# Football 2021



## ronlane

Hello everyone. I've been a little quiet this summer, but it's time to crank it back up. Football season is here and I'm looking forward to another great season and adding 7th grade football to the schedule as well as adding back in the college games too.

Last weekend, my son participated in a "showcase" / scrimmage where the entire towns football programs were on the field. (age 6 and under to Varsity programs) Here are a few shots from the day.


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## Dean_Gretsch

I always look forward to your football posts. Oklahoma _is _the land of football!


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## photoflyer

Very fun.  I was up at the High School last evening to workout at the track but it was closed for a scrimmage.   All I had was an older Point-N-Shoot so I experimented with that.  Looking forward to putting the R6 through its paces this season.    Let the games begin.


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## ronlane

Dean_Gretsch said:


> I always look forward to your football posts. Oklahoma _is _the land of football!



Thanks Dean. We get kicked off in a couple of weeks and then I'll be super busy with youth to college. (Who knows, maybe even a Pro game, if I'm lucky)



photoflyer said:


> Very fun.  I was up at the High School last evening to workout at the track but it was closed for a scrimmage.   All I had was an older Point-N-Shoot so I experimented with that.  Looking forward to putting the R6 through its paces this season.    Let the games begin.



Looking forward to seeing what you get with the R6. I am REALLY wanting to get an R3 when it comes out. But we shall see.


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## photoflyer

ronlane said:


> Looking forward to seeing what you get with the R6. I am REALLY wanting to get an R3 when it comes out. But we shall see.


I recall you have a 1DX Mark ??.  If you have not shot an R6 or R5 and you get the R3 I guarantee you will not regret it.    If you have shot one of these then you know what I mean.


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## ronlane

photoflyer said:


> I recall you have a 1DX Mark ??.  If you have not shot an R6 or R5 and you get the R3 I guarantee you will not regret it.    If you have shot one of these then you know what I mean.



Yes, I currently have 2 of the 1Dx Mark I. I have a friend that has a R5 and he likes it for sports too. Have to see when I will be able to get one.


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## K9Kirk

Nice set, looks like you had fun.


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## ac12

First home game is on Sept 3rd.
Looking forward to that.


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## ronlane

K9Kirk said:


> Nice set, looks like you had fun.



Thank you. Yes, it was warm but a fun day. Always nice to get back to shooting football.



ac12 said:


> First home game is on Sept 3rd.
> Looking forward to that.



At this point, I have games on Sept 2nd, 3rd and 4th. (Middle School, High School and College).


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## JohnTorcasio

Always nice to see American football photos
one i took not too long ago


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## ac12

ronlane said:


> Thank you. Yes, it was warm but a fun day. Always nice to get back to shooting football.
> 
> 
> 
> At this point, I have games on Sept 2nd, 3rd and 4th. (Middle School, High School and College).



Mine is just high school, so I don't get the athletics of college level play in any of the sports.

The smoke from the forest fires has made outdoor sports more difficult.  Visibility has been down to only one mile.
I am wearing a N95 mask for both covid and smoke; indoors for covid and outdoors for smoke.

The kids must be tired.
They probably thought that they could not wear a mask outdoors for covid.
Then the smoke came.


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## ronlane

ac12 said:


> Mine is just high school, so I don't get the athletics of college level play in any of the sports.
> 
> The smoke from the forest fires has made outdoor sports more difficult.  Visibility has been down to only one mile.
> I am wearing a N95 mask for both covid and smoke; indoors for covid and outdoors for smoke.
> 
> The kids must be tired.
> They probably thought that they could not wear a mask outdoors for covid.
> Then the smoke came.



that's crazy. I am having to wear a mask at work but not when I am on the football field outdoors. We shall see how the season goes.


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## Space Face

Not football as we know it here  (you'd call it soccer).  The low pov and movement I'm #1 is/are sublime imo.


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## K9Kirk

Space Face said:


> Not football as we know it here  (you'd call it soccer).  The low pov and movement I'm #1 is/are sublime imo.


No, you are not #1 ... you are # 10.


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## ronlane

Scrimmage #2 for the middle school guys (7th & 8th Grade). As a Dad, I had to be there, so might as well get in a few shots so I can knock the rust off and be ready for the season next week. Besides the lighting is so much better her than it will be in the weeks to come as the sun sets earlier and earlier.

1)





2)




3)




4)




5)


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## K9Kirk

Very nice set, keep'em coming!


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## ac12

DAY game, nice.

I was told on Wednesday, that the Friday night game was moved to Saturday early afternoon. 
A DAY game, and I am at a conference this week-end.   ARGH


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## photoflyer

ronlane said:


> Scrimmage #2 for the middle school guys (7th & 8th Grade). As a Dad, I had to be there, so might as well get in a few shots so I can knock the rust off and be ready for the season next week. Besides the lighting is so much better her than it will be in the weeks to come as the sun sets earlier and earlier.



These images remind how much the talking heads on the likes of ESPN really do not understand sport.   A good sports photo transcends the level of competition and and captures what sport represents: a reflection of the human spirit.   Sure, they won't get ratings televising 8th grade football, but so often they miss the underlying story behind the game focusing way too much on fame and fortune.

Side question.  What lens are you using?  I have a 70-200 f2.8, 300 f4, and 100-400 f4.5-5.6.  I also have the 1.4 and 2.0 TCs but normally avoid using them.  But, for sports and wildlife I am debating getting a Mark I version of the 400 f2.8 or 500 f4.    The R6 can go plenty high on the ISO and still produce quality images and the AF works up to f16, but the separation  one gets with 2.8 versus 5.6, I think, is noticeable and makes an image pop.


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## ronlane

ac12 said:


> DAY game, nice.
> 
> I was told on Wednesday, that the Friday night game was moved to Saturday early afternoon.
> A DAY game, and I am at a conference this week-end.   ARGH



Dang AC, that sucks. I'll get good light for part of the game for about another 3-4 weeks and then it will be under the lights. I have at least 2 games this coming weekend, Friday evening and Saturday at 11:00 so I should get some good stuff.


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## ronlane

photoflyer said:


> These images remind how much the talking heads on the likes of ESPN really do not understand sport.   A good sports photo transcends the level of competition and and captures what sport represents: a reflection of the human spirit.   Sure, they won't get ratings televising 8th grade football, but so often they miss the underlying story behind the game focusing way too much on fame and fortune.
> 
> Side question.  What lens are you using?  I have a 70-200 f2.8, 300 f4, and 100-400 f4.5-5.6.  I also have the 1.4 and 2.0 TCs but normally avoid using them.  But, for sports and wildlife I am debating getting a Mark I version of the 400 f2.8 or 500 f4.    The R6 can go plenty high on the ISO and still produce quality images and the AF works up to f16, but the separation  one gets with 2.8 versus 5.6, I think, is noticeable and makes an image pop.



Thanks Photoflyer.  I am using a 300mm f/2.8 version I and I have a 70-200mm f/2.8 on my second body. I would love to have a 400mm f/2.8 but those haven't come down to my price point yet. IF you can stay patient enough, you can get some great images even under the lights with the 70-200 but you have to let the action come to you or stay 5-10 yards either side of the line of scrimmage. For day games, that 300 f/4 would be good even with the TC's. Personally, I am not fond of the 100-400 because of the variable aperture on it.

Be sure that you have a good monopod if you get the 300 or 400 f/2.8's. It will save your shoulders a LOT.


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## jeffashman

Excellent photos! We live close enough to the high school, that we hear the band on the field every game night. Friday night lights!


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## photoflyer

ronlane said:


> Looking forward to seeing what you get with the R6. I am REALLY wanting to get an R3.



Friday night lights, finally, with the R6 and the 300mm f 4 Mark I.  ISO 6400 (I have some at 12.8 that are fine) and 1/800th. Heavy crop.  I had the 70-200 2.8 on the 6D Mark II but kept coming back to the R6 because I could see the exposure through the view finder and what the AF was tracking.

You get an R3 and I'll get a Mark I 400 2.8!


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## jeffashman

Nice action shot!


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## ronlane

First Friday night lights game of the season. Here are a few highlights.

1)





2)





3)





4) This kid has multiple offers from D1 schools to play both football and basketball.





5)





6)





7)  This young man has committed to play football at Oregon.


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## jcdeboever

Excellent shooting as always Ron


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## ronlane

Thanks @jcdeboever.


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## ac12

Did our first home and night game this past Fri.
Either the lights are dimmer or the SMOKE in the air dimmed the lights.  I had to bump my exposure up about half to a full stop.  And I was already on the the edge before, at 1/800, f/4, ISO 6400.
I had "the first game rusties."  For some reason, I was having intermittent AF trouble, that I did not have before.  
Going to fuss with the kit this weekend and see if I can figure it out.


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## photoflyer

ac12 said:


> Did our first home and night game this past Fri.
> Either the lights are dimmer or the SMOKE in the air dimmed the lights. I had to bump my exposure up about half to a full stop. And I was already on the the edge before, at 1/800, f/4, ISO 6400.
> I had "the first game rusties." For some reason, I was having intermittent AF trouble, that I did not have before.
> Going to fuss with the kit this weekend and see if I can figure it out.


Do you ever under expose intentionally to get a higher shutter speed and/or lower ISO?  I do this a lot in dim light (sounds counter intuitive) and then bring the shadows out a bit in the raw file.   Also, I use DXO's software and their noise reduction algorithm is amazing.   I see little to no reduction in sharpness and the noise is reduced dramatically.


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## ac12

photoflyer said:


> Do you ever under expose intentionally to get a higher shutter speed and/or lower ISO?  I do this a lot in dim light (sounds counter intuitive) and then bring the shadows out a bit in the raw file.   Also, I use DXO's software and their noise reduction algorithm is amazing.   I see little to no reduction in sharpness and the noise is reduced dramatically.



In a way.
The end zone is 1 stop dimmer than the center of the field.
The corners of the field are about 2 stops dimmer.  And guess where the runners usually go . . . towards the corners.
So, when I shoot in manual mode, yes, I end up underexposing the end zone and corner shots.

I can shoot metered in the center, but I have not figured out a way to shoot metered into the end zone.
The problem is that background is DARK.
- Direct metering ends up overexposing the players, because of the DARK background.
- When I set the AF point up one, and use center weight, that works for the center of the field, but not for the LONG shots.  On the LONG shots, because of the flat angle, I am metering off the well lit part of the field, not the dim part.

Unfortunately, I shoot in JPG, not RAW.
I do that simply because of the volume of pics that I shoot.  RAW to JPG just adds another step and more time.
Although, I might consider shooting just the night game in RAW.


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## photoflyer

ac12 said:


> Unfortunately, I shoot in JPG, not RAW.
> I do that simply because of the volume of pics that I shoot. RAW to JPG just adds another step and more time.
> Although, I might consider shooting just the night game in RAW.



I understand.  My workflow looks like this:

Download raw files to the computer
Delete shots that are clearly poor
Edit a shot that is representative of the shoot and save the settings as a custom preset
Apply the preset to all images in the shoot - this is a single application that takes five seconds
Review images in the shoot and edit only the best (500 may become 20)

In the last step I crop for composition and may fine tune a few of the settings for that specific shot.

I used to shoot mostly jpg but the amount of data in a raw truly makes a difference.  And, the R6 has compressed raw so the files are very manageable.  If you can a custom preset to the entire shoot, it really becomes very much like shooting jpg, you're just applying what is applied in camera after the fact and in a manner that is specific to that shoot  Also, your starting point allows much more latitude to fine tune a specific image.  

If conditions changed during the shoot, starts cloudy and ends sunny, I create two presents.


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## ronlane

Week three was a 62-58 track meet game. Lots of offense not much defense.

1)



2)


3)


4)


5)


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## ac12

Yesterday we had a DAY game.   

But the reason was COVID. 
Originally the games (JV+Var) was for Thur afternoon/evening, then there was a COVID scare, so they had to test the teams.  So games delayed to Saturday.

Then it happened, one of the JV players tested positive, so they cancelled the JV game . . . Friday night.  Of course, I was not in the communications.  So, on Sat. morning, I'm sitting on the field at 10:30, wondering where the heck everybody is.  

Varsity went on at 2pm.  DAY time, with overcast sky, perfect.  Plenty of sunlight, without the direct sun to cook me, and make harsh shadows.  But . . . we lost, 14-36


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## ac12

ronlane said:


> Week three was a 62-58 track meet game. Lots of offense not much defense.
> 
> 1)
> View attachment 248415
> 
> 2)
> View attachment 248416
> 
> 3)
> View attachment 248417
> 
> 4)
> View attachment 248418
> 
> 5)
> View attachment 248419



I LIKE #4 and 5.


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## ronlane

College ball last night. Spent some time trying to shoot the defense and linemen as much as the backs. Missed a pick 6 because I wasn't quick enough to the second body.

1)


2)


3)


4)


5)


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## enezdez

Great Set...Fantastic!


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## ronlane

enezdez said:


> Great Set...Fantastic!



Thank you.


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## jeffashman

Nice set!


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## ronlane

Saturday afternoon NCAA Division II football from the Great American Conference (GAC).

1) QB's view.



2) Defying gravity.



3) Is he every going to go down?



4) I got it.



5) Now, can I get my toe down?


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## ronlane

A few more from Saturday.

1) Might as well jump.



2) Peek-a-boo



3) The faces of football.



4) Over the shoulder



5) Touchdown.


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## ronlane

How about something a little different.


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## jeffashman

Nicely done! Different indeed.


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## ac12

Murphey strikes again.

I shot a VJ and Var game today, and pulled a FUBAR.
For "some reason" my Exposure Compensation was set to +1.5    ARGH !!!!! Strike one. (I still can't figure out how/when that happened)
I did not check the settings before the game.  I ASS-U-MEd that I has reset the settings.  Strike two.
I did not do what I normally do, a test exposure before the game, to make sure the exposure was OK.  Strike three.

The JV pics were overexposed, just barely salvageable, I think.
I caught the setting screw up just as the Var game started, so that game wasn't screwed up.  Just the normal difficulty with the field lights.

SIGH

update:  Most of the pics were salvageable, but just barely.
The one unanticipated benefit was that I got the faces, which are normally in the deep helmet shadow.
Lesson learned, that was a DUMB mistake, make sure I do #2 and 3.


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## ronlane

@ac12, I've had exposure issues like that but usually at day games.

Here are a few from Friday night.

1) Just before kick-off. Linebackers and leaders of the defense.



2) HC is a little frustrated at the situation.



3) My favorite of the night.


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## ac12

@ronlane , it was a day game, well late afternoon.

What ticked me off was even if I did not do #2, #3 would have caught the problem.
And I tell my students to ALWAYS do #3.  Yet I did not do it myself.

I had to go back to the car to get a lens for my student, so I was late for the start of the game, and did not do my normal pre-game routine, which included #3.
But, I could and should have sacrificed the first 5 minutes of the game to get everything properly tested and configured.  
Instead, the entire JV game was overexposed.

Reminds me of an old saying "haste makes waste."


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## ac12

I LIKE your #3.


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## ronlane

Last day game of 2021. Had a pretty good game and I'll share a few sets from this one. Getting used to shooting the combo of the 1Dx, 300mm f/2.8 with a 1.4x TC on there.
1)





2)




3)




4)




5)


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## jeffashman

Nice action!


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## ronlane

One of my favorite images of the season. I have a few more to share from this game.


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