Miners, Tigers and Wonder Boys
On Thursday afternoon, a nice big box arrived at my door from Nikon Professional Services. It contained a D5 and a 500 F4 lens. I had requested this combo to shoot a stretch here in October that includes Alabama at Arkansas and then Ole Miss at Arkansas. One of the neat privileges that Nikon affords us professionals is the ability to use their gear. I have 3 times a year that I am able to request gear for special assignments. Thanks NPS!
So, with the D5 & 500 F4 in hand, I had another pretty productive weekend of shooting football. I started off on Friday night at Bauxite high school, where I shot their conference match-up with the Ashdown Panthers. It was a game dominated by the Miners. Then, on Saturday I shot a Great American Conference football game between the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and the Quachita Baptist Tigers. I used this game as a warm-up for Saturday's Bama at Arkansas game, which I plan to shoot very heavy. Next Saturday's game will kick-off at 11 am, so since yesterday's game started at noon, I would get similar lighting. It was a good test and I learned a lot about the D5 in the process.
Here are some images from the games:
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 360, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 VR Lens
As usual, I start off with my tight portrait shots. I was really impressed with the sharpness and color of the D5 and 500 F4 combo.
NIKON D5, F4.5, 1/400, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 14-24 2.8 Wide Angle Lens
I slapped on the 14-24 2.8 wide angle lens to grab this shot of the field.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 VR Lens
Again, pretty impressive color and sharpness.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1250, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 70-200 2.8 VRII Zoom Lens
This was a good test of the speed of the D5 and it is simply amazing. I try to grab this type of shot before each game. Sometimes I get lucky and have one of these printed in the newspaper.
NIKON D5, F2.8, 1/1000, ISO 4000, MANUAL - 300 2.8 Lens
I didn't want to shoot with the 500 F4 with the lighting at Miner stadium not being too great, so I put on my 300 2.8, which is a superb combo with the D5. Ashdown came out in their double wing and got a couple of nice runs to the outside on their first drive.
NIKON D5, F2.8, 1/1250, ISO 6400, MANUAL - 300 2.8 Lens
I decided to test the lighting, so I shot a faster speed and a higher ISO. This is a really clean image at 6400 ISO at 1/1250 on the shutter. Very impressed with the D5. I don't get to pick the images that the editors choose at the newspaper, but I thought this image might be a good choice.
The Dreaded Gas Halogens...
One of the challenges of shooting games at older stadiums are the lights. Modern digital cameras are really good about being able to deal with this issue. I normally set my camera to a steady kelvin temperature and just shoot through it. Pulaski Academy used to be notorious for cycling lights until they replaced theirs in the last couple of years. As you see below, this is the result of a shot captured in a cycle. If you do a burst of images, you can see it shift. So, I really liked this image and submitted it anyway. I was in a hurry so I didn't color balance it and told the photodesk about it.
NIKON D5, F2.8, 1/1000, ISO 2800, MANUAL - 300 2.8 Lens
Straight out of the camera. You can clearly see the color balance is off.
NIKON D5, F2.8, 1/1000, ISO 2800, MANUAL - 300 2.8 Lens
I went back and color balanced the image in Lightroom to get rid of the shift.
Here is the image after color balance by the newspaper. Pretty close to my personal balance. I honestly didn't figure this image would be used and if it was, I thought it would be black and white.
On Saturday, I traveled down to Cliff Harris stadium in Arkadelphia to shoot the Arkansas Tech vs Quachita Baptist Great American Conference game.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/2000, ISO 720, MANUAL - 500 F4 Lens
Quachita Senior offensive lineman TYLER GAHR of Jonesboro, Arkansas. One phrase you hear a lot in sports is "believe in the process." Mine doesn't change regardless of what level of football I shoot. I start with portraits and then cover action.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/2000, ISO 450, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Quachita Baptist quarterback Brayden Brazeal.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Arkansas Tech receiver Terrez Hampton.
NIKON D5, F2.8, 1/3200, ISO 1100, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 24-70 F2.8 Lens
Quachita Senior offensive lineman TYLER GAHR (63) of Jonesboro, Arkansas prepares to lead the Tigers onto the field.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 220, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Quachita running back Chris Oliver stiff arms Arkansas Tech rover Cua' Rose.
NIKON D5, F4.5, 1/1000, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Quachita Junior offensive lineman Jacob Roberts.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 220, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Quachita running back Chris Oliver is tackled by Arkansas Tech rover Cua' Rose.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/4000, ISO 500, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Arkansas Tech quarterback Carter Burcham looks to pass during the first quarter.
NIKON D5, F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
This image breaks my pet peeve of straight, level backgrounds, but I wanted to include it because it's a cool action shot. I was really tight since I was shooting with the 500mm F4 lens.
NIKON D4, F5, 1/1250, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 70-200 2.8 VRII Zoom Lens
Nice grab near the goal line. The ground was soaking wet, so I didn't kneel at all during this game. You give up the low angle, but it's still not too bad.
NIKON D5, F10, 1/1250, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 24-70 F2.8 Zoom Lens
They had a nice crowd for Homecoming at Cliff Harris stadium. I popped the 24-70 on for this wide angle shot.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/4000, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
Here is a good example of why football is a violent game. Take a look at the QB's helmet. The Arkansas Tech LB grabbed his facemask and pulled it around his face.
NIKON D5, F4, 1/3200, ISO 500, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
I would like this shot a lot better if the other Tech player wasn't in the frame and we could see the QB's face. But, it's still a pretty cool shot.
NIKON D4, F5, 1/1250, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 70-200 F2.8 Zoom Lens
I seem to have the worst luck with getting awesome leaping shots. This had the potential to be absolutely killer. But, big #74, God bless him, we get to see his back side!
NIKON D5, F4, 1/1000, ISO 250, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 500 F4 Lens
I love getting shots of coaches and their emotions during the game. Tech head coach Raymond Monica shouts at an official during the 3rd quarter of Saturday's game in Arkadelphia.
NIKON D4, F7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, SHUTTER PRIORITY - 70-200 F2.8 Zoom Lens
Deal sealer. With Quachita leading 17-7 late in the fourth quarter, Arkansas Tech was at the Tigers' 5 yard line poised to score when Keandre Evans (6) intercepted a pass intended for Tech's Terrez Hampton (3).
NIKON D4, F14, 1/800, ISO 800, MANUAL - 24-70 F2.8 Zoom Lens
Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys head football coach Raymond Monica (left) shakes hands with Quachita Baptist Tigers head coach Todd Knight. Quachita Baptist defeated Arkansas Tech 24-7 in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
