All the pics are on my blog: Aggie Photographer
I didn’t get to shoot any sports for two weeks due to a car accident (I was rear-ended and hurt my back and neck.)
Due to my back pain, I was traveling lighter than I would rather travel. Usually I will have my 70-200mm 2.8 or 24-105mm 4 on a second body, but I really couldn’t handle the excess weight in addition to the big 300 2.8 on my 7D. So one-lens it is. This really came back to bite me, because I was in perfect position to shoot the Andre Johnson game-winning catch, but I didn’t have the right gear. Such is life.
I’ve noticed that my horizontal pictures tend to sell better than my vertical pictures. The problem is that the players all tend to be pretty vertical. Anyway, I decided to shoot the entire game horizontally, just to see how it goes. I was a little slower than normal, especially starting in the second quarter, when my back started to tighten up.
Gear:
Gear:
Camera: Canon 7D
Grip: Canon BG-E7
Memory: Transcend 16GIG 400X Compact Flash Cards
Memory Card Reader: Lexar Firewire 800
Primary Lens: Canon EF 300mm 2.8L IS
Computer: MacBook Pro (I have the Duo Core 2 2.53 GHz unibody model)
Software: Lightroom 3, PhotoMechanic
Here is my one vertical pic. It was actually cropped from a horizontal pic. That is about as clean a shot as you can get. No other players, far from the other end of the field. Ball in perfect position with the NFL logo up.
The stadium roof being open creates a unique set of problems. When a player is in the shade, the background lights up. If that player is wearing white, it can start to fade into the background. Unless you underexpose, in which case, you can't see the eyes too good. I'd rather see the eyes and let his shoulder pads fade into the background.
Be like Mike? I bet that stops the next time he is blindsided as he throws and he bites off the tip.
I think Schaub looks a little awkward when he runs.
Nice classic QB shot.
Better stop sticking out your tongue.
This is one of my favorite pics from the game.
Pretty sure this was a late hit.
Chiefs are standing in a little patch of sunlight. I intentionally underexposed it. You can see some kind of haze on the left of the pic. That's Neil Rackers' elbow. He's kind of an ass.
Favorite shot of the game:
This is big Ron Edwards sacking Schaub. Ron sat next to me in AGLS 101 with Dr. Joe Townsend in Fall 1999.
Oh, and the stiff arm didn't work, in case you were on the edge of your seat wondering.
Cush is still a step slow.
This is why you see football photographers kneeling or sitting on the ground. My back is stiffening up, so I shoot standing up. I can't get under his facemask to see his eyes. If I am kneeling, you would be able to see up under his facemask like you can in most of my other shots.
Yeah, they called illegal hands to the face.
Derrick Ward's big 38 yard TD run.
Those nice, tight isolation shots are easiest on kick returners.
Really wanted a good McCluster shot.
Arian Foster diving in for the TD.
Dirk Diggler? Bruce Lee? Why the bow?
Mario came off a couple times walking pretty gingerly.
This picture pretty much sums up Kareem Jackson.
Thomas Jones still looked good. This series from his late 4th Q TD to go up 10.
He kinda looks like a 6'5 balding Jake Gyllenhaal in a helmet.
I would have thrown an incompletion, too.
So for the last couple plays, the play was partially in the sun, partially in the shade. So I switched to aperture/priority, because the difference in exposure was about 2.5 stops.
Schaub's pass to Andre Johnson to win the game:
I was positioned perfectly to get the catch. Only, I had the wrong lens and was too tight. The fans were thrilled. All I could think about was my 70-200 sitting at home.
Texans are 4-2. Now a bye week. Hopefully, they can get healthy.
I didn’t get to shoot any sports for two weeks due to a car accident (I was rear-ended and hurt my back and neck.)
Due to my back pain, I was traveling lighter than I would rather travel. Usually I will have my 70-200mm 2.8 or 24-105mm 4 on a second body, but I really couldn’t handle the excess weight in addition to the big 300 2.8 on my 7D. So one-lens it is. This really came back to bite me, because I was in perfect position to shoot the Andre Johnson game-winning catch, but I didn’t have the right gear. Such is life.
I’ve noticed that my horizontal pictures tend to sell better than my vertical pictures. The problem is that the players all tend to be pretty vertical. Anyway, I decided to shoot the entire game horizontally, just to see how it goes. I was a little slower than normal, especially starting in the second quarter, when my back started to tighten up.
Gear:
Gear:
Camera: Canon 7D
Grip: Canon BG-E7
Memory: Transcend 16GIG 400X Compact Flash Cards
Memory Card Reader: Lexar Firewire 800
Primary Lens: Canon EF 300mm 2.8L IS
Computer: MacBook Pro (I have the Duo Core 2 2.53 GHz unibody model)
Software: Lightroom 3, PhotoMechanic
Here is my one vertical pic. It was actually cropped from a horizontal pic. That is about as clean a shot as you can get. No other players, far from the other end of the field. Ball in perfect position with the NFL logo up.
The stadium roof being open creates a unique set of problems. When a player is in the shade, the background lights up. If that player is wearing white, it can start to fade into the background. Unless you underexpose, in which case, you can't see the eyes too good. I'd rather see the eyes and let his shoulder pads fade into the background.
Be like Mike? I bet that stops the next time he is blindsided as he throws and he bites off the tip.
I think Schaub looks a little awkward when he runs.
Nice classic QB shot.
Better stop sticking out your tongue.
This is one of my favorite pics from the game.
Pretty sure this was a late hit.
Chiefs are standing in a little patch of sunlight. I intentionally underexposed it. You can see some kind of haze on the left of the pic. That's Neil Rackers' elbow. He's kind of an ass.
Favorite shot of the game:
This is big Ron Edwards sacking Schaub. Ron sat next to me in AGLS 101 with Dr. Joe Townsend in Fall 1999.
Oh, and the stiff arm didn't work, in case you were on the edge of your seat wondering.
Cush is still a step slow.
This is why you see football photographers kneeling or sitting on the ground. My back is stiffening up, so I shoot standing up. I can't get under his facemask to see his eyes. If I am kneeling, you would be able to see up under his facemask like you can in most of my other shots.
Yeah, they called illegal hands to the face.
Derrick Ward's big 38 yard TD run.
Those nice, tight isolation shots are easiest on kick returners.
Really wanted a good McCluster shot.
Arian Foster diving in for the TD.
Dirk Diggler? Bruce Lee? Why the bow?
Mario came off a couple times walking pretty gingerly.
This picture pretty much sums up Kareem Jackson.
Thomas Jones still looked good. This series from his late 4th Q TD to go up 10.
He kinda looks like a 6'5 balding Jake Gyllenhaal in a helmet.
I would have thrown an incompletion, too.
So for the last couple plays, the play was partially in the sun, partially in the shade. So I switched to aperture/priority, because the difference in exposure was about 2.5 stops.
Schaub's pass to Andre Johnson to win the game:
I was positioned perfectly to get the catch. Only, I had the wrong lens and was too tight. The fans were thrilled. All I could think about was my 70-200 sitting at home.
Texans are 4-2. Now a bye week. Hopefully, they can get healthy.