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09/15/2008 07:35:51 PM · #1 |
Ok, first let me explain that I have looked at the manual for my Canon 20D maybe four times and do not profess to understand half of what is in there. I know I need to "RTFM," but have zero time to myself due to little children at home and a job that makes me put in 14 hour days.
I have been asked to shoot a football game at night from the sidelines for a friend who is a coach ( I have the nicest camera out of everyone he knows ) and don't want to screw it up. I probably will use my 70-200 F4L USM lens with a 1.4 extender ( also have a 17-85mm lens )on a monopod, and was wondering what the best settings would be for catching the fast action ? I also have a Canon 550EX flash, but not sure if I am better off using the built in flash ? Stadium lights are usually pretty crappy, which I am sure is not going to help.
I so appreciate any help anyone can give this time starved novice.
Thanks !
Cappy |
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09/15/2008 07:40:00 PM · #2 |
Crank up the ISO as high as it will go. Keep the lens at 4.0, and good luck. I have a feeling it's going to be a difficult task, you'll want that shutter speed at least 1/200.
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09/15/2008 07:40:16 PM · #3 |
| Crank up yur ISO sue to not haveing anything faster than an F4 lens. You won't want to use your extender qas that would make your lens even slower. You can use flash at most football games I've shot, so that will help. Other than that the WB is very importtant and hard to dail in. Just experiment. |
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09/15/2008 07:42:14 PM · #4 |
you want fast glass here because your going to be shooting at night, f/4 in crappy lighting might not cut it but putting it on a 1.4x converter is going to make it even slower. Don't know how much a flash is going to help you in a football game as the players are going to be pretty far away from you so the light might not even get to them. (but bring the external flash for sure over the built in)best setting would be aperture priority and open the aperture as much as possible to get the fastest shutter possible, and don't forget your iso, pump that up to at least 400. If your shooting sports your going to need a moderately fast shutter speed 1/250 would be a good start.
Oh yeah shoot raw, and some of the best sports shots in history are those of the side lines.
Message edited by author 2008-09-15 19:54:52. |
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09/15/2008 07:51:29 PM · #5 |
Like they said, don't use the extender. You will get enough reach from the sideline without it, and you will definitely need the extra stop of light.
I don't know which flash you have, but I shot a night game a week or so ago, and used a flash for the first time. I didn't like it as much because it slowed me down some, but, it did help get some shots.
Boost your ISO as high as possible, don't drop your shutter below 1/250 or 1/200.
And just as an aside -- you can get some good shots of the offense and defense by focusing on the quarterback, but don't forget the linemen as well. Choose one and follow him from beginning of the play to the end. When they get within 10 to 15 yards of the endzone, I like to camp out in the corner and go from that angle. |
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09/15/2008 07:55:08 PM · #6 |
At F4 in `crappy light` you are going to be hard pressed to get anything usable.. Bumping the ISO up to 1600 might help, but will make your images very noisy indeed. Depending on how far from the action you are, flash might not even help..
good luck! |
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09/15/2008 08:13:46 PM · #7 |
| I just shot a high school football game last week. I used my 70-300 4.5-5.6. If this is a high school game, you should be able to get some decent shots in the first quarter while there is still daylight. Depending on where you live. I live in Michigan and I did ok till half time and then it was all over for me because the light was getting bad. I took the ISO up to 1600 and went with apperature priority. |
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09/15/2008 08:16:11 PM · #8 |
The first two were taken just as the sun was setting and just after. The second one had a flash, and was about 20 yards away.
This one was well after sunset -- it was very dark. The only light were the lights of the stadium.
A couple of things -- your 20D will handle ISO MUCH better than my 300 (cause my 300 simply doesn't handle noise above 100 -- grrrr). No doubt, no argument. I was shooting at about 1600 on these. This means that i have do noise reduction which isn't ideal, but it helps some.
Also, this was with the 75-300 f/4-5.6, so these three were quite possibly taken at 5.6 -- the 70-200 f/4L (which I just got -- woohoo) works much better.
It is doable. It is not easy, but you can get some images that will pass minimal muster. |
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09/15/2008 08:27:40 PM · #9 |
| I've shot a lot of high school football games (3 years of them). I used my 20D with my 75-300mm lens (5.6). I set my ISO at 800, set the WB to florescent and I think my shutter to 1/125. Here are a few shots (sorry I don't have many uploaded to DPC) Football I never used the flash and I had full access to the side of the field. Good luck! |
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09/15/2008 09:08:10 PM · #10 |
I dont claim to be a professional, however I do get paid to shoot for the newspaper, and by parents to shoot. This is my third year, and there is no way I'd shoot football at night at anything other then F2.8. I also wont drop below 1/400th. Crank your ISO way up. Its not uncommon for me to shoot at 6400ISO 1/500 F2.8 and using flash in ettl -1.
Some samples from this year.
   
Take my advice however you want.
Matt
Edit to add a couple of samples from the rain.  
Message edited by author 2008-09-15 22:08:04.
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09/15/2008 09:56:29 PM · #11 |
Lots of good advice in this thread. I shoot Steelers games, and they're fairly tricky at night even with their stadium lights. High school stadium lights are generally much, much worse than NFL lighting. I've always said that if you're able to successfully shoot high school football, you can shoot anything.
If you have any way of getting a faster lens to use, that would certainly be enormously helpful to you. An f4 is going to be rough, as you'll need to jack the ISO way up to accommodate it. I'd definitely skip the teleconverter since it'll cost you yet another stop you can't afford to lose. For comparison, last night I shot the Steelers/Browns game in Cleveland and most of the time I was using 1/500 second at f2.8, ISO 800.
You may definitely want to experiment with using a flash. I thought that sounded like ridiculous advice for a football game the first time I heard someone suggest it, but it actually helped a lot. Granted, you lose the ability to fire off a bunch of shots in bursts, but a flash may ultimately get you more keepers.
Move up and down the field with the action, and like Karmat had suggested, hang out in the end zone when the teams reach the red zone. Get as close to the action as you can. Good luck with it!
Message edited by author 2008-09-15 21:58:09. |
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09/15/2008 11:02:15 PM · #12 |
| While it won't keep up with rapid firing at full power, my old Sunpak 622 Pro Super will light the world. Guide number of 200 in feet at ISO 100. With the telephoto head, you can push it a little farther. You can light things a long ways away. No fancy through the lens metering, but bright it is. Not particularly light either, but sports is what they are made for. |
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09/15/2008 11:20:46 PM · #13 |
I do high school football games in south Texas and have read most of the comments on this thread
I use a canon 70-200mm ISL works great
When it gets dark even with good stadium lights, I use 1/200 sec and take whatever f number comes up. You can always post process low light photos but you cannotorrect blur by slow shutter speed.
Try to stay ahead of the action. Always have the offense coming towards you.
Be aware of the officials, chain gangs, and players. If they start getting close to get out of the way. Some of these h.s. players are big.
I do not use flash. Nothing worse than a flash going off in a players face as he is running down the side line for a TD.
I use auto focus.
Anticipate the action. Even if your camera has fast shutter delay.
Know the game. a 3rd down and 10+ yards will most always be a pass play
The coaches and players box is between the 30 yard lines. stay out.
Every shot will not be a keeper. |
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09/16/2008 12:05:50 PM · #14 |
Thank you, EVERYONE, for your sound advice and sample shots ! The game is at 7pm ( it is a Junior College game ), so it is going to be a interesting evening. Definitely NOT using the extender and will experiment with and without the use of the external and internal flashes. I will also try to rent a 2.8 lens as that sounds like it will help enormously.
One more question. How do you reduce the size of the picture files so they can be uploaded to a website ? Sorry if this is an obvious question...
Again, thanks so much to all of you for helping me out. It is greatly appreciated !
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09/16/2008 12:16:04 PM · #15 |
Shoot in RAW (not JPEG), or RAW + Large JPEG. RAW files will give you much more flexibility to post process.
Message edited by author 2008-09-16 12:16:58. |
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09/16/2008 12:23:23 PM · #16 |
Check out  Brad
He has some great shots of Football at night. ASk him how he does it.
Here is his collection.
Brads football collection
Message edited by author 2008-09-16 12:23:34. |
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