gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

To conquer blur you will need a shutter speed of 1/500 or higher. To get this at night games you will need a high ISO and a wide open aperture. If you can get close to the sidelines, a 70-200 zoom would be useful. There are so many variables in this. Shooting in burst mode can help capture the action. Others will have more ideas.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

A shutter speed of 1/250 is going to be way too slow. You really need to get up to 800 and faster for sports. If you are shooting in daylight you should have no problem shooting at 1250 or faster at relatively low ISO(less than 800). The faster your shutter speed the sharper your images will be. What ever lens you are using wide open aperture to give you the shallowest depth of feild which will help separate your subject from the backround and make the shots more interesting. Shoot from feild level if possible. I recommend if you can get to feild level shoot opposite the team benches side. Kneel so the camera is below the players shooting slightly up. This is a more dramatic angle. Unless there is not a single cloud in the sky use auto ISO. The sun going behind the clouds will mess with your exposure auto ISO will compensate for you. You can probably set the upper limit of your auto ISO at 1250. Bryan Peterson’s book on exposure is an easy quick read and an outstanding reference. We can give you all the settings in the world here but none of that matters because the conditions at the game when you are shooting will vary and you will have to adjust accordingly. So understanding how to get the right exposure is more important stock settings. Shoot faces not backs. Set yourself up in positions where you are shooting the fronts of the players not their backs. For stunning memorable images shoot emotion. So when your son scores a touch down or throws a touch down pass resist the urge to drop the camera and cheer stay with the moment and catch the celebration (as a hockey dad I can tell you this one is real hard)Instead of following every play sometimes shoot the bench area during the play to catch player reactions.

I agree. Jules Karney is a great suggestion. You can search his posts in the Sports section. He posts his settings with his images so you can get an idea of what he is doing. Don’t be afraid to jump into his posts and ask questions. I have always found him more than willing to answer questions and share his knowledge when he can.
The last piece of advice I can give is don’t be afraid to shoot a lot of shots. I am talking 300-500 or more of a game. That will give you about 30-50 good shots. Do not be afraid to cull out only your best shots. Professional photographers at Pro games will easily shoot over 1000 frames to get just a couple of keepers. It’s worth saying again only keep your best images, not the bad ones, not the pretty good ones, only the very best ones. Or at least only show your best shots. Accept the fact that the majority will have something wrong with them whether it is a poor exposure, missed focus, bad composition or another player gets partially in the way. It’s the nature of sports photography. Good Luck and have fun shooting.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

How can he need a better lens when we have no idea yet what lens he already has. He is shooting sports and most people are replying that he should up the shutter speed to remove motion blur. No matter the lens that is the best advice I have heard so far. Depending upon the light available the OP may need to increase the ISO as well.

Dennis

Ob1 Loc: Utah

I shoot sports all the time. Unlike most people have told you I shoot A aperture priority. The camera will set the shutter speed and I adjust the the ISO to keep the shutter speed around 1/500 or higher.

Ob1 Loc: Utah

I forgot to add I shoot with a 70-200 2.8 wide open, on a Sony a9 and usually end up with 2500 shots per game. A lot of deleting afterwards.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Because he's new here, and doesn't know his way around yet. A suggestion rather than an admonishment would be better.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Welcome aboard the hog. you've got a good camera and you've already been given plenty of advice so I won't elaborate just stress that a fast shutter speed and open aperture.

BTW, what lens are you using.

dick ranez

high school football is typically played Friday nights on fields with mediocre lighting. Your T3 is fine, capable of many good and exciting shots with the right lens. If you can manage sideline access the excellent, but expensive, choice is the 70-200 f2.8 with or without image stabilization. The price range is 700-2000 bucks, but the results can be stunning. If your son's team happens to play Friday afternoons, the canon 55-250is is an excellent budget choice for anywhere from 150-300 depending on new or used. If you can't get sideline access and have to shoot from the stands, consider the 400 f4.0.

MrPhotog

Your first question was about how to improve your pictures of your son’s football activity.

Before discussing equipment, you need to get out of the stands and closer to the field. This is frequently frowned upon by coaches, but try to work around it.

If you are stuck in the stands then you will be so far away that a telephoto lens is required to isolate your son in the pictures. Besides being expensive, such lenses are slower to focus and aim.

Particularly with long telephoto lenses and fast action: Even pros get few good images out of many attempts—many stay in business by shooting a lot, and throwing out a lot.

If you come up with a few great pix, and no one sees the rest: you’re a genius.

I prefer to position myself near the end zone if I can get there in time as the action moves to one end of the field or the other. Otherwise I try to stand close to the line of scrimmage, perhaps a few feet ‘behind’ it, or on the side of the offense. If I an even with the quarterback, When the ball is hiked I can get a clear view in profile. Half the time he turns away, and half the time he turns my way. If I focus on him before the ball is snapped he will usually stay in focus for a moment after. Once he gets the ball from the center he will take a step straight back-still in focus- or the line will push forward, and he is still in place. At this point he is not moving very fast and action can be captured at shutter speeds of 1/125 or 1/250 th second. In a moment he will be accelerating, of course.

You can get award-winning football pix with a normal lens if you are on the sideline and the action comes to you. Plan for three alternatives: The ball is placed in the center of the field, or it is placed to the left side, or the right side.

Let’s assume the field runs west to east and you are on the south side, of the field, the team on your left has possession of the ball and they are heading to your right (East) If the teams line up on the stripes on the south side, they will be practically in your face. The nearest player will be perhaps 10 to 15 feet from the edge of the field. The ball will be placed on the field while the teams huddle to discuss their play. That gives you a few seconds to pick your spot. If you are even with the ball you can get a picture of both teams just before the ball is hiked.

Get down to your knees to see player’s faces, and to not block the sightline of fans in the stands.

Be quick. They count two or three numbers before moving They hold a pose for less than 2 seconds, but they repeat this pose every time. Shoot when they make the first call, or when they make the second call.

If you are 5 to 10 feet on either side of the line of scrimmage, action will probably come to you 1/2 to 1/3 of the time. If it does, your best pictures will be when the players are 12 to 18 feet away. Typically a runner carrying the ball will head to the sideline either to get around the opposing line, or to go out of bounds. These are great opportunities for pictures with almost any camera if you can react in time.

If the players line up in the middle of the field then a moderate or medium telephoto lens will help. If you have a zoom lens don’t automatically set it to the greatest magnification. As tempting as it might be to see those large images in the viewfinder, once the action starts it moves out of the frame faster than you can react. This is where video is nice.

When the ball is put in play on the far side of the field I rarely get good shots. However, everyone’s attention is drawn to the far side of the field, so I can get off my knees and walk down the sideline to a new spot.

Stay safe and get out of the way should action come toward you.

khorinek

This photo was shot with my Canon 5D Mark IV and 70-200 f/2.8 L IS lens, shutter priority, at 1/500 shutter speed, F/3.2 Aperture, 125 ISO, focal length of 70mm on Saturday, 9/21/2019, cloudy skies.

(Download)

TommiRulz Loc: Corpus Christi, TX

Hey Dennis - why do you have to be a jerk? Why do you care what I recommended, I wasn't the only one that recommended that lens. You must be really bored and sad.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Sorry if I stepped on your feelings. My question was not about any specific lens whatsoever. Take a look back my rude and name calling friend and you will see I simply asked why bring up a lens when we have no idea what lens the OP already has. You were the one who mentioned he might look for a better lens. Better than what??? That was my question to you. One other person suggested possibly a 70-200 lens. The OP was interested in stopping movement. He could be using a 50 1.8 and still be taking sports photos. He had not mentioned any lens whatsoever.

I stand by my simple question of how can you or anybody recommend a, "better lens", when you have no clue what lens the OP is already using. Sorry my friend but that is not showing anything bad about you but is just a simple question. Perhaps you need to grow up and acquire a thicker skin. Reread the OP's initial post and you will see nothing about any lens he is using so no way can you recommend a better lens until you know what he already has.

Have a wonderful day,

Dennis

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

A guy here who leads African safaris used to recommend this, but now he recommends using manual mode plus 'auto ISO' - essentially same idea as yours as long as photographer keeps an eye on ISO and doesn't let it soar too high,

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Your T3 may be OK - for now - at least. As for a lens you should pursue the latest Canon 70-300 IS II nano for your sports work. The latest Canon SL3 would be a nice step up body for you.
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hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

Sometimes you WANT some blur. This shows action. Practice panning the camera in the direction of movement (running bases, soccer, etc.). Back with film this was a skill that was taught. Not so much anymore.