Blog

After a couple years of only watching Football on TV I wanted to get back into the sport. I knew I wouldn't be able to play after tearing my left ACL twice. In the meantime I moved cities, and picked up photography as a serious hobby. So I decided to contact the team where most of my old teammates played to give it a shot. I knew nothing about the gear I needed or techniques I would have to learn to get decent results. 

I did some research about gear and quickly came to the conclusion that my dated A7 II and the Sony 85 1.8 mm would not be enough. While great and affordable pieces of tech, especially the Body would probably not be able to keep up with the action. So I decided to rent a A9. While already four years old at the time it was supposedly still one of the best sports cameras available. 

The 85mm, even though it is fast enough, would just not have the range for 90% of the game. So, in addition to the A9, I rented the Sony 100-400mm. I knew I would never be able to buy this pairing but I wanted to make sure that if the shots were terrible it wasn't the gear that was to blame. 

I had the equipment sorted, but still didn't know how to get those incredible shots you would see on SportsIllustrated or ESPN. Where do I position my self? What should I look out for? What settings do I use? All this was unknown to me. Up until this point I had mostly done Landscape, the occasional portrait session or my dogs. 

This was the time I stumbled upon Lemar Griffin or the HybridCreative Pro as he's known. At the time he was working as a NFL Photographer/ Videographer and had a couple of very insightful videos up on his YouTube. I read some articles and watched some videos until I felt that I would not go completely clueless into my first sideline duty as a photographer.

On gameday I packed all my gear, making sure I would not forget anything. It was a German second division game. In no way comparable to the NFL or College. Maybe some smaller Highschools would be a better match in term size and attendance. I got my accreditation in form of a colored wristband sorted and realized I still had 3 1/2 hours until kickoff. I walked around the gridiron to get a feel for where I could get what perspective and got some shots of the warmups. 

The game kicked off and I started shooting. I quickly realized how valuable it was to know the game as player and to be able to somewhat predict what was going to happen on the next play and prepare accordingly. Renting the gear I had definitely payed off as I could rely on it doing exactly what I wanted it to do and focus on all the other stuff going on. 

What I hadn't realized was that the A9 shoots 20 fps. Even before halftime the first of my two 64gb cards was filled up. Luckily I had a 32gb somewhere in my bag so I could finish the game and not lose any shots. When I got home I had shot over 5000 pictures, more that half of what I shot in total in the year prior. So first lesson learned was to discipline the trigger finger. Even more so because I had to go through all of them and pick and edit the best. In total I got about 250 edited pics for the team. I was quite pleased with myself and very thankful for all the Information I got from Lemar and others in the community.

For the rest of season I contacted a couple of other teams to get as much time on the sideline in as possible. The second game was still with fully rented gear but I knew that if I wanted to do this longer I would have to get my own stuff. So I kept looking for a used A9 and a 100-400 of some sorts as I knew I would not be able to afford the Sony glas. Got a good trade in deal on a used body and found a sigma 100-400 on eBay. Both of them I still use to this day. 

With every game I felt like I got better and more deliberate with what I was shooting. Quickly I reduced the shots per game to a more manageable number. Over the course of the season I got in touch with Lemar and he thought me some valuable lessons on what to look out for on gameday. While the season was during the summer, I got a couple rain games. These became my favorites even though the lack of light makes it more challenging, the pictures are absolutely worth the miserable conditions. Evening games are a close second because who doesn't love golden hour and sometimes the floodlights make you feel like you are already on the big stage. 

Year two was in many ways similar to first one, same teams, same gear but new opponents which means new colors and new stadiums. My first "breakthrough" came when one team wanted me to be their designated Team photographer. Obviously I accepted this opportunity without hesitation, not only because it was the team of the city I currently live in but also because they offered a small compensation. It would be the first time I would actually get paid for my work. 

Throughout the season I constantly analyzed my work and tried to get better with every play. I still struggled with not shooting as many pictures but I also wanted to make sure not to miss anything. This resulted in a couple new hard drives to accommodate the amount of data I had collected. 

I also tried my hand a video which went a lot better than I expected because unlike photos, I had not done any kind of serious video prior to this. 

 I think the most important thing I learned from Lemar was that emotion is the most important part of the game. Yes obviously everybody likes to see the big hit, the interception or the touchdown but what makes it special is the emotion that comes with that. Win or loss, Motivation in the team zone or celebration with the family after the game. It's makes sport what it is, so to capture that is to capture the essence of any sport. 

If you know the game you are at a huge advantage. You will be able to predict certain situations and know where to aim your lens to get the situation that you want. Players and media alike will be able to appreciate those moments someone without that knowledge might miss. 

I was lucky that a knew a couple of former teammates but I think it is important to have some type of connection to the players. The better you know them the more likely they are to give you that extra bit of emotion right in front of your lens. 

Gear does Matter: 

to an extend. I am sure I would be able to have gotten some of the shots I had with my previous setup but not nearly as consistent and not in a quality that I would be proud of to display. While you don't need the latest gear it is important that the gear is up to the task. 

Why I do it: 

I got into Footballphotography because I could not completely leave the game behind me. But in addition to it being a fun challenge I love to see players getting hyped over a shot I took of them. It all comes back the emotions in the game. Here in Germany where Football is not nearly as popular as elsewhere it still has a very family like atmosphere to it. Especially in the lower leagues where the players usually only get cellphone shots by spectators the appreciation is even greater. Not to raise my work to high but I love to provide them with great shots and as long as they love it, I will too.