Shooting HS Ball

[<FootballRookie>]

What tips and tricks do you guys have for shooting football? And I mean anything...I'm shooting games this fall and haven't done it before. I'd love to know what you guys have learned and I'm sure everyone else would like to know too.

Thanks

 

[Lense_Cap]

I shoot from the sidelines off the shoulder. The trick is to keep the players in front of you, but stay slightly toward the end zone where the ball is probably going. If the ball is near the end zone and you think it's going to be a touch down you want to be there too... get off the side lines and get to the end of the field just outside the end zone. Keep an eye on your fellow photogs for a clue.
As far as lighting goes... usually stadium lighting is close to daylight. You can typically go with a filter 3 and will probably white ballace somewhere near a 5.0K. I like to leave my shutter on at about 125th if there is enough light.
Get shots of cheerleaders and crowd shots for cutaways. Once in a while get a quick shot of the score board so the sports peeps can see what's going on. They don't need to use it, just get a few frames and they can pause it.
Some sports peeps like it when you use the user bit time code and set it to real time. This probably won't help much if your just shootin highschool football though.
Ask for a roster before you leave... your sports peeps will love you for it. Hope that helps.

 

[<Runned over>]

Watch out for 250 lb. fullbacks comin'atcha. Use your left eye and be aware of your surroundings. Just takes practice dude.

 

[cameragod]

If the game is covered on radio I run a feed of it into track two so the reporter knows who did what and what just happened.

 

[<Scooter78>]

How would you hook up a small Walkman-type radio into Channel 1 audio? Or should it be plugged into Channel 2 audio and ditch nat sound? Could someone help me figure this out? I am pondering getting a Walkman-type radio so I can use play-by-play of local college games and high schools. Thanks.

 

[<WHIZkid>]

In adition to the afore mentioned cheeleader and crowd shots,,, a coach shot is also a nice cut-away.
To expand upon the scorebord shot thing, a quick shot of the score board after a sweet play can help find it in editing. (unless you're able to log timecoades) and get a good shot after each touchdown.
And rosters, try to get one when ya walk in! if ya wait untill you leave, they may be gone! (they're usualy in the programs)
Yes, shoot off the sholder! If that 250lb fullback is comming at you, you need to get the heck outta there!!! No shot is worth getting hurt for!

 

[<Football shooter>]

A lot depends on how much time you have to spend at one game. I advise new hs shooters to shoot for one touchdown up high, meaning, on your sticks if possible. Many will disagree but you want to come back with at least one good touchdown. It's pretty hard to screw it up from up top.

We have many news shooters help us on Fridays and a few have a hard time following the ball and the highlight sometimes will end up looking like crap but we (sports) have to use it because we have no choice. Eventually you'll need to learn to shoot down low so it's your call. Whatever you feel the most comfortable doing.

A lot of times your positioning is a gamble. I try to stay well ahead of the offense. I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty long lens. I would suggest that you don't stay too close to the team on the sidelines, you can get blocked out of a shot if the defense intercepts and the ball is run the other way down the sidelines. Many times I'll stay in the endzone (especially for NFL games). That way if the ball is run back away from you you can still at least get a shot of the guy.

Be very careful where you stand because you can get run over very easily. Many times the guy with the ball will run past you but some guy going after him will get blocked into you. You may never see it coming because you are busy following the guy with the ball.

I've shot sports for over 15 years and still get burned by fakes and such...it just happens.

I'll be honest, I don't waste time or tape shooting cheerleader or fan cutaways. We never ever use them. Our highlights are edited tight so there is no time for them. I may shoot the coach for file purposes but he'll never get used on our Friday night highlights. I shoot the scoreboard before every play because sometimes it's hard to tell where the ball is placed. Most scoreboards here tell you what yard the ball is on so that helps.

After every score I'll follow the guy who scored all the way to the bench to use as pad.

As far as your walkman, make sure to get one that is digital so you can lock on the exact frequency of the station. I recently bought one that has AM/FM/TV and weather for $29 at Best Buy. It has a clip that I can clip right on to my wireless holder and I had a short cable made to go into channel 1 (nats on 2).

Good luck.

 

[SeagateNews]

I asked this same question a year or two ago, but i can't find it on the search, so here is the main rule i got from the other post that's stuck with when i've been shooting...

stay 15 yrds downfield, but keep your eyes open...i've almost been hit twice...it makes for a great shot if you get out of the way soon enough...

 

[pinecone]

You asked about High School, so I'll talk about that only. And stuff other guys haven't addressed.

Forget the high-angle stuff. It sucks. HS football highlights are all about atmosphere. We put a ton of highlights on our show and they run about 20 seconds. Time for two plays and a couple color shots.

Color shots are the glue that binds the highlights together. HS highlights are about going into a community and giving the viewer a little more than just football. Show the good-looking Mom's, cheerleaders, face-painted students, pretty babies, a cat running across the playing field, anything fun and unique. Good color shots will separate your highlights from that of the competition.

I'll shoot 2 (or sometime 3 games) on a Friday night. It is total run and gun. Manage your time or it will manage you. Don't get greedy looking for perfect highlights. Set a time limit and get gone.

Last night I lost 25 minutes because I rolled into my 2nd game as halftime began. Arrrggghhh! That is the worst thing that can happen. So be ready when that happens. Use that time to your advantage. Log your highlights and shot sheet from the first game so you can edit quickly later. Search when you have the time, not later in a panic.

Stay ahead of the play and look for the "home run". Big plays are what you want and you usually don't get them behind the play or at the line of scrimmage.

And get you roster when you enter the stadium. Or get a picture of the roster on tape. Before you do anything else. Always. Pictures are worth nothing without the names that go along with them.

 

[<Chuck Dennis>]

All good advise......But, just one more thing.....
Bring a program from each venue back to the mother ship.

Imagine having all that great video from all this great insight, and NOT being able to tell the viewers who made the play of the night.

 

[<Chuck Dennis>]

One more thing !!!!! If you can...... Park where you can see your vehicle.

Not everybody likes any given station (vandals).

About 12 years ago the tires on the live van were sliced at an out of town game. The players were home and in BED by the time I got back with pics.

 

[<Styx>]

Originally posted by pinecone:

Forget the high-angle stuff. It sucks. HS football highlights are all about atmosphere.

That's a pretty broad blanket statement, dontcha think? Missing a big play is what "sucks".

I love the look on the photogs on field level when I get a interception return for a td and all they have are the asses and backs of the guys on the sidelines because they were shooting on the wrong end (for that particular play). I'll usually call one of them on their cell and ask if they want a dub and give them a big wave from the stands. Most of the sports photogs in my market are good friends and we are constantly talking trash.

Yes, low angle looks best when all of the scores are coming your way but there are times when you are screwed with nothing to show for it. Many times it comes down to luck. Yes, there's nothing better than being on the field and shooting a long pass coming at your lens and the scorer coming up to your camera in the endzone and looking straight into your camera.

We generally show about 12 games so having a couple of games up high gives it a different look. All of those games start to look alike by the time you get to the 10th game.

When I'm up top I'll shoot pretty tight anyway and have come up with some good stuff.

If you suck at shooting football and don't plan on getting any better stick to shooting it high. If you can't capture the score you might as well not even bring back a tape.

Like Football Shooter, I'll mix it up. Sometimes I'll get a high angle td then move down for a field level score if I'm lucky. If I have to shoot 3 games I'll usually shoot one of the three up top. It also depends on the stadium.

 

[<midwesterner>]

man, you guys must really have all the time in the world to shoot HS football.

I shoot 3,4, and sometimes 5 games a night....and we have 6 photogs on that same schedule...yeah, HS football is a big part of our Friday show and we have a half hour highlight show later.

Over time, you pick up a few tricks.

Keep both eyes open. You don't wanna get leveled by a full back.

White balance on filter 3? Wow, I've never seen a high school football field in the sticks with stadium lighting like that. I'm lucky if I can get a good white balance on filter 1. Most of the time, there's no way I can turn my shutter on...waaaaaayy too dark. If it's still light out like it is now for the early games I shoot, I shutter at 125 like someone said.

If you get a big play....or anything highlight worthy wether it be a nice block, good tackle, big run....throw up color bars for a couple seceonds. That will really help when you get back at 10:00 and need to cut highlights for 4 games in less than 15 minutes. I know when I leave the game which two highlights I'm gonna use.

Shoot on the field and stay 10 or so yards ahead of the play. IF you get that interception and all you get is the backs of coaches, tough break...you missed ONE shot. I bet your gonna have more than enough good stuff.....almost anything looks better when you shoot than when you shoot high.

If your a sports guy and your gonna cover it everyweek...try to learn the team's offense. When they're on the 3 yd. line, more than likely they're gonna try to run it. Straddle the goal line. You'll get a better shot than if your behind the play in the inzone. If you think the team's gonna pass, your best bet is to usually be in the right corner (your left) because most QB's are righthanded and HS kids tend to go to their strong side....not many HS QB's can effectively cross their bodies.

If your not very confident in yourself, stay kinda wide. Once you learn to follow the ball, get adventerous and tighten up.

 

[Sportsguy]

As was mentioned before, be sure to get plenty of cutaways. You never know when you'll need them.

We have a half-hour show after our 11 every Friday night. The show is about not just the game, but all of the other aspects as well. From the band, cheerleaders and fans, we shoot it all. I only shoot two games a night, and we have about seven or eight other guys out as well, each getting two games. If you want decent stuff that actually can be deemed 'highlights,' than two is the max that should be asked of a guy. Anything else, you're running worthless blocks and if you're lucky, the occasional TD.

Shoot from up top? Not if you want the blandest vid ever shot at a high school game. If you can't shoot from field level, don't shoot it at all.

Granted, I'm shooting D-1 college and NFL every week, so I'm used to the stuff.

As for shooting techniques, I rarely can use shutter on a Friday night. No 2X, either. If you've got a HS field that's that bright, let the camera eat it up. Too much DOF for HS stuff is never a problem I've seen. If you've got a decent camera, WB on 1 or 3 should be OK. 95% of the time you'll get a good WB on 1, but there are stadium lighting configurations that are more towards 5.6K.

I don't mean to be harsh. I just call it as I see it.

Good luck out there.

And if you're hit, be sure that you're rolling. It makes great vid to show the rookies...

 

[Anton Saur]

WHITE BALANCE OFTEN!!!!!! White balance on the ref's pants. It is the best you're going to do. The players pants and jerseys may look white...but trust me sometimes they ain't!

In High school f-ball, the lighting sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. Check your balance in diffrent sections of the field. Last game it was a diffrent filter and balance from the 50yd line to the end zones.

 

[<Lordo>]

Since when does Radio need to be included in shooting football. Your head needs to be in the game, not listening to it, or for that matter recording it. I made my sports guy understand that in a hurry!!

 

[<Buck>]

Originally posted by Sportsguy:
Shoot from up top? Not if you want the blandest vid ever shot at a high school game. If you can't shoot from field level, don't shoot it at all.

Hogwash. If your video is "bland" then you aren't shooting it the right way. You can get a good look from a variety of places, high or low.

I'll usually shoot low but if/when I do choose to shoot up high it's usually not too high and can get some good tight shots. Like Styx mentioned, it's a good way to keep from getting burned. Everyone who has shot on the field has had an interception or fumble returned the other way on them. If you don't have time to stay at the game then you are screwed.


Buck

 

[<Buck>]

Originally posted by <Lordo>:
Since when does Radio need to be included in shooting football. Your head needs to be in the game, not listening to it, or for that matter recording it. I made my sports guy understand that in a hurry!!

I'll have to disagree with you on that one. We use the radio nats up a lot on our weekend sports show. It's not a distraction. You don't even have to listen to it then, just later.

 

[Anton Saur]

Originally posted by <Lordo>:
Since when does Radio need to be included in shooting football. Your head needs to be in the game, not listening to it, or for that matter recording it. I made my sports guy understand that in a hurry!!

I also disagree. I know nothing about sports...even football. I shoot decent video, but I also have to write the highlights script. The radio going into a seperate audio channel will let me know what it is I'm watching. I use nats of the game in the video, and the other channel for radio.

 

[<Old Wolf>]

I try to get to my first game early so I can preview the teams warm-ups. This way I can get a feel for a play-plan. H.S.-ball is very simple compared to college or pro. Most teams use 4 or 5 basic plans, but there are exceptions, like a dble-reverse, or a fb-fake, used by the more accomplished teams.
Start off shooting a little wide until you get the feel of the team and gain confidence.
Check your body posture. Make sure that you are not "Canted" A real common problem with first timers is tilted football.
DURING THE OFF SEASON-volinteer to shoot as much sports as you can. Any thing with a lot of motion. This will will train your reflexes and senses.
Hve fun and MOST importantly drive carefully.