Please help with settings

[wado66]

I have a question about my N55. I have a Nikkor 70-300 f4-f5.6 G AF lens. I have 400 and 800 speed film.
I will be taking some pictures this weekend that are going to be very important to me. My daughter is going to be in homecoming at our high school. These shots will be taken from the stands from dusk and into the night. There are stadium lights around the field. What is the optimum way to set my camera up for these shots? As far as the settings on my camera and the speed of the film to use. Should I use the mode settings or set everything up manually? The f stop settings are really baffling me. I have tried to read up on this. But It really gets confusing. (for me anyway)

Secondly, the day before there will be a parade. It will be in the daytime. (Hopefully no cloud cover.) Any sugestions for this would also be very much appreciated.

Thank you again for any input you have. I just want the best pictures I can possibly get. And this seems to be the place to be for good information.
Scott

 

[Rob]

A monopod would be ideal, you're going to struggle to handhold at the long end with that lens at dusk.

Make sure that your shutter speed is at least 1/focal length i.e. at least 1/500th or so to avoid shake. It's darn tricky to attain 1/500th at dusk with an f-max of 5.6. Possibly consider some 1600ISO film, or pushing it a stop or two.

Your best bet is to find somewhere firm and steady to rest the camera, a tripod or monopod or a shelf would help crisp the shots up a lot.

Rob

 

[JEazy]

Use the 800 speed film, shoot at you're widest f-stop (4), and use a shutterspeed of at least 1/250.

 

[JIP]

Get as close as you can those lights however bright they seem will not be enough to let you use your setup effectively from the stands.