Until I can get Wilson Tsoi

A: Loan me a lens, or B: teach me how to shoot football, I'm not going to be

able to get those great isolated shots with great OOF areas. Right now I use a

Tokina 80-400 from the stands but I'm looking for a good sports lens someday.

Here is a shot from the stands where I was able to line up the QB, the defensive

lineman, and the receiver:

http://www.photo.net/photo/6580291&size=lg

What is your favorite football lens for Nikon?

Thanks,

Michael

400mm f/2.8, 500m f4, or 600mm f/4

Depending on where you live you can rent these but they aren't cheap. And you need to either put a deposit down equal to the list price of the lens or prove that you have enough insurance to replace the lens in case it is damaged, lost or stolen.

One sectre ot great action photography is to find angles where the backgrounds are less busy --where you've isolated the action to make a clear visual statement.

Hi Michael, IMO, if you don't have fast glass, you can still make some great images with your 80-400mm f4.5-5.6. Obviously you'll need good light with that lens, so choose sunny outdoor games to photograph. Secondly, access is critical so shoot as close to the action as you can. I don't think you need to shoot a NFL game to get great pics. If you don't have field access at higher level, try shooting JV football at local schools. Although f5.6 doesn't have same isolating background blur as f2.8 at same focal length, you can still maximize what you have. By shooting a player or action as close to you as possible (not shorter than lens' minimum focusing distance,) the background will appear to be much more out of focus than what's shown in your photo linked above. Another point that I find helpful is try keeping your vantage point as low (as in shooting from your knee) as it helps add impact. Like Ellis said, do be mindful of background, if you can help it at all.

As for football lens, I'd say a combo of 400mm f2.8 and a 70-200mm f2.8 would be ideal.

Congrats Cougs on beating up on UCLA. ^_^

Thank you everyone for the fantastic tips. Thank you Wilson, we really needed that win. I go to every game I can, winning season or not. I wish I could get field access but I have no idea how to do that. My wife is a doctor here in Pullman and knows the team doctor so maybe she can pull some strings.

My 80-400 is really turning out to be a fun lens but choosing the backgrounds is getting tough. My season tickets are 2 rows up from the field and I can almost isolate some action from the background.

Ellis I went online to rent a lens, Pullman, Wa is real small. If we didn't have a college all we'd have is wheat and cows. I'm really trying to isolate the action, I actually got one shot Saturday that I was able to do that.

Thanks Terry, it's really fun shooting the games. I got the Tokina 80-400 for wildlife but found I wasn't very good at that so I took it to a game.