PShizzy: The Blog

After some Friday night hs football action, I had to gear up again for Saturday night, as the #15 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils faced off against the unranked Stanford Cardinals. Stanford, if you recall, ended USC’s 35 home game winning streak last year in one of many upsets last year. Stanford came into town hoping they could revive some of that magic.

Arizona, led by Rudy Carpenter, led the whole way, only letting up slightly when the Cardinals cut the lead to 27-17 before the Sun Devils put up another two touchdowns. Thankfully, despite the score, the game was much more competitive than ASU’s home opener against NAU.

While it’s the same game, there are many differences (besides skill level) between the hs and college games. Yes, if you’ve shoot football, you understand the game, but at the college level, football is an event. So, what are these differences?

Well, the introductions for one thing. Sun Devil Stadium has a pyrotechnic show as part of their team introductions. I like to capture different images of the team intro’s, sometimes trying to get a wide shot of the entire team, with the band and fans cheering. Other times, I like getting a few players who look pumped up to start the game. It’s great because you can get some nice images over the course of the season by focusing on different aspects each game.

A D2 or D3 school might not have fireworks, but they will still put on a show. Some schools take pride in their band, and will really put on a show. Some schools (Hawaii comes to mind) have rituals that separate them from other places. Other schools have mascots that happen to be particularly good with their showmanship. Whatever it is, find it and shoot it. Then shoot it again the next game, with a different perspective.

Access is vastly different from start to finish. In HS, you can usually get very close to the sideline, and even walk up and down, even through the teams benches (some coaches prefer you not do this). In college, you are not allowed to walk through the team benches (unless you’re the schools photographer), which tend to be huge. At ASU, each bench runs from 20 yard line to 20 yard line. Coverage then is limited from the end zone to the 20 yard line on each sideline. The buffer zone between the field of play and the media line is also huge. Where a 300mm lens can usually work well on a hs field for tight action shots, it can tend to be a bit short for the college game.

Light is usually better, because the colleges have bigger venues for their games. If you can eek out 1/500th 2.8 at 1600 or so, then consider yourself lucky. That can easily be two stops better than a local high school field. Of course, you can’t use flash during a college game (this may not be the case at the lower levels, but I’ve yet to see it), so there’s that tradeoff.

Equipment, for the most part, remains the same. As I mentioned before, you probably want a 400mm more than a 300, and you won’t use your flash during the game. Securing your equipment will depend on the venue. At the HS games, you can usually take a basic kit (2 bodies, 300, 70-200 or fast prime, flash) and maybe carry a small belt pack or backpack with you. But for college, that may not work well. Larger crowds, and smaller sidelines mean you have to be careful where you leave any equipment not in use. Consider taking a lock and some chain/cable to secure your bag and/or laptop while you’re covering the game. The Think Tank Airport Security comes with a built in security cable, and the zippers have a small combination lock (which is TSA compatible). With so many people around, things can dissapear easily. Be smart, and be safe.

Finally, have fun with it. College can certainly be tougher to shoot than high school, but the game is the same. Find the players of the game, the strengths of the team, and the overall mood of the game.

Here’s my gallery of the ASU vs Stanford game:

ASU vs Stanford

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