SEC Football--Learning the ropes

I recently got to shoot a Division I college football game between two Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams. For those of you not familiar with SEC football, I will only say that it is as close to NFL football as you can get without actually paying the players. The SEC has some of the best teams in the country (currently 3 of the top 10 in the BCS rankings are SEC teams) and more than a few of these young men will go on to play on Sundays.

I was fortunate enough to get a media pass to shoot the game between Mississippi State University Bulldogs and the University of Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. I've covered some "big" high school football games, but this is clearly several levels up from that. So, here are some tips I gleaned from the shooting the game.

First, you need access. In my case, I was given a red media pass attached to some elastic string and hung that around my neck. You get the pass from the media company you are representing. Next, you find the media entrance at the stadium. In this case, I had a friend who had done it before guide me to the right gate. After going through the gate, we walked to the media room. When I went into the media room, I was given a giant red sticker to wrap around my leg in exchange for the paper and elastic tag hanging from my neck. I did not know where to wear the sticker at first, but then in big black letters, the sticker was printed with instructions stating the sticker should be wrapped around your lower leg. How about that. Simple instructions. I peeled the backing and wrapped.

The media room is where all of the photographers and reporters hang out. Want to know why they hang out there? They serve free food. No, it's not 4-star cuisine, but it was tasty and filling. I had hamburger steak, baked potato, salad and carrot cake. Next, they have several large screen Hi-Def TVs on the walls so you can check out the other games going on around the country. Lastly, they have lots of high-speed internet connections so the news guys can kill some time browsing the 'net while the more serious types start uploading some stories. Me, I just ate and watched everyone else, trying to blend.

After finishing up dinner, we proceeded to the field to catch some pre-game warmups. Most of the serious photogs stayed behind to browse the 'net some more or get seconds, but for rookies like me, it was straight to the field. Here, I grabbed a few shots of the players goofing around and stretching out, even before they put their pads on. Some were having a good time and others had their ipods turned up loud and were starting to focus on the work ahead. After getting a few frames, I realized I was just enjoying being there and there really was not a lot of stuff going on that was worth shooting. So, I just walked around and took the atmosphere in so that I would not soon forget it.

As game time approached, the old photo and media guys starting coming out and getting their pre-game images. The nice thing about this time is a lot of the guys have their helmets off for awhile and you can get their mugs without the helmet bars hiding them.

Just like in high school football, the entire field is surrounded by a dotted line. All media should stay behind this line or risk punishment from one of the numerous security folks, or more embarrisingly, from another photog whose sight lines you just blocked. Being my first time and all, I obeyed the dotted line as if it were the Berlin Wall and did not attempt any illegal crossings. Other than that though, you pretty much have free access all over the field and can stake out your bit of pitch to shoot from. I moved around all night long, following the action. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes if you are going this route.

Apparently the dotted line does not have the same limitations to the TV media, especially the sound guys with the parabolic mikes, who are probably the same ones who cut in line in the grocery store or steal your parking space. I wished I had a small dart gun to move those guys a bit.

Normally, I shoot with a 300 2.8 and put it on a monopod. I left the pod at home for this game figuring it would help me move faster and I think I was a bit more agile without it and able to move through some of the sideline crowds faster. Being my first game, I had enough adrenaline flowing that I did not need the pod's assistance.

Soon enough it was half-time and since I knew someone on the UT Pride of the Southland Marching Band, I stayed out to shoot a bit of their performance. After getting a few images of my buddie's daughter, I headed to the media room again. Guess what? More food (chicken fingers and hotdogs and more carrot cake) and drinks and goofing off with a very few serious reporters and photogs uploading stories and photos. I saw one guy from US Presswire uploading some images after tweaking them in Aperture. Not that I was spying or anything, but just checking out how the working pros did it.

After downing a few fingers, it was back to the field to catch the players coming back out and warming-up again. Unfortunately, before I knew it, the game was over and I was heading back out of the stadium. I decided not to stick around for the post-game press conference, but had I stayed for it, it would have been held in the media room, which also had a small theater for these conferences.

The stadium lighting was of course very good. I probably should learn how to do a cusotm white balance, but until then, I'll just fix my images in post. This game started before sun down and I was initially shooting in AV (Aperture Priority) mode, shooting at 2.8 with an ISO to get my shutter speed up to about 1/1000 or so. After the sun went down, I probably could have switched to manual mode as the lighting was pretty even throughout the stadium and sometimes the visitor white uniforms through off my exposure. By the end of the first quarter, I was at ISO 2500 and getting 1/800 to about 1/1000 pretty consistantly.

Most of the serious shooters have at least 2 bodies going at once, one with a 300 2. 8 or a 400 2.8 and the other with a wider angle lens, maybe a 70-200 or some with even a 16-40 or so. I did not have a good second body, so just swapped out my 300 for my 70-200. I don't think I missed much by having only one body, but I can see that if your job depended on it, I'd have the second body by knee and ready to bring up for action (I spent most of the game shooting from my kees) instead.

All in all, I think I did pretty well image wise and kinda thought that all of those HS games made me a better shooter and the nice lighting at this level could really spoil you.