Advice on Nikon D200 and HS Football Needed

[tomdrink]

I have been asked if I would like to join a photographer who shoots for the Dallas Morning News to tagalong to the HS game between Coppell and Keller tomorrow (10/28). I have a 70-200/2.8 VRI, but am worried about the D200's iso limitations!
Any advice of settings? This is my first HS game (or any sporting event, actually).
I saw a thread on here about football settings, but a search has not found what I was looking for.
Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated!! I am excited for the opportunity, but would like some before hand knowledge to help me make the most of it!

Thanks,
TomD

[PhotoByLeal]

I have a D700 with a 70-200 f/2.8 with a 1.4TC which puts me @ f/4 @ ISO 5000 @ the most 6400 @ 1/250, not bad!
From what I have heard, the D200 is good up to ISO 800, but I have never shot with one!
I think I am going to get a D7000 with a 70-200 2.8 with the 1.4TC, I'll be safe!
If you would like to see a picture taken with my setting I can up load one for you....

good luck!

[John Godwin]

You did not say so I am going to assume you are going to be shooting in ambient light.

With the higher ISO settings you are going to have to learn to live with noise. More so with the D200 than some of the newer models. That is not a bad thing just a fact of life. A noisy picture is better than a motion blurred picture in almost all cases.

Crank the ISO up and shoot the lens wide open to try to get a shutter speed of at least 1/400 if possible and a faster shutter speed is even better. At 1/400 you can stop most facial motion blur but not hands, feet or the ball.

Shoot in manual mode and take the exposure reading on the grass out on the field about 15 yards from the sideline. That should enable you to get the exposure you need no matter where you point the camera, unless it is really dark in the end zone and you want to get some shots there.

Also know that the lights are probably going to be the type that cycle. That means your white balance is going to be all over the place, you will have to correct the white balance after the fact in post processing, There is nothing you can do about it prior to the shoot unless you shoot at 1/60 of a second or slower. Shoot in raw, it is easier at least for me to adjust for white balance on a raw file than it is with a jpeg.

If at all possible overexpose 1/3 of a stop. That will help reduce the noise.

Shoot tight, crop tighter. Let the action come to you, it is almost a waste of time to shoot all the way across the field with 200mm. Fill the frame with the player, in the long run you will be happier with the shot.

Respect the 25 yard line box and try to stay back from the sideline about 5 yards. You will find that different stadiums enforce those guidelines more than others but if you stay out of the box or at least when traveling through it you do not stop and talk to the players or coaches you will be better off.

If you plan on or want to shoot from both sidelines do not wear one of the teams colors. Remember the stands are for the fans.

Have fun, you will have a lot to learn.

[tomdrink]

John, thanks! Good info.!
Angel, yes, I'd like to see one of your images.
Any more tips, anyone?
TomD

[PhotoByLeal]

Tom, here is one.... I have a few more and I need to post more this week or next week on my facebook. If you have one give me request @ Angel M. Leal Jr.

No noise ware of any kind.... f/4, 1/250, ISO 5000!
My sister in laws son in the big guy #60 in black uniform! This was my first time shooting football, I had no idea on how to shoot.... It took me 2 minutes max to figure this out and I think I did OK!

[tomdrink]

What about VR? Is it useful in these situations?

[LSCSN.com]

Again a lot of this depends on what you are going to be using the photos for in the end. If you are looking for one shot shooting at 250th of a second would probably work, because you'll get lucky a couple of times.

I would stay at 400 or above as John suggested.

If you are going to hand hold your lens VR might help. I would certainly suggest using it if you are going to hand hold at 250. If you are using a monopod I wouldn't worry about it.

Speaking of wearing a team's colors . . . I was covering a Texas team a couple of week's ago that happens to play in a conference with two Oklahoma schools. And this night was actually supposed to be a little cool here in SE Texas, so I brought my only pullover wind jacket that I own, which happens to be a crimson one with OKLAHOMA across the chest, because I am a Sooners fan. But the Oklahoma high school team also happened to wear red and white :-). Didn't catch as much grief as I thought I might.

Happy shooting!

[tomdrink]

Thanks Jason. I will be using a monopod.
I am excited to learn from this guy. He shoots and has HS football pics in the Morning News every week.
TomD

[timbertoes]

I just heard a D700 calling your name. ;)

[tomdrink]

Originally Posted by timbertoes

I just heard a D700 calling your name. ;)

It's been calling me for awhile now. Just no funds to answer with!

[bobcool]

Originally Posted by LSCSN.com

Again a lot of this depends on what you are going to be using the photos for in the end. If you are looking for one shot shooting at 250th of a second would probably work, because you'll get lucky a couple of times.

I would stay at 400 or above as John suggested.

If you are going to hand hold your lens VR might help. I would certainly suggest using it if you are going to hand hold at 250. If you are using a monopod I wouldn't worry about it.

Speaking of wearing a team's colors . . . I was covering a Texas team a couple of week's ago that happens to play in a conference with two Oklahoma schools. And this night was actually supposed to be a little cool here in SE Texas, so I brought my only pullover wind jacket that I own, which happens to be a crimson one with OKLAHOMA across the chest, because I am a Sooners fan. But the Oklahoma high school team also happened to wear red and white :-). Didn't catch as much grief as I thought I might.

Happy shooting!

I'm going to respectfully disagree with Jason here - do not use VR. VR is designed for two things - camera shake at slow shutter speeds and/or unstable footing under the photographer, such as on a boat or other moving object that the photographer may be standing upon.

Since you are using a monopod and you should by all means try to keep your shutter speed above 1/400th, you don't need to turn on VR. Additionally, VR will cause the focus speed to slow down because the gyros have to kick in to stabilize the lens before acquiring focus.

Good luck - you'll get plenty of noise with the D200, but it's a great camera and should acquire focus nicely with that lens.

[LSCSN.com]

Bob I'm not sure where we disagreed ;-). We basically said the same thing :-).

[tomdrink]

Well, I learned a few things from my shoot last night. Main thing - I need a D700!!!
The 'ole D200, which I love, is not cut out for low light shooting (at least in my hands).
But I really enjoyed the opportunity to see how the pics end up in the morning paper. I got to see the shooting, editing, processing, and sending of the pics, all before the game was in the 4th quarter! Got some grub in the press box, and, unfortunately, got to watch the Rangers lose.
I'm posting a sample, even though I know it's crap - just to show how I'm struggling. This was shot at iso800, 1/250, f/2.8. It's very noisy, but I was afraid to shoot a higher iso. I should have, to get some sharpness, but can't imagine what the noise would've looked like. The raw file was a little sharper, you could actually see the lettering on the warning label on the back of#21's helmet.
Thanks to all who had some advice for me, I hope I get to do it again, when I get a better camera.
TomD

[Bob_S]

I moved from a D200 to a D300. It isn't as good as a D700 but it is huge step up from a D200 and doesn't cost that much.

Here's one from my D300 taken at ISO 4000.

[bobcool]

Originally Posted by LSCSN.com

Bob I'm not sure where we disagreed ;-). We basically said the same thing :-).

Hi Jason,

I was just disagreeing with the VR thing - everything else you said was spot-on!