Today as we remember the events of 9/11, many are reminded of their loyalty and thanks for our country. America. And what’s more American than a little Friday night action at the football game? The homecoming game, no less. In the South, that’s about as American as you can get (so I’m told).
I ventured out to my first Southern high school football game tonight with my daughter and was surprised at the crowd spirit. I’d heard football was a big thing here, but expected something similar to my high school experience (in California). Not even close. There were hundreds of brightly painted teens running wild, excited about this game. I grabbed some very cool images of hand painting on people’s faces, legs, arms, and everywhere else.
But for today’s photo I chose this shot of a tackle. Why? Because I caught the action. What a challenge to catch the action from the stands, not the sideline. Even more of a challenge without the right glass (lens) to let in enough light so I could bump up my shutter speed. I used it as an opportunity to play with shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. I steadied my arms by resting them on the bars in front of me and boom, I got this shot. Perfect tackle.
I’ve narrowed the images I took to just over 200. Next step, process and create a fast-paced video to post on Facebook for all the players and fans to see. Hope to get it online by tomorrow. We shall see.
I think I’ll venture out to a few more games this year. What lens do you use when shooting sports or action? What settings do you put your camera on? I’ll give them a try. For this shot, I sharpened in post and added a Lightroom preset from Presets Heaven—Cold Desire. It’s free to download.
Manual: Read page 89—AF Area Mode. Would’ve been helpful to read BEFORE I was shooting action. One thing I didn’t play with was changing the focus from single to dynamic. From reading the manual, sounds like that would have been the thing to do to catch more clear action shots. Next time.
Images: Briefly looked through Annie Leibovitz: American Music Photographs. The game and shooting wore me out today and didn’t really have the energy to spend a lot of time browsing other people’s work. Hope to do more tomorrow.
Until then, get some action!
On Pinterest? 
