Football pics

[Shane]

Abilene Christian High School played Greenville Christian in the TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) 6-man Football Playoffs yesterday here in Abilene. The ACHS Panthers won 47-0 at the end of the 1st half under the 45 point rule.

But the best thing about it was that it was a Saturday afternoon game with plenty of sunlight for fast shutter speeds!

Here's a couple of my favorites from the game.

Prayers aren't against the law in TAPPS. That's cool.




My wife (on the right) and her sister from Brownwood. It wasn't that cold, girls!




Greenville had a hard time stopping the Panthers offense, but they dang sure did a good job stopping the extra points. I think ACHS only converted 1 or 2 extra points all day.




Interception by the Panthers.




Cool TD sequence here, but I just flat missed the shots. Didn't quite get the ball in the frame in pic 1.



Catch was right in front of me, and I didn't get focus on the player in time.



Tried to get the TD signal, but the ref had to drop it suddenly to catch the ball being tossed to him. Missed that too.




Double-covered and the ball was tipped by ACHS defender......



....but the Greenville receiver made a great catch.




It was a rough day for Greenville's quarterback. He was a heck of a player, but it just didn't go his way yesterday.

Knocked down...



Blocked...




Different story for the Panthers. The pass...




The catch...




The cheer (That's my girl!)...




The blood and the sweat, but no tears.




Catch...




...after catch....







Even the ref got into the action with a few seconds left. He just couldn't get out of the way of a Greenville pass. Hit him in the nuts. I showed him and the other refs the picture as they were walking off the field. They gave him grief about his "moves".




ACHS played a great game, and Greenville never quit. Great sportsmanship on both sides. Post game prayer.

[scotty]

Nice ones Shane! The catch is a great catch!

[Swanyriver]

Did you use a filter of any sort on these. The colors look so vibrant.

[Shane]

Did you use a filter of any sort on these. The colors look so vibrant.

Circular polarizer. Only time I don't use one outdoors is when it's so dark that I need all the light I can get.

[Swanyriver]

Do you recomend a certain brand, I have a new Canon 70-200 IS 2.8 that I shoot with and need some more color.

[Shane]

Don't buy a cheap filter of any kind. Cheap glass will degrade your images. Spend $100 or more on a quality one. Several good ones. I honestly can't remember what brand mine are. I'll check and post from home later.

The other part of color is in processing. I shoot RAW and process in Lightroom. Boost Vibrance to about 20-25 usually and Saturation to 15-20. Also, it's important to get the white balance right. You can set a custom white balance in camera before taking your pics (and changing it every time the light changes). Or (easier to me)....Take the pics on Auto WB in camera and then set custom WB in Lightroom. I use the eyedropper to pick something that should be absolutely WHITE or BLACK in the picture, and the software sets the WB. Boom! Colors look great. Then I make the other adjustments to the first pic that I feel are necessary or I like, and then I highlight all the other pics with the same light and hit the Sync button. Bam! Adjustments made to the whole batch. If I have changing light, then I might have 2-4 different groups of photos that need to be done this way. A 2-3 hour football game will usually encounter changing light situations. Then I just go through and crop the ones that need cropping and export them to JPEG files and/or to SmugMug.

[Swanyriver]

Then I just go through and crop the ones that need cropping and export them to JPEG files and/or to SmugMug.

What do you think about this site?

[pigstikr]

Great shots Shane, as always.

[Shane]

Thanks pigstikr

What do you think about this site?

I like SmugMug better than Flickr. Easier to organize. Looks better. Easy to order prints, and their prints are very well done. Not free, but cheap.

[apbowhunter]

Those are fantastic shots Shane! WOW
I really like the guy about to block the field goal, and the blood on the face. Is that your son? If not, I bet he and his parents would love to have that photo framed, especially the son for memories.
Very cool!

[Shane]

Thanks! That's not my son. The kid's dad was standing next to me when I took the shot though. My son is in 7th grade, so no playoffs for him. 1st basketball game Thursday.

[ladderball]

Awesome Shots

[SOLID EAGLE]

Shane, great pictures. Was that with a 70-200 2.8? Nikon or Canon? Does the lens change auto focus fast enough on fast moving subjects?

I'm thinking about taking the plung and getting a nikkor 70-200 2.8.

[TexasBob]

Awesome shots as always. I appreciate the Lightroom tutorial as well. I have had good luck with Hoya filters. From what I read, they make a lot of glass for others. I don't buy their cheapies though.

[Shane]

Shane, great pictures. Was that with a 70-200 2.8? Nikon or Canon? Does the lens change auto focus fast enough on fast moving subjects?

I'm thinking about taking the plung and getting a nikkor 70-200 2.8.

It's a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L non-IS. Autofocus is very fast. On the one that I missed the focus, it was me and not the lens. I had it set to the center dot only, and I just didn't get the dot on the subject before I hit the button. Sometimes I use the full array of autofocus sensors, but when there are players all over the frame at different distances, sometimes the camera will focus on the "wrong" player. With the center dot, I can focus on the guy with the ball - IF I can think and react fast enough.