Shooting Sports

I love sports photography! That's what attracted me to photography in the first place. I used to spend hours looking at the NFL pictures in Sports Illustrated. I dreamed of owning one of those "long white lenses" (which still to this day draws me to Canon).

This weekend, I shot my nephew's High School football game. As usual, it only made me wish for faster FPS, and a long telephoto, like the Nikkor 200-400mm f/4. But, that's just a dream. In reality, I took these shots with my trusty D40.

To get good shots, you don't need to have a D3 (but, it would be nice!). I shot these at around 1/800 sec., and an aperture between f/5.6 and f/8. I cranked the ISO up to 400, as well as upping my exposure compensation to +2 EV. I used this as a starting point, and made adjustments accordingly. I used Lightroom 2 for the post processing.

Eventually, I'd like to rent a long tele to get close to the action. I've considered LensRentals.com for some time now. They have a nice selection to choose from. Once, I get my hands on a long telephoto, I can then get the shots that I have dreamed about.

Until then, I'll work with what I have. My Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6 is a decent lens, but it's much to slow for what I would like to do. I need a fast lens, like a 2.8 telephoto. I've considered the Nikon 80-200mm, but it doesn't focus on the D40. Sigma has an offering, the APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG MACRO HSM. It's only about $800, which is within my budget.

Having a fast tele will allow me to better isolate my subject. I'll get to use faster shutter speeds, and shoot in lower light. I'm looking forward to learning more, and getting a super telephoto. There is so much glass to choose from these days. What a great time to be a photographer!