Varsity Football Shots

[IDLaxStar]

I was shooting from the stands for this game. I was trying my best at keeping my pictures properly exposed but not to much glare. Here are two of the shots that came out decent. Tell me what you guys think. Any advice is welcome.

1. f/5.6 1/200 ISO 800 Manuel 300mm.

2. f/5.6 1/200 ISO 800 Manuel 30mm.

 

[gary sempler]

Your shutter speed really needs to be at 500s at the slowest and faster whenever you can to freeze the action.

 

[IDLaxStar]

I know but this is the best I can do. If i went to 500s the pictures were way to dark and if i bumbed my iso up to 1600 there was way to much noise to salvage. I thank you for the advice though.

 

[pdq5oh]

I've taken some pics at the high school this year & found I needed to be at 1/750 to get as sharp as I wanted. Shooting at iso 800 & 1600, usually f 2.8 or 4.0. I still have lots of pics I don't keep. Use a monopod if you're not. It'll stay out of the way and helps sharpen your pics.

 

[Hooligan Dan]

Apart from the technical things that have already been addressed, the advice I can give you is always remember F.A.B.-face, action, ball. You need all three for most sports shots. Football is one of the sports where you can get away with not showing their face(obviously because of the helmet), but you still want to show that face area in most cases. Most action shots don't look good from behind.

Also, with football, stay ahead of the action. I generally stand about 15 yards past the line of scrimmage so that way the offensive team will be running towards me. And if they pass the ball I'm generally close enough to the line that the QB throws the ball past me and I can turn to get the receiver turned back to catch it. This doesn't work if it's a short pass, but then they will be running towards me anyway.

Football is one of the hardest sports to shoot, so keep at it.

 

[IDLaxStar]

Apart from the technical things that have already been addressed, the advice I can give you is always remember F.A.B.-face, action, ball. You need all three for most sports shots. Football is one of the sports where you can get away with not showing their face(obviously because of the helmet), but you still want to show that face area in most cases. Most action shots don't look good from behind.

Also, with football, stay ahead of the action. I generally stand about 15 yards past the line of scrimmage so that way the offensive team will be running towards me. And if they pass the ball I'm generally close enough to the line that the QB throws the ball past me and I can turn to get the receiver turned back to catch it. This doesn't work if it's a short pass, but then they will be running towards me anyway.

Football is one of the hardest sports to shoot, so keep at it.

Thanks for the awesome advice. Next time I go out to shoot I will make sure to work on the f.a.b. I was in the stands for this game. I am trying to get on the field for the next game. We will see how it goes. But thanks again.

 

[bigtwinky]

shutter speed and faces where both my crit as well.

shooting any type of person is about making a connection between the subject and the viewer. The best way to do this is to establish eye contact between them.

as for the shutter speed, well, you now know why sports photography is damn expensive.