SHOOTING THE OUTBACK BOWL The Tennessee vols vs. the northwestern wildcats

I've been very fortunate to be able shoot these past few years with one of the true class organizations in college football, the Tennessee Vols, and their top-notch team of photographers, led by one of the most talented, smart, and just out-and-out fun photographers out there, "Big Daddy" Don Page (the big daddy part is a nickname I gave him, as a wink and a nod to drag racing legend Big Daddy Don Garlits).

SPOILER ALERT: THE VOLS CRUSHED THE WILDCATS

It was the Vols day all the way around (you probably figured that since the shot above is a Vol in the end zone). Of course, since I was shooting for the Vols, it sure makes it nice when they're just crushing it, and they totally were — all day long — on both sides of the ball, and they were playing a very tough 10-2 team in the Northwestern Wildcats.

That's some good "D" from Northwestern. It didn't really help in the end, but he was still well covered (if…ahem… not a tad interfered with).
If only his name was actually "Raymond" what a shot this could have been. ;-)
I saw this empty hallway just off the locker room and thought it would be awesome to get a shot of player, with their bright orange and white jerseys, against the cold concrete walls. Don actually got a much better version of this shot, with a wider lens and he was straight on center, so the whole image looks that much better — I got close though.
I liked that you could see Couch Jones though the crack in the huddle. I only had one quick shot at it, as the water boy came out and filled that gap about 2-seconds later.

THE “OTHER GUYS”

While my focus was on getting shots of The Vols, I was covering both sides of the ball (the Vols on Offense and Defense) so I did make a few shots of the Wildcats along the way. Here's a few of those.

OK, THIS IDEA DIDN'T WORK AT ALL

I wanted to use a remote camera for a shot of the player's taking the field, and I found a decent place for it — on top of a utility box where they players probably (hopefully) wouldn't hit it on the run out. I wanted to position it so you'd see "OutbackBowl.com" at the top of the frame. Then Don suggested I try using a slow shutter speed to blur the players as they came running by. I loved the idea, but I didn't pull it off.

Here's the remote position – aiming back into the tunnel. The cover for my 400mm f/2.8 is holding up the 16-35mm lens (set to 16mm) and tilting it up a bit.
Here's a close-up of the rig. That's a Pocket Wizard Plus III wireless transmitter on top. Worked like a charm to trigger the camera.
Did some test shots (that's Craig from the Vols photography crew. Really good shooter and super-nice guy) walking by for me to test the shutter speed and exposure. This was taken at 1/5 of a second, at ISO 100 at f/22 (I had to use f/22 so the shot wasn't totally blown out). So, at these settings the exposure actually looks pretty decent. Nothing blown out. Just need to aim the camera a bit better. No problem — I had easy access to the remote rig.
Then the sun came out of the clouds and trashed my exposure. Believe it or not, nothing's actually clipping in the highlights, but it's all so bright the shot is pretty bad.
I didn't really come out with a single decent shot. Ugh. An ND filter sure would have helped here (to darken the overall exposure so everything wasn't blown out), but I would still need to work with the shutter speed and placement more. Even if it wasn't over-exposed like this, it's just not a very compelling shot. I'm still glad I tried it — it's the only way you learn how to make it better next time, so I'm always up for trying new stuff, even if it doesn't work out the first time.

Back to stuff that actually did work.

CAMERA GEAR:

It's the same stuff I normally use for football: Two Canon EOS 1DXs. A 400mm f/2.8 lens on my main body, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 on my 2nd body. I used a 1.4 teleconverter on the 400mm the entire game, so I was shooting at 560mm on my main body (This was supported with a Gitzo monopod).

CAMERA SETTINGS:

I shot "wide open" the entire time, so f/4 on the 400mm with the tele (you lose one stop of light with a tele-extender), and f/2.8 on the 70-200mm. My ISO was set to Auto ISO, with a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second.

The Tennessee Marching Band ("The Pride of the Southland) is a big part of the Vols game day experience, especially when they break into the Vol's fight song "Rocky Top" which has the whole stadium (well, about 85% of it in this case — it looked like a home game), singing and cheering at the top of their lungs. Don't judge it by the lack of enthusiasm of the drum major just left of center. Most of the time he was just balancing the ladder for the drum major leading the band on the right, so you wouldn't be exactly hyped either. ;-)

A BIG VOLS WIN!!!!

Whether your team wins or loses, there are more shots to be made. It's just a whole lot more when your team wins (and it's a whole lot more fun).

I love this shot of Vols Coach Butch Jones, who looks like he's just bursting with pride. Here he joined his team as the band played the school's Alma Matter, right after the win. I've been lucky enough to be around when Coach Jones is addressing his players and he's really a very inspiring, honorable guy. The Vols are luckier to have them than they know.
I snagged this one of the awesome Don Page on the sidelines, with what I believe to be an 800mm lens. Even if this isn't the 800mm, he admitted to shooting one during the first half, which seriously endangered our friendship. ;-)

#GOVOLS!

Any time I get to shoot with the Vols, it's always a treat — one of the most fun shoots of the year for sure, and the fact that for the past two years I've been able to shoot their Bowl Games has really been special for me. Spending time with Don and his crew is always awesome (even though Donald was shooting a ridiculously long lens, for which I am very jealous. Just sayin').

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share some of my favorites from the Outback Bowl.

FOOTNOTE: Location — Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Created By
Scott Kelby
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