NFL: Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11

[groovehouse]

The fourth home game of the season was welcomed with beautiful sunny weather and some of the toughest shooting conditions I have encountered while shooting NFL action. With the roof open and the sun beaming down the shadows cast by the stadium made shooting for me rather difficult.

I arrived at the stadium early to shoot the tailgaters and was welcomed with offers of beer, water, clam chowder, burgers and jello shots. Tailgaters run the gamut of things to eat and drink and I always eat a hearty breakfast before making my way to the stadium. It's too hard to try to eat with camera gear and besides, I'm working, not tailgating.

After shooting the tailgaters, I headed to the media entrance and checked in, grabbed my photographers vest, geared up and headed to the field. The first thing I noticed were the shadows and how utterly bright one side was and how utterly dark the other side was. I knew this would be challenging but had no idea how challenging.

Instead of trying to switch settings constantly, I opted to shoot part of the game in the sun and the other part in the shade. When the roof is closed, we have nice even lighting and conditions are considered, to me, ideal. But with the roof open, shadows and ultra bright sunlight wreak havoc for me.

I prefer to shoot manual so I did not opt to try different combinations of settings I stuck with what I knew and I think I succeeded in overcoming the situation.

There were however, plenty of deleted images that were shot in broad daylight and then as I followed the action into the shade ended up being to dark or too light depending on which direction the action was going.

For all my photos from this game, check out this slideshow.

1.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8570c by groovehouse, on Flickr

2.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8617c by groovehouse, on Flickr

3.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7370c by groovehouse, on Flickr

4.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7366c by groovehouse, on Flickr

5.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7353c by groovehouse, on Flickr

6.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7343c by groovehouse, on Flickr

7.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7561c by groovehouse, on Flickr

8.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5D_7467c by groovehouse, on Flickr

9.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8684c by groovehouse, on Flickr

10.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8694c by groovehouse, on Flickr

11.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8869c by groovehouse, on Flickr

12.

Texans vs Jaguars - 10.30.11 - Reliant Stadium - 5DII_8911c by groovehouse, on Flickr

[DavidVenables]

A great set of images that give a sense of the spectacle and atmosphere, that we only get a whiff of in the UK with the London game.
The insights you provide are great and I am sure your work is worthy of more general exposure through the website and/or the magazines.
Please keep posting!

[Cathus]

I always just get dead jealous when you post your shots.

I hear what you say about light and shade, I too shoot manual and it's a nightmare when the stands cast a shadow and you follow players from light to dark.
wish I could shoot games with crowds in the background instead of open fields, cars and a few hangers-on.

nice set, vivid and colorful

[Cathus]

Dave,

you shooting any Uni football this season? - starts Sunday

[OldBoy]

Cracking series of shots and lots of colour.

[groovehouse]

Originally Posted by DavidVenables

A great set of images that give a sense of the spectacle and atmosphere.

The insights you provide are great and I am sure your work is worthy of more general exposure through the website and/or the magazines.

Please keep posting!

Thank you David. I appreciate your comments. I really enjoy sharing this experience with other photographers and am happy to contribute.

Originally Posted by Cathus

I hear what you say about light and shade, I too shoot manual and it's a nightmare when the stands cast a shadow and you follow players from light to dark.l

Do you have any tips or pointers on shooting with shadows? What do you do when faced with this situation?

Originally Posted by OldBoy

Cracking series of shots and lots of colour.

Thank you. This game was designated "Battle Red Day" - the only time out of the year the Texans wear their red jerseys as opposed to their white or blue ones. It does make for some colorful shots!

[gazh]

I`m not a fan of American Football but you`ve got a super set of images there. Loads of atmosphere, nice colour and light. Now, where`s me Cricket Bat. :-)

[Cathus]

Originally Posted by groovehouse

Do you have any tips or pointers on shooting with shadows? What do you do when faced with this situation?

It depends on where I think the main action will be, if I'm near the goal then I'll keep my settings optimised for whether the goal is in sun or shadow as you have more chance of selling a goal shot than a non goal.

If I really want to get shots from both sides then I might switch from manual back to AE mode & hope the camera is quick enough to get the exposure right