Homecoming Game

A number of people have posted their local high school American football games. Tonight was our local high schools Homecoming game so I decided to give it a try. My first impression when I started to shoot under the field lights was that it was pure crap and not worth wasting my time. Looking at my photos on the lcd told me they were just crap. At some point in the game I decided to say screw it and shoot anyway. If I got anything great, if not... so what I knew they already looked like crap on the lcd. When I got home and looked at them on my computer I was quite blown away at how good they looked. These photos were shot at an astronomical ISO of 4000, 1/320 shutter (trying to not go higher on ISO), aperture of ~5, and between 250-300 mm on my D7100 and hand held with VR on.

Learned: ISO noise looks far worse on my lcd than it does on the computer.

They look pretty good to me. I know that it is very challenging since I also complained (a lot).

Moab Man said:

A number of people have posted their local high school American football games. Tonight was our local high schools Homecoming game so I decided to give it a try. My first impression when I started to shoot under the field lights was that it was pure crap and not worth wasting my time. Looking at my photos on the lcd told me they were just crap. At some point in the game I decided to say screw it and shoot anyway. If I got anything great, if not... so what I knew they already looked like crap on the lcd. When I got home and looked at them on my computer I was quite blown away at how good they looked. These photos were shot at an astronomical ISO of 4000, 1/320 shutter (trying to not go higher on ISO), aperture of ~5, and between 250-300 mm on my D7100 and hand held with VR on.

Learned: ISO noise looks far worse on my lcd than it does on the computer.

Click to expand...

George, I think they come out quite good.... I have been pleased with my High Iso stuff on my D7100... My biggest tip (as if I am smart enough to give tips!) is to get the framing right in the camera... If you do much cropping, the noise will tend to be more annoying to you the photographer. 2nd, play with your kit, sit in a room at night and try various High ISO combo's to get familiar with what to expect regarding noise...

Nice Job!

Pat in NH

I shot some with my D5100 and a much higher ISO and was very pleased with the results. I think in cases like high school football that the content is what is important and not so much the technical we all tend to look at every day. Also looking at the target market. Moms and dads are only looking at their son playing or their daughter cheering. As long as you can read the number or see the face you are doing good. Also have you seen people at these games shooting with their cell phones? They are happy with what they are shooting. Can you imagine how excited they would be to see what great photos you are getting?

Sometimes I think we are all to hard on our own shooting. I am not saying that we should not keep trying for perfection but occasionally just kick back and shoot something just for fun (like high school football)

My wife teaches high school and we have been going to the games for over 25 years now. I carry my camera to a few early games and try and get shots of the players and cheerleaders that are in her classes and print them and put them on the walls in her class room. The kids love it.

Don Kuykendall said:

Sometimes I think we are all to hard on our own shooting. I am not saying that we should not keep trying for perfection but occasionally just kick back and shoot something just for fun (like high school football)

My wife teaches high school and we have been going to the games for over 25 years now. I carry my camera to a few early games and try and get shots of the players and cheerleaders that are in her classes and print them and put them on the walls in her class room. The kids love it.

Click to expand...

That is so true Don!

Pat in NH

O.K. - I'll ask the obvious question ... who won !!! and what was the score...
cheers

P.S. - this was the scene at the last game I caught... a great day out... and the Giants won...