I have my first opportunity to shoot NFL from the sidelines coming up on Sunday. I know there are several people around here who have done this before and I'm looking for any possible info or tips regarding optimal shooting locations. I'm fairly sure that I'm gonna be limited to inside the 20 yard line and the end zones. I'm not exactly sure what the photographer boundaries are yet because I have never been. I'm attending the game on the newspaper's photographer pass. I'm wondering if I'll be able to get into the upper stadium with this pass to shoot a panorama as well...
While you'll only get half the game, I'd think being down near the end zone would seem a desirable location, with the opportunity to capture scoring plays close-up. But then, the closest I've been to a football game is Row 38 : )
Your media pass should be good for all areas of the stadium, with a couple possible exclusions:
the locker room & broadcast booths.
There should be a hospitality suite available with food & beverages also.
As far as where to go / not to go?
1) The field will have a yellow dotted line around it - do not cross it.
2) Sidelines are good, and have to really stay on your toes to keep from getting run over by 400lbs of locomotive,
or the guys with the White Bigmas 3) Sidelines have a generaly courtesy of stay low or move on as it does block the view from the low seats in the stands.
Avoid the line of scrimmage, unless you want to try and shoot around the refs, coaches, etc,
(or shoot between their legs - BTDT - LOL) 4) End zones are great for perspective, obviously nothing less than 70mm here, wide-open aperature obviously for the dof.
5) If you have a spare body, have one with normal range and one with telephoto on it would be ideal. Guys from ESPN & such without a normal range lens or 2nd camera don't get anything when the action gets close.
6) You should have access to entire field, outside of the yellow lines with a press pass. The lines run right around and directly behind the benches, making for some good tight close-ups. 7) Gotta' pay attention to camera crews as they are constantly running the cables back & forth.
8) Don't forget the purdy gurls - they love posing.
9) Not all the action is on the field either. The fans are a riot!
Have fun.
I'll be doing the Dolphins/Chargers game on the 11th - woohoo!
I've never been to a stadium where I was restricted to a particular side or yardline. The dotted yellow line is the standard.
Each stadium has its own quirks about various security policies. Some have you wear a vest (Cleveland), some have you wear leg bands (Cincinnati, Baltimore -- I think Jacksonville, too), or an arm band (Pittsburgh). I'd make a point of finding the photographer lounge area as soon as you get there. They'll generally give you lineup cards and food of varying qualities.
In Buffalo, they make all photographers stay on their knees for the entire game -- that sucked! I don't know whether Carolina has a policy like that, but you'll want to bring knee pads if they do. Some guys prefer to be on their knees most of the time anyway, and will use the knee pads.
As for positioning... the end zone is great if you have a really long lens. My brother and several other guys with the huge lenses (like 600mm) tend to camp out in the end zone since they can capture action spread across the field, and no matter which end of the field the action is taking place. They also have multiple bodies so they can switch when the action is up close.
I generally follow the action, moving up and down the field. Have fun!
Oh... to answer your question about getting into the upper stands for a panorama... I would suspect you shouldn't have trouble doing so. I know we would be able to do it here in Pittsburgh, although I'd definitely consult with a security dude first, and try to exit and re-enter where the same security guy is so they're sure to recognize you. This probably varies from stadium to stadium; I'd just ask one of the security guys.
Thanks for the info. I shoot football from a knee anyway so I'm used to that. I like the lower camera angle for sports when I can get it. It adds the 'larger than life' quality to the subjects.
I'm glad to hear about the dotted line access. That will be great...
Panoramic is tough to do - too big - too tall.
I shot a number of sequences and hoped I could stitch them, some shot in landscape mode, some shot in portrait mode, both with plenty of overlap.
Need a wide angle to get much of it, but then the distortion made a mess of the stitching.
A couple std shots from the lights - a sight to behold from up there.
(and get a nose bleed too..)
Thanks for all the info. I'll hopefully have a decent day tomorrow. I plan to shoot a lot. I would like to make a photo collage out of the day's shooting similar to THIS ONE that I did at the local race track on a one-day shoot this summer.
I haven't shot football since 1982 or so, but everyhting Alan and Sjip have said sounds right to me. I was gonna tell you to be sure to have lots of film out of the boxes and tucked in your vest, then I remembered... :-)
Be sure to get there early and check out the media room and the hospitality room. Media room has lots of info for you, hospitality room has (or used to have) lots of good food. In the 80's I could definitely enter the stands and shoot, I assume that's still true.
Be SURE to shoot with both eyes open if you possibly can. It hurts like hell to get run over by these people.
You'll be surprised. It's there if you want it. And they regulalrly overrun the dotted line when getting blocked out of bounds.
R.
This dotted line concept is new to me. I haven't seen it before so i'll just have to find out when I get there. I'm gonna have a good time regardless :) I'm not there on assignment so I can shoot whatever I want :)
while I've only shot college I can tell you both eyes open shooting can save you. Its pretty weird when you see somethin get really tight in your lens and then blurry then ...well you have to react quickly.
photo pass is usually good for pretty much anywhere, you should be able to be quite close to the sidelines. For college its the 25 yard line to the endzone on both sides. Some people will be in your way near the 20-25...get them to move if you need to.
I do a lot of running around during the games as my longest lens is 300 mm..which requires me to either take a break from shooting or constantly run to the side where the action is.
70-200 is usually the best for the endzone...you dont wanna miss the touchdown for the sake of trying to get a closer in shot.
I've tried 'scenic' shots at the games, never got anything I liked though, just thought it looked same as everything else. That'd be cool if you got somethin different.
Be SURE to shoot with both eyes open if you possibly can. It hurts like hell to get run over by these people.
Have fun!
Robt.
I did learn that little gem a long time ago :) I don't think it will be a problem here though. I doubt i'll be able to get that close to the sideline.
I was shooting some skateboarding today and usually use both eyes open, but i was in a weird angle and my left eye was practically touching the ground, and the one time i didnt use two eyes, to shoot skate, I got hit really hard in the shoulder with a runaway board and its sore sore sore. tsk tsk.
Be SURE to shoot with both eyes open if you possibly can. It hurts like hell to get run over by these people.
Have fun!
Robt.
It dosn't need to be a player...
I got clobbered by a ref at a rugby game this winter. Got a black eye where the camera got my left eye socket, and busted the hood for my 70-200 and the bg-ed on my (Borrowed, oops) 10D.
This is one of those 'you only have to learn it once' lessons in sports photography!
I had a good day at the Bank of America Stadium for the Panthers vs Falcons game today. The information I got here was very useful and very correct. The yellow dotted line is my line of scrimage :) There is even a yellow-jacketed defense there waiting for me to screw up :)
I didn't shoot a lot of football action today though. I spent a good deal of my time talking and shooting at players. I met some interesting folks. I did manage to capture Micael Vick taking a hard sack on a 4th and 1 conversion attempt...
I didn't wander up into the stadium at all and i sorta wish I had. I'm gonna do that when I go back for the Cowboys game on Christmas Eve.
I have never seen so many photographers in one place. They practically circled the entire field. There were lots of big lenses and some small ones as well. I met one lady shooting with a Leica Digilux and another guy with a Sony 707 like the one I had before I moved to DSLR. It was also a most refreshing surprise to see a good number of female photographers on the field. That is something I rarely encounter in local high school sports.
So who do you know or how do you manage to get access? I'm curious.
I'm getting the passes from my local newspaper. Since I do sports photography for them, and no one else is using the passes, they let me have this one today. I'm gonna ask for the christmas eve game pass one day this week.
I quickly stitched this together. I'm gonna redo that from in front of the goal post on my next trip down. It's sorta difficult with people moving around.. especially when they are close to the camera. There are several ghosted people in this one...
Did you happen to notice the size of the big lenses the other pros were using? Were they bigger than 500mm? Also, did the photographers all migrate to the other endzone when the play was on the other side of the field?
Nice shot of the sack. Your shots look like it was an overcast day there. Were the stadium lights on and what white balance did you use? Do you think the lights would create any kind of color problems? I think it would be neat to shoot a night game and see what how the camera meters the shots. Just wondering here if the stadium lights during a night game are enough or would you need to crank up the ISO to maintain fast shutter speeds.
Thanks.
Edited to add: Yep, I can see the stadium lights reflected in Michael Vick's helmut.
It was also a most refreshing surprise to see a good number of female photographers on the field. That is something I rarely encounter in local high school sports.
Sounds like you had a fun day John. It is good to hear that there were female photographers there. When i got my media pass I was told I was the only female in the whole football federation of Australia. (I wish there were more of us) It is a little daunting being the only female there.
Are you going to be doing any more?
Lisa
