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The Game is afoot!

On Monday night, I began my photographic journey through the 2016 high school football season. I shot a couple of games for Luke Matheson's Arkansas Varsity at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. I will be posting shots from each game I shoot this season. I want do my best to explain what I am doing and I am sure that I can learn something about what I do and get better along the way.

 

I have a certain method to the way I shoot football games that I learned from the great Nelson Chenault. Back in 2010, when I was learning how to do this, Nelson taught me a lot about how to photograph football. I call it inside out. I'm not sure he actually calls his method anything but that name stuck with me. Inside being, shoot quarterbacks / running backs early. Like in the first few series. Get those shots out of the way. This ensures that you have a nice tight shot of these important players. This time is also good to get tight shots of the head coach. Then, after I am satisfied that I have these shots, I can move down to the end zone (the out) and start shooting action. Of course, this can change quickly, depending on what happens in the game, but I do try to stick to this baseline when I shoot games.

I owe a lot to Nelson for mentoring me. He is a great photographer and has always been extremely helpful to me.

Nelson Chenault (left) with Baltimore Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon.

 

The first game kicked off at 5 pm with Hot Springs Lakeside taking on Joe T. Robinson. I was a little late to the stadium since I had to work, so I didn't get any warm-up shots. Typically, I like to be at a game about 2 hours prior, since most teams come out to warm-up about an hour and a half before kick-off. I had a decent first night but didn't really get a "wow" shot. I have a lot of football ahead of me to get one!

NIKON D4, 1/1000, F5.6, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY

NIKON D4, 1/1000, F4, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY

NIKON D4, 1/1250, F4, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY

NIKON D4, 1/1250, F4, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY

NIKON D4, 1/1000, F5.6, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY

The Man Behind The Camera

Jimmy Jones, 47, is a freelance photographer based in Benton, Arkansas. Specializing in sports photography, Jimmy frequently covers the Arkansas Razorbacks, Arkansas State Red Wolves, high school and professional sporting events in the state of Arkansas and surrounding states.

 

The Kentucky Derby, the Breeder's Cup, the BCS Sugar Bowl, AT&T Cotton Bowl, The Southwest Classic, The Knoxville Nationals and the Indycar Grand Prix of Birmingham, are some of the notable events that Jimmy has captured through his lenses. Jimmy has covered the NFL, PGA Golf and NASCAR as well.

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Jimmy shoots exclusively Nikon bodies and is a strong supporter of the brand. He currently owns the D4, D3s, D7100, D300s and the D60 along with a wide-variety of Nikon lenses and accessories. He also uses THINK TANK bags / harnesses, Manfrotto Tripods / Monopods, Lexar Media Cards and GO PRO cameras.

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