PShizzy: The Blog

So I get a call from an old friend and she asks if I wanted to go cover a HS Football game. I was amped. I haven’t covered hs football in a long time, and while football is football, each level of skill has their own challenges. With the NFL, even the worst coach teams can run off a play with military precision. Broken plays just don’t happen that frequently. In college, if you’re lucky enough to shoot a D1 school (such as ASU), then you’ll have an assortment of talent, and while play’s may get broken, the players are often talented enough to make the best of it.

At the HS level, sometimes having enough players is good enough. And thus enters Boulder Creek at St Mary’s. Boulder Creek in only it’s second full varsity year put up a good fight, led by All Region quarterback Taylor Davis. Inexperience in their receiving core kept Boulder Creek on the ground, with Davis running for dear life and the ocassional first down, against St Mary’s. Boulder Creek’s defense held their ground, only giving up a touchdown through the first half to keep the score close at 7-0, but St Mary’s opened the second half with a kick return TD. Eventually, a 32 minute (of 48 total) time of posession by St Mary’s caught up with the Boulder Creek defense. Final score: 27-7.

So, how do I prepare for a hs football game? a few thoughts, and a gallery, after the jump.

For the most part, it’s like any football game, only you want to bring a flash with you (flash is prohibited in college and the pro’s).But if you haven’t shot it, here are my thoughts:

It’s a field sport, so you won’t always be too close to the players and the action. Having a 300 or 400mm lens will help you. Unfortunately, it has to be a 2.8 lens if you shoot night games.

I’m not saying you can’t get shots with a 300 4 or 400 5.6, but the reality is that without shooting full on flash for every image, the ambient exposure is often atrocious on high school fields. As an example, I was shooting at 1/500th 2.8 at ISO 3200. I still got some motion blur, and the exposure was just about ok, but I was at the limit of my equipment. a 300 4 or 400 5.6 loses you one or two stops of light. Oh and I was shooting at a college field. I can’t imagine how badly lit the older high school fields are.

Bring a Flash. I hate using my flash, I really do, but had the light been any lower (and it was in the corners, so I set my ISO to 6400 for a few plays), a flash would be necessary to get anything sharp. I don’t like the deer in headlights look, and I see all these ways of dealing with it, like setting the flash way high, or way low on the monopod. They work for redeye, but it still tends to look unnatural. So why bring it? Because at some fields, you simply have no choice, like it or not. While I went to do the shoot to hang out with a friend, I also ended up submitting photos for print purchase, and to a website that dedicates itself to youth football in Arizona. As the client, I want them to be happy with the work, even if it means I have to use a flash (thankfully I didn’t).

Scout the team. My friend covers Boulder Creek all the time, and she not only knew the teams strengths and weaknesses, she knew them all as individuals pretty well. She clued me in. The QB is talented, the receiving core is young, the defense plays hard. But I didn’t have a friend to tell me about St Mary’s. I couldn’t tell you anything about that team other than they won. Because I only needed some action photos for the submission, it wasn’t a big deal. But what if St Mary’s was the client? Trust me, I would have gone to their website, read the hs section of the big paper’s website, and done other things. Knowing the key players, especially at the hs level where they can stand out better, is important.

Lastly, it’s nothing like college or the pro’s when it comes to playcalling. If you’re a football fan, you know they’re going to pass on a 3rd and long. If they have a big back and a strong O line, you know they’re running a majority of the time, and overwhelmingly so on 1st down. It makes sense. But at the HS level, the talent levels vary too much. Some plays require a lot of practice and a core of players who’ve been together for at least a season. Example: Third and long last night, I started hustling down the field, to anticipate the deep pass for a hopeful first down. Maybe, if I was lucky, a nice over the shoulder bomb. As I walked past some players, they asked where I was going, and I told them where and why. They laughed. Said they’re running. On third and long I said? YES, wanna bet, they said. No, I trusted them, stayed put, and got a sweep to the right side. Did I mention the team had two sophmores at the receiver slots? Talented, yes, but very new to the system.

Oh, ya, the photos.

Boulder Creek at St Mary’s

I’m off. ASU faces Stanford tonight. Have a good weekend!

Tags: general, photography // 5 Comments »