Last Saturday I got a chance to shoot the football game. I don’t know all the rules of Football but as a photographer I know all the moments that needs to be captured and that is why I took this opportunity. I have been doing sports photography for almost a year not but this game was most exiting for me because of the craze of Football here at Hokie Nation. Other obvious fact was the energy at Lane Stadium, where just as a viewer a person gets exited listening to Enter Sandman and starts jumping on the seat, and being on field for such a game itself is an amazing experience.

Preparation for the game included asking some colleagues about all the accessible areas on field and what kind of shots people like. But I just got one advice – do whatever you think is appropriate but don’t get hit by a football player. My gear for the game was two Nikon D200, a Nikon D40, a 300mm prime lens, 55-200mm lens and a 28 mm lens.

Lane Stadium has excellent facilities for press. I was amazed to see how different it was from the general area, its obvious that Alumni and people who pay a lot for tickets should get that kind of facilities. Photographers had a separate room with facilities to keep camera and other equipment and upload photos during half time. As always, I would like to say the management of event was perfect.

The game went pretty well, I don’t understand all the rules but I know when its attack and defense. I have basic understanding of rules, so it was not hard to capture all the important moments. My colleague and I decided to switch sides at half time so we can get shots from all the angles and it was also important that we both don’t end up on one side and miss some important shots. Overall it was a great game and the story was published here (with photo) and rest of photo gallery can be accessed here.

Mistakes I made:

1. Almost got run over by a Football player, but he was quick enough. Else I would have had similar accident as at Basketball game last year.

2. Took all the photos at 1600 ISO. I should have not gone above 400 because the light was pretty good and photos may have to be blown up.

3. In all the excitement I forgot to take the crowd, cheerleader and wide angle shots.

With today’s win against University of Virginia (UVA) football season comes to an end at Lane Stadium. Our team has qualified for ACC championship and will be playing some more away games. This was my first taste of American Football (though I had seen some movies) and I enjoyed it completely. Game day is one of the most exciting day for any Hokie (or I would say anyone from Blacksburg), the atmosphere is electrifying. Every game is a full house, even if is -6 degrees C, snowfall, rain – nothing stops the game [As my friends tell me, only in conditions of lightening the game will stop]. I have been to many cricket matches, but those were all international games and thus pulled so much attention, but this atmosphere is different.

Lane Stadium,VT Vs UVA

VT did not loose a single game at home turf this season (6 games) and they rarely loose here, just because of the tremendous support of fans. Here is a video that demonstrates the atmosphere of Game Day.

It was a lot of fun this year, am waiting for next season. Till then will concentrate on Basketball and other sports. Its all fun but if we do not go as a group it can suck a bit too,(specially if one does not know the rules). Thank to the Drew and Brett for arranging all this, it was fun.

Go Hokies!