aschweik Loc: NE Ohio

I am now the official photographer for my daughter's high school lacrosse team. I've been taking pictures of all my kids sports for 20 years but never for anyone else but me to see, so I've got a degree of anxiety! I'll be using a Nikon D7200 and Tamron 70-200 f2.8 lens, and I'll be on the sidelines. My main concern is keeping up shutter speed on dark days and under stadium lights. Normally I'm up in the stands with my butt in a seat and that's where I stay. lol. I know down on the field the lighting will be different and the game will seem faster. My questions would be should I be in full manual? Auto ISO (or auto anything else)? What metering? And any other advice would be greatly appreciated. I can probably fumble through the first few games and figure it out but if anyone can get me started at least, that would be great. I know lighting changes and all that so specifics will be difficult. But it seems there are differing opinions in manual vs. Aperture mode, etc. Just thought I'd ask some of you on here and get your 2 cents. Thanks!

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I photographed collegiate sports for a while. The lighting not he athletes will be the same regardless of where you are located. If you can take a meter/exposure reading from the face of one of the athletes under the light they are playing you can set your settings accordingly. You want to meter for skin tones.
It helps if you follow one player at a time, that way you aren't trying to follow all of the action all of the time and you will have less of a hectic experience. After you get a couple of good shots of one player, then work on photographing the next player. You should be able to get a few good shots of each player that way.
Don't forget to include shots of the coaches doing their thing, players cheering on their team, and the people watching the games. For football I stood about 20 yards ahead of the action on the sidelines and moved downfield as they progressed. The 70-200 lens is perfect for this. I normally had a 70-200 on one camera and a 24-70 on another camera.
Hope this helps.

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

What Jim said make a lot of sense.
Here is my 2 cents.
For Lacrosse at night will be your challenge. First shoot manual, 1/800 at 2.8 your iso would be around 5,000-8,000. Usually bad lighting at high school fields, better lighting in the middle. Fill the frame with your subject, let the action come to you. Try to get a players face, the ball in the shot. No backs period, nobody want to see the backs of players.
Practice before the game during warm ups for settings. Get to the game early to do this and have some fun, relax.
Good luck,
Jules

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

I've found these settings work pretty well especially if you have variable lighting conditions:

- Auto ISO with your max ISO selected
- Aperture Priority mode with 2.8 set
- Set your minimum acceptable shutter speed in your Auto ISO settings screen
- Use back button focus
- Experiment with the Focus Tracking system of your camera. In my situation, mostly dog shows, I've found shutting it off gives me the most reliable focus letting the camera adjust as needed. In a situation with multiple targets running around the field while you're trying to track a single player you may need to max out tracking or turn it down. My point here is be aware that it exists and has a huge impact on how many useable shots you produce. The best explanation I've seen is from Steve Perry's book on the Nikon Auto Focus System.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

I shoot NCAA men’s lacrosse and have shot many highschool games also both under lights and during day light. Do not let your Shutter drop below 800. A 1000 to 1200 is preferred if you can get it. I use a D7200 also. Auto Iso will be your friend here. Try setting the ISO max to 5000 and see if that give you enough to keep your shutter speeds up. You may have to go to 6000 but don’t worry. There will be noise but it’s ok most people looking at the shot won’t notice it unless they are a photographer. If you are shooting raw you can always tone done that noise in post. Get a good look at the feild before the game. Highschool field are not evenly lit. Not the bright spots and focus your shots in those areas forget the dark areas. Do not worry a bout catching action all over the feild. You want great shots. A couple of things I will add shoot faces not backs. Get shots of players coming toward you not going away. The name on the back of the shirt is not as interesting as the look on a players face. If you want to look like a real pro get images away from the action. Drop you shutter speed down to 250 and catch emotion on the sidelines. After a goal is scored. Coaches reactions and head shots of players without head gear(for women it’s the eye protection. At night another fun technique that can produce some very cool and unique images which will alllow you to drop your shutter speed is panning. Practice it you will get some cool results that will be very impressive once you master it. I also recomend single point continuous focus using back button focus it will make your life a whole lot easier Good luck and have fun.

aschweik Loc: NE Ohio

Wow, excellent advice here. I have some time before the first game so I can go over everything here, plan and be ready to go when the time comes. This is what I was looking for since I didn't want to wait until I actually got on the sidelines to figure it all out. Thank you!

steve33 Loc: Yarmouth MA

f2.8 might not give you enough DOF to keep moving players in focus. Something to consider, if you find too many out of focus shots.

hammond

As a lacrosse player, the best shots taken of me were from the end-line by a photographer standing behind the goals, though I'm not sure they'll let you stand there for safety reasons. If they do, you might even consider wearing a helmet (not joking).

Otherwise you're shooting from the sideline, which is going to be tricky, since offensive players nearest to you will be mostly facing away from you, and those facing you will be on the opposite side of the field with defenders in their way.

200mm is pretty good reach, and 2.8 is wide enough to get good light.
Seems Jaackil has some very good points about preparing for your task.

Good luck!

aschweik Loc: NE Ohio

Pretty sure they aren't going to let me behind the goal. Girls don't shoot as hard as boys do (my son played for 8 years) but behind the goal is still a dangerous place to be. It's also where I would like to be. lol. But I'll have to find a different vantage point. Thanks for the advice!

vpeek1947 Loc: Louisville, Ky

I shoot quite a lot of high school football & baseball. I have found that a monopod really increased my keepers.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

You could lock in your shutter speed and aperture with Manual mode and set Auto ISO.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Good luck in your new adventure. From what I have seen in your posts you will do great and get better with experience.

Looking forward to some lacrosse posts from you

Chuck

AKboyinOR

Hi Audrey,
You have already received a lot of great advice on the technicals and shooting locations - one additional thing to consider is the height of your vantage point. I find that sometimes kneeling can improve sports images as many players keep their heads down. Not as critical with girls LAX as they do not wear helmets, but I usually bring a small garden kneeling pad as our Oregon springs are typically very wet! Good luck and have fun.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

You haven’t shoot many feild sports? It will give her plenty. She is shooting a lacrosse game not head shot portraits from. 6 feet away. At closest she will be 30 to 50 feet away and most likely more. That will give her sufficient depth of feild. You understand the further away you are the greater depth of feild? Focus on the torso which is the slowest moving part and largest target of the body Single point Continuous focus will lock onto the subject. There will be enough depth of feild to keep your subject in focus but also give you separation.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

Great tip! Shooting slightly upwards is a great perspective. Gives players that larger than life look.