Tag: football

Football Photography Series: Capturing the Action

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Jennifer Berube

Watching football is always exciting – tons of smashing bodies, plenty of fast-paced action, and the thrill of cheering for your home team. Capturing a football game with your camera can be equally exciting, but certainly presents a number of challenges to photographers, especially if you’re new to shooting sports.

Before heading to an important game, check out these tips. Consider seeing if there are school teams playing nearby so you can get some practice in before you try shooting in a more intense setting. There are lots of distractions to deal with at football games, and if you want to get good photos, you’ll need to learn to tune it out and focus on your goal.

Keep these suggestions in mind as you pack your camera bag and start shooting. The best way to master the art of capturing the action of a football game is to get out there and do it.

Football Photography Tips on Taking Football Action Shots

1. Use the Right Gear

Football is a difficult sport to photograph because it takes place on such a huge field. And because most of the action will take place at the center of that field, you’ll need to use a telephoto lens to get close enough to the players. While some shots will work better with the expansive field and even hundreds of spectators in view, for truly captivating football photos, you’ll need to get in on the action.

Sometimes, though, the action will come to you. During certain plays, you could end up with players tackling just a few feet away. Using a telephoto lens will make capturing this action impossible. While some photographers will use a second camera body with a wider lens attached for this kind of shooting, hobbyists or people who are just starting out might not have access to another camera.

You can try shooting half the game with one lens and half the game with the other, or switch it up at the end of each quarter. You’ll get a feel for how each style of shooting works before you invest in another camera body.

2. Check Your Settings

The most important camera setting for capturing the action at a football game is your shutter speed. You’ll need your camera to act fast if you want to freeze-frame a group of football players flying past you. Use a setting of at least 1/1,250 of a second, or even up to 1/2,500 if you can.

Note that while a smaller aperture will let in more light and allow you to use a higher shutter speed, this will result in a shallower depth of field. Try not to go lower than f/4, and consider increasing your ISO if necessary, to compensate.

3. Find a Unique Perspective

The view you’ll get while sitting in the stands is a familiar one – anyone who has gone to a football game knows what to expect. When you’re trying to capture eye-catching football photos, you want to give viewers something they haven’t seen before.

Get down lower and shoot from the ground up, or find a vantage point that gives you the opportunity to look down on the field from above. Sitting on the sidelines and capturing the players as they sprint by can give you some interesting snaps that you would miss out on if you were in your regular spot in the bleachers.

4. Know Where to Shoot

Most of the best shots you’ll get will be of the offense trying to score a touchdown, so watch for the quarterback and follow the ball. You’ll get some interesting shots when your team is on defense as well, though, and if you keep your focus on the football as it moves across the field, you’ll be prepared to snap a shot no matter what’s going on.

Having a basic knowledge of the game can be helpful when it comes to shooting football or any other sport. Even if you don’t, keep an eye on the key players and you should be able to capture the action.

5. Stay Focused

There are tons of other things going on at a football game – mascots running through the crowd, cheerleaders trying to generate excitement, and crowds of people everywhere you look. But if you want to get the best football shots, you need to keep your focus on the field.

If you miss a shot, you won’t get another opportunity. There’s no rewind option. Learn to tune out those distractions and stick to watching the game through your viewfinder to ensure that when an exciting play happens, you’ve got it covered.

The most important thing to remember as you’re starting out shooting football is not to get discouraged. Sports photography is a unique skill, something many professional photographers spend years developing. You won’t be capturing iconic sports images overnight.

However, these tips will help give you a head start to ensure that even your first forays into this kind of photography will pay off. And, as you continue practicing, you’ll start to develop your own style and techniques, making your football photos more original, creative, and dynamic.

Football Photography Series: Capturing the Atmosphere

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Jennifer Berube

Often, when you’re attending a football game, the action on the field takes a backseat once you get into the entire live sports environment. With the loud music provided by the marching band, the enthusiastic chanting generated by the cheerleaders, and the delicious stadium food, there is plenty to photograph beyond just the game.

While sports photography is generally confined to what’s happening on the field, you can get some really interesting and unique shots by turning your lens away from the football players. Instead, start looking around you and see what compositions you can create to capture the atmosphere of a football game.

Many viewers likely haven’t had the opportunity to attend a major football game, so take advantage of the chance to show them what the experience is like, through your eyes. Take your eyes off the game, especially during half-time, and keep these football photography tips in mind to recreate the exciting environment for your viewers.

1. Get There Early

Not only will this help ensure you can find some prime vantage points to shoot both the field and the crowd, you’ll be able to capture the excitement of the fans as they spill into the stadium. Keep your camera focused on the gate as people start coming in, and you can get some great shots that reflect the mood of the crowd.

Also, you can give yourself a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the setting. That way, you can have a better idea of where things will be happening before the game starts. Locate the area where the marching band will be playing, where the cheerleaders will be performing, and where the food vendors are.

2. Don’t Stay in One Place

Get familiar with the stadium, so you can comfortably move around a bit. This will let you capture scenes from a variety of perspectives and locations, and give you the chance to offer viewers a more thorough experience through your images. No one goes to a football game and just watches the field from one spot, so don’t make your viewers see the game that way, either.

Try shooting from the sidelines to capture the coaches interacting with the players and referees, or the cheerleaders energizing the crowd. Then head over by the marching band to shoot musicians with their shiny instruments and vibrant costumes. Don’t forget about hanging out in the stands with some of the hardcore fans. Find the ones with the face paint and the noise-makers to let your viewers see what your team’s fans look like.

Look around for things outside of the norm. Someone eating a hot dog or some nachos, or a kid interacting with the team mascot can provide great opportunities for football photography. But, it’s easy to overlook these scenes when you’re focused on the game. Especially during downtime, scan the crowd for these potential atmospheric captures.

3. Look for Strong Compositions

Even though shooting sports is different than traditional kinds of photography like landscapes or still-lifes, the rules of composition in football photography are still important. These rules can provide you with some essential guidance when you’re trying to focus on the atmosphere of the game, helping you create the feeling of depth and dimension that you need to pull viewers into your images.

Things like leading lines, patterns and repetitions, and the rule of thirds can offer some solid structure for your shots. There are tons of colors at football games, as fans are dressed in team colors for solidarity, so take advantage of that to make some vibrant images.

If you can keep these basic rules in mind while you’re looking for interesting atmospheric images, you’ll be able to make the most of each opportunity and end up with some fantastic shots.

4. Consider the Time of Day

Depending on when the game is happening, the atmosphere will offer different opportunities for storytelling. Shooting at night means you’ll need to think more about making sure you’re getting enough light. But, you’ll also be able to shoot things like fireworks going off or bright light shows.

For stability in low-light settings, you might want to bring a tripod or monopod with you to shoot night games. You can also bump up your ISO as high as your camera can handle it, to ensure your shutter speed is quick enough to capture motion even with less light coming in.

Remember these football photography tips the next time you’re shooting a game to create a captivating photo story that will let your viewers be a part of the action. The atmosphere of the stadium is almost as exciting as the gameplay itself, so make sure you don’t overlook the dynamic shots you can capture by turning your camera away from the field.

Football Photography Series: Capturing the Emotion

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Jennifer Berube

Shooting football means finding plenty of opportunities to capture dynamic, action-packed images. But, some of the greatest sports photos aren’t even about the game. The excitement of scoring a touchdown or the disappointment of a hard loss can generate deeply touching photographs. The key is knowing where to look and being prepared to capture these fleeting moments.

Rather than heading out and just shooting blindly, these tips will help give you a solid idea of what to look for as you try capturing the emotion of a football game. You’ll feel more confident shooting at your next game. And, you’ll know what to look for to let viewers see what goes on behind the action.

1. Think Like a Portraitist

Think about the more emotional sports images you’ve seen and you’ll notice that instead of following the basic rules of sports photography, they are generally shot more like portraits. You’ll still need to use a long lens in order to see all the way into the stands or onto the field. But, now you should use a shallower depth of field to isolate your subject from the surrounding chaos of the game.

This will require a wider aperture, so if you’re shooting an afternoon game in the harsh sunlight, you may want to consider using a neutral density filter to avoid overexposure. Keep your shutter speed fast so you can freeze the action on the field, or capture the expressions of the cheering fans.

2. Know Where to Look

You can more accurately predict the emotional reactions of the players and the fans if you have a basic knowledge of football. Get familiar with the rules of the game and even some of the key players, so that you will always be one step ahead of each play.

Also, when those plays happen, point your camera away from the field. Watch the faces of the people on the sidelines – coaches, training staff, cheerleaders, and whoever else you can find. They’ll likely show some emotion as the play goes down, so if you’ve already got them in your viewfinder, you’ll be ready to capture it.

3. Focus on the People

A lot of the things that might frustrate you when you’re shooting the action on the field can make for some great emotional shots. Look for the hardcore fans who are likely to be loud and boisterous during the game, kids who seem enthralled by the action, or even family members of some of the athletes. These people will probably be more expressive than the average spectator, so you can create some stunning images with them as your subjects.

Whether you’re shooting a professional game or high school athletes, if you want to capture emotion, you’ll need to focus on the people.

4. Eliminate Distractions

Keep your compositions tight

and clean to allow your viewer to connect with the subject of your emotional shot. If you can create a shallower depth of field to isolate a particular player from the rest of the lineup, or one fan from the excited crowd, you’ll be able to draw the viewer into your image and identify with your subject.

Some of this can be done in post-production, but it’s always better to be aware of your compositions as you’re shooting to ensure the best possible results. Try to get in the habit of doing your cropping in-camera instead of relying on editing software to clean up your images after the fact.

5. Be Patient

As with most sports photography, you won’t be in control of the situation. You have to wait for the perfect shots to come to you. Football photography gives you tons of fantastic situations and unique emotional images to capture, but to get the best ones, you need a bit of patience.

Bring a big memory card and shoot constantly. The more images you take, the better your chances are of capturing a great moment. Keep in mind, though, that these emotional reactions will come and go quickly, so it’s important to be ready at all times.

Try not to be discouraged if a reaction happens and you miss it. The best thing about shooting football is that there will always be another opportunity to capture the emotion. Just stay focused on your subject and keep shooting.

With these suggestions in mind, head out to the field and capture a different side of your favorite sport. Football images don’t have to be full of dramatic action to be dynamic and interesting. Try focusing on some of the players, cheerleaders, and even spectators to showcase the range of emotions you’ll find at the game.