Texas Stadium’s Final Night of High School Championships

[Blue Moon]

As a Dallas native with years of fond memories from Texas Stadium I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot the final two weekends of Texas high school championship games ever be played in the stadium. Most shots were with the 500 f/4 with hopes of capturing hero shots worthy of the moment.

The first shot features Prosper Eagle QB Hunter Nix (9) shortly after he suffered a broken finger in the first quarter of their state championship game against Waco La Vega. The Eagles took a time out and taped Nix’s broken finger. Despite the injury Nix stayed at the helm and led Prosper to their first ever state championship.

[mmcaleer]

Nice shots Geryl. My friend's son played for Prosper in that game. Do you have any other Prosper shots?

[Blue Moon]

Thanks Mike. I just put up my Prosper vs. Waco LaVega game gallery. Thanks for passing it on to him. Also if I missed his son, I know that HB Wise also has some good shots from the game posted here.

Happy Holidays,

Geryl

[mmcaleer]

Thanks Geryl, I just showed him your pictures. Great work. What equipment did you shoot with? I wanted to play around with some sports next season. Currently I have a 30D with a 70-200 f2.8L.

Mike

[Blue Moon]

Originally Posted by mmcaleer

Thanks Geryl, I just showed him your pictures. Great work. What equipment did you shoot with? I wanted to play around with some sports next season. Currently I have a 30D with a 70-200 f2.8L.

Mike

Thanks again Mike. I shot these with a Canon 50D and 500 f/4L. Most were shot at ISO 3200. I got by shooting the 500 f/4 because the lights at Texas Stadium were just good enough and my 50D still allows big prints at ISO 3200. Keep in mind that the lights are not going to be as good at most, if any, high school stadiums.

Fast glass rules the realm of sports. Most serious Canon sports shooters are using the 300 f/2.8L or 400 f/2.8L and often with the 1.4x extender on the 300 for football. Don't let that stop you because you can expect good results with your 30D and 70-200 f/2.8 for most outdoor sports in good natural lighting but only when you can get very close to the action. The 1.4x extender works with the f/2.8 version of the 70-200 with your 30D but you lose a stop and it slows down the AF a hair.

To get a feel of what you can expect, I used the 70-200 f/2.8 to shoot the controversial and game winning 2 point conversion play in my Longview vs Midway post last week. Keep in mind I was standing about 12 yards from the goal line right next to the goal post so that will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect with your set up at close range.

The good news is that if you want to get your feet wet as a sports shooter you can rent the 300 f/2.8 for $50 per weekend on average so you don’t have to run out and buy the glass until you can justify it. Good luck.

Happy Holidays,

Geryl