Nikon D5, Sigma TC-2001 2x, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, ISO 1800, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000

Youth football is a dream come true for most sports photographers. The games are played mainly during the sunlight, and the access to the action is the best you can get compared to shooting high school varsity football which is usually played on a Friday night under poor lighting conditions and limited access.

You do not have to own the most expensive lenses to get great photos. You can get a great telephoto lens for anywhere from $500 to $2,000 to cover your kid’s games.

Sigma makes a 150-600mm lens for about $989. I shoot with the Sigma 120-300mm with a 2x teleconverter most of the time for football.

During the daytime, there is enough light to shoot at most shutter speeds and apertures of your choosing. On a Friday Night football game, you are shooting 1/500 and wide open aperture under those lights to get an image.

Here are my tips for those wanting to start shooting your kid’s youth sports activities.

• Use a lens of at least 300mm – For the money, I recommend a zoom like the Sigma 150-600mm
• Use Auto ISO
  • Set the lowest ISO to 100
  • Set the highest ISO to the one recommended by the camera manufacturer as top of the normal range
  • Set the Shutter Speed to 1/4000 
• Shoot in Aperture mode since the Auto ISO is taking care of the shutter speed
• Custom White Balance
• Use a monopod
• Shoot close to wide open as possible. If shooting with a ƒ/1.4 lens, this may be too shallow of depth-of-field. ƒ/2.8 to ƒ/5.6 is an excellent range to make the background go blurry
• Position yourself so that the action is coming towards you and that you are where you can see the athlete’s faces
• Shoot RAW 
• Use Adobe Lightroom to process your images

Parents are in love with the “environmental portrait.” They love a good photo of their kid in uniform on the playing field. I think of these like the trading card photos you see of your favorite pro players. By the way, today, it is easy to make trading cards of your kid and maybe their team. Here is a link to doing it. 

I was in the end-zone in all these photos of the youth football game. Because I am using the 240-600mm lens [because of the 2x converter], I can get some pretty good action shots without running up and down the field. I am just waiting for them to come to me.

I shot these for my friend to use as a gift to him. Maybe you know someone with kids who play ball and could use some photos of their kids. 

Why is youth football so great to photograph? As compared to Pro Football, here are some things that are different.

• You don’t need a press pass
• You can get closer to the action
• You can get by with less expensive gear since you are shooting in daylight
• Parking is an ease
• No one is expecting your images right away [if you had access to pro sports, you are shooting for someone who has an absolute deadline]