How to shoot football under the lights

I didn't think anyone actually read any of my photography advice blogs until last night at the Milford game when a photographer from Milford came up to me and asked me if I was Trimmphoto. I was surprised she figured out who I was since she wasn't local and I don't put my photo on my page but she said she had read my blogs on how to take sports pictures so I know at least one person read one of my articles.

So, here is a new one. How to shoot football under the lights. 

Shooting football under the lights is difficult because you have limited light available from the sideline light stands. Some of the best pictures you can get come when the sun is just setting and the field lights are on giving you a great set up that lasts about 20 minutes---if you are lucky.

F4/shutter speed 500

When you have this combination of lights, you can generally shoot around F4 at 500-1000 shutter speed and get a good shot. The F4 will give you a decent depth of field that will keep your image in focus better than at F2.8 which I usually shoot to give me a narrower depth of field. 

The F4 is more forgiving if you get your focus point off a bit but if you nail the focus at F2.8 the picture is far more dramatic because the background will blur out. 

F2.8/Shutter speed 1000

This effect works best when your subject is close but at F2.8 I have had distant pictures shot from across the field that had decent background blur. The problem with shooting F2.8 is if you don't have your focus perfect on your subject, it will blur because the depth of field is soooo narrow. 

So what do you do when the sun goes down and all you have is the field lights? Well I found out that shooting at a wider aperture helps and a bit slower shutter speed. The wider aperture (F4) and shutter speed of around 400 will get more light into the camera and increase your depth of field so more of the image is in focus. 

F4/ Shutter speed 400

The depth of field in this shot is wider but the background still has sufficient blur to separate the subject from the background. One thing you will notice about shooting under the lights is how stark your pictures will look. The lights tend to make everything look a bit harsh when it comes to coverage and shooting from the end zone can look very stark. 

F2.8/Shutter speed 500

Since there is no light coming from behind you when you shoot from the end zone, you get this dark area in the middle of your subject. The light comes from the right and the left and makes for a very dramatic shot. 

My best advice would be to shoot at around F4 at a shutter speed of around 300-500 and keep your subject centered so it is in sharp focus. I find my Canon has some difficulties in low light keeping focus so I tend to shoot a lot to cover myself. If I can get 30 good shots out of 300 photos taken I feel that's a good percentage. 

F2.8/Shutter speed 1000

Shooting at the beginning of the season offers more options because you have more "day" light to work with but by the end of the season you are relying on the lights above you and that can be a disadvantage. 

KT