This was my first football game. Getting started here wasn't easy, having to constantly adjust to the different lighting and moving around to different positions. This was not even the beginning of what I had to do to capture these pictures.
Running across the field to get the perfect shot of a guy in the air. Almost getting trampled by one of the bands to get the perfect half time shot. It was especially hard to keep up with how fast the players were moving.
The lighting was also a problem when the sun started to go down, or when I moved to a different side of the stadium since the lights were facing in one direction and one side got less light than the other.
Shooting this game was also challenging because I didn't know anybody I was shooting. It was harder to communicate with them than it would be to communicate with my friends since they were all new faces.
Especially when being so close to get the drill team shots as well as the band shots, I thought I might get a few crazy looks. I was very happy during half time when going through my photos to see the many good shots I got.
It was a proud feeling to have taken those pictures with my own knowledge of photography.
I probably could have moved faster when it came to following the players up and down the field, and when it came to adjusting my settings. That's something I can always work on and get better at, and I will.
I Used a 300 mm lens and a 7200 mm lens while shooting the game, I also kept my ISO in the thousands, my f-stop on 5.6-7, and the shutter speed was depending on the light meter.
It took me almost three days to get done editing and deleting pictures mostly because the amount I took was close to 4000, I got the total number of photos down to a good 80 that I was very proud of.
I would also say that watching the games from the sidelines and getting to shoot pictures is super fun, stressful at times but overall a good experience.
Watching all the things that happen on the sidelines up close, cheerleaders, drill team, pep talks, it's so cool to watch and feel apart of it.
My favorite part of the whole game was definitely the track show and seeing everyones reactions when one team makes a touch down or the coaches yelling at the team to do better.
I love seeing the students support the students, the band, drill team, cheerleaders, people in the stands. The amount of love they all have for each other and support they give is amazing.
I love all the school spirit and the cheers and I cant wait to go to another game like this one.
Lastly, I would say that it is definitely better to spray and pray rather than waiting to shoot because you will most likely miss a great moment to shoot and you wont have as good of a chance at getting a great picture.