Photographing football, like any other sport or event, can be a challenge if you are not very familiar with the game. When the action gets going, there is little time to react so you need to know exactly where the action is moving to so you can be ready to get the shot.
Shooting sports can get quite expensive. To do it well, you will need a relatively fast camera that has numerous auto focus points (AF points), a high frame rate, and one that can handle high ISOs well (3200 ISO and beyond). Then, there's the lenses, you'll want a long focal length with a wide aperture to separate your subject from the background and give it pop. These two items can easily run into the tens of thousands and doesn't even cover a second body and lens for backup and wider shots if you are shooing football professionally. For high school games, you can get away with a more modest APS-C body (Nikon D300s, Canon 7D, or Sony A700 equivalent) and a fast telephoto zoom lens that you may already own. If your camera doesn't have a high frame rate, don't worry. You will still be able to achieve killer shots, just less of them. The number one lens I would recommend is a fast-focusing 70-200mm F/2.8 or similar equivalent. You could probably get by with an F/4 variation (if you shoot Canon or Sony), but this means using a one stop higher ISO to compensate for the darker lens. It is best to stick with first-party lenses because you can take advantage of they have fast ultrasonic focusing motors (Canon's USM, Nikon's AF-S SWM, and Sony's SSM) that are accurate and track movement well. If your budget restricts you to third-party alternatives like Sigma and Tamron, consider the Sigma for it's HSM ultrasonic motor (still not as fast as first-party lenses) over Tamron's slow micromotor. With the Tamron, shots are still possible, but you may find yourself frustrated at missed shots (due to the slow focus) or resorting to manual focus. Okay, so enough about the gear, let's get to shooting with it.
Photo by: Luis Vieira
In the next page, I will discuss the correct camera settings and photography techniques for football.