gear look next to the pros? :hail: No, I'm here to get your experiences with Div. 1 college ball, especially your first game you shot. What was your equipment setup; how did it perform? How did you perform? Assuming you shot sports before college, what did you shot and what did you notice was different? What is your advice to a high school football shooter?
My planned gear list:
-Canon 1D Mark IIN (rental) with Sigma 400mm f5.6
-Canon 1D Mark II (rental) with Sigma 70-210mm f2.8
-Canon 30D with Sigma 28-70mm f2.8

Will this suffice for my purposes? I do a fair amount of PP to my shots, so I'm not too worried about it being perfect in-camera. Do I think I can do this job? YES! Do I think it'll be SI cover worthy? No, but you never know... I don't think I'm insecure about this, I'm just looking for reassurance for such a big opportunity; this is portfolio-worthy stuff!

Any questions or concerns are definitely appreciated!

 

[robbins.photo]

It's go time y'all,

I'll save the specs until after the game... But anyway, I have an on-field media to a NCAA Div. 1 game in November. You bet your britches I'm pumped! :mrgreen: (Note: It will be an outdoor afternoon game).
I've been shooting Div. 1 high school football for a few years, so this is a big jump for me. The real question is; how small will my gear look next to the pros? :hail: No, I'm here to get your experiences with Div. 1 college ball, especially your first game you shot. What was your equipment setup; how did it perform? How did you perform? Assuming you shot sports before college, what did you shot and what did you notice was different? What is your advice to a high school football shooter?
My planned gear list:
-Canon 1D Mark IIN (rental) with Sigma 400mm f5.6
-Canon 1D Mark II (rental) with Sigma 70-210mm f2.8
-Canon 30D with Sigma 28-70mm f2.8

Will this suffice for my purposes? I do a fair amount of PP to my shots, so I'm not too worried about it being perfect in-camera. Do I think I can do this job? YES! Do I think it'll be SI cover worthy? No, but you never know... I don't think I'm insecure about this, I'm just looking for reassurance for such a big opportunity; this is portfolio-worthy stuff!

Any questions or concerns are definitely appreciated!

Ok, first, I am not betting my britches, I need those. First thing you do when you get there, find the guy with the biggest lens and punch him out. Oh wait.. no, that's what you do when it's your first day in prison. My bad. Seriously though, your equipment list should get the job done fine. Don't sweat how much someone else spent on their gear, in fact ignore them completely. Just do your thing and shoot the game.

Me, I'm an amateur wildlife photographer so I spend a lot of time at the local zoo. I am almost always running into people with lenses that cost an obscene amount of money -massive zooms, F/2.8, L glass, etc, etc. I've see lenses there all the time that people have spent anywhere from $2000 to $5000 and sometimes more on, but you know I also often see these same people using the camera's automatic modes to take pictures. I've seen some of the pictures these folks take with their $1500 camera bodies and $3000 lenses and you know what, I generally get better results using my little D5100 and a standard 70-300 mm Nikon lens. It's actually quite sad really.

And while I doubt that the other guys on the field with you will be that bad, truth is good timing and good technique will trump massive $$$$ spent on equipment any day off the week and twice on Sunday. But one piece of advice I will give, do your homework. You'll know which teams you'll be photographing in advance, so watch as many games as you can from both and learn the types of plays they run in advance. That way you'll be able to anticipate the action better and you'll get better shots regardless of your equipment.

 

[curtyoungblood]

It would help to know what school your going to be photographing. Div 1 football has a massive variance in the on-field experience, I've shot everything from University of Texas who has a field where you're shoulder to shoulder with other people and security is super tight to very small schools whose fields are only slightly better than a high school field with almost no security.

The biggest difference between college and high school is the "outdoor afternoon" part. Shooting in daylight makes a huge difference. The game is also going to be a lot faster with more passing. If you're in daylight, a 400 5.6 should be no problem. Also, don't be insecure about your gear. Just like in HS, there will be guys who have better gear and guys who have worse. Just do the best you can with what you have.

 

[grafxman]

You will certainly have enough cameras to drag about and bang together. I don't shoot the stuff you do. I shoot a lot of wildlife which, now that I think about it, may not be that different. If I was doing what you plan to do I would take one camera and one lens. It would be my full frame 6D and Sigma's 50-500mm. I wouldn't worry what the rest of the folks are using. With the Sigma's tremendous zoom range and close focus capabilities you'll be getting shots they never dreamed of taking. I have never been "hung up" on superfast 2.8 lenses like many folks are. I always stop the lens down a little bit anyway. Besides a full frame camera can take very low noise or noise free photos at a high ISO so why bother with the expense of a 2.8 lens. At least that's my take on things.