Night Photography at Sports Events

I am in need of some advice about how to get those great shots at night time

sporting events under the lights. I know that you need to have a fast shutter

speed set and also the apeture needs to be set to allow the light to filter thru

and it needs to be adjusted because of the night lights but I am just not having

any luck! I currently am shooting with a Cannon Rebel digital SLR with a great

telephoto lens - I am just not caputuring the high quality shots at night that I

am hitting during the day and want to work on this weakness of my shooting.

Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks so much!

You want lots of light. There's more light at pro events than high school, more at high school than middle school.

 

You want a fast lens- sports shooting is probably THE main reason fast telephotos are made.

 

You want fast film. Or, shooting with digital, you'd want to be able to shoot at the equivalent of 1600 speed or so. If you can't do that, you need the faster lens.

 

Play with shutter speeds. Depending on how you support the camera and what kind of action you're seeing, they may not need to be as fast as you are trying to make them.

 

Ambient light at night will be orangy or greenish or something other than natural colors due to the artificial light. You should be able to tweak the color balance and make it look reasonable natural, though.

 

By the way, what's wrong that the shots aren't "high quality"? IE, lack of sharpness, color off, or what?

Shooting at night requires practice. And more practice.

 

 

 

 

With football, you cannot get action on the far sideline (if you are using flash, it may not reach that far....) and you have to anticipate where the play will go. If it is a run to your sideline, be ready to shoot. A pass or a run the other direction results in a wait for the next play. This may not be what you want to hear, but your (digital) camera may not work really well at a night football game. A monopod, a AF 300mm f2.8 lens, and practice -- you should get a few very good images.

 

 

 

 

The ad for the Digital Rebel shows the action at a day game, right?

canon's 550 ex flash works wonders with my eos 3 and a 300mm 2.8. Flash set (for fill) at minus one and two thirds, or minus one and one third if one team is wearing black (high speed sync, shutter priority). Center weighted metering. Shutter speed at 1/250 or 1/320, depending on how close I am to the play, which hash mark, etc.. Autofocus, of course - AI servo, not 'one shot'.With a 300mm, try to stay 15 - 20 yards off the line of scrimmage, at least if the ball is on the nearest hash mark. Of course, I'm shooting tri-x at 1250 souped in diafine, so with digital and color, YMMV

Please look at

 

 

 

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/2729494

 

 

 

and you can get an idea of what print film can do at night football games....

I have started shooting high school football this year. Most of the games are at night under high school lights. Some stadiums have better lights than others.

 

Some tips I have learned. I shoot at 800 ISO with a f2.8 80-200mm Canon. Once the sun is down I shoot with aperature priority AV. In other words I "hard set" the camera at f2.8. That is wide open for light. I then let the camera automatically set the speed. You also need A! Servo autofocus and center metering.

 

Second, a good monopod is an absolute must. The lens is heavy, and as the game goes on it is nearly impossible to get good shots with handheld.

 

Third, I always try to shoot from the visitor sideline. It means tha tthe home crowd in the stands, and the home team on the sideline, will be in the background. Much better than cars or powerlines or just empty stands.

 

Fourth, you must pick your places and then blast away. I try to anticiate when the play will go to my side of the field. I try to focus on a single player (even a lineman). Once I shoot, though, I usually just hold the button down and blast until the play ends or the buffer fills. I shoot 300+ shots a game and keep 75 - 100. Get a bigger digital card and fill it up. No shame is trashing a bunch to get some good ones.

 

Fifth, try for non-acton shots. Kids on the sideline or talking to the coach or the huddle as it breaks or the linemen in a stance or the wide receiver on the line. Much easier to shoot and good images.

 

Finally, if you have read this far.. here is the link to my shots from this year. I am still learning.

 

http://dmneeb.exposuremanager.com/wildcat_football

 

Hope some of this helps.

 

Doug