DSLR is still my best option for sports

The Z6ii does not hold focus lock as well as my D500 or my D5 and the Z9 is too expensive.  The Z glass is very expensive too.  So I will stick with the D5, but not the same D5.

Less than a year after being repaired for a focus issue related to the mount, it is back in the shop.  I don't really trust this old camera anymore and I don't like the slow Compact Flash cards it uses.  So I just ordered a new used D5 the XQD version with 10k + shutter actuations for $1,500.  I hope it arrives quickly, maybe even before my old D5 gets back from the shop.

Shooting football with the D500 (while the D5 is in the shop) on the 400mm lens, is a bit tricky but I'm learning how to do it again.   The extra reach can be fun too though.

The home team is having an abysmal year, that makes it harder to get good printable photos of them for the newspaper. 

Football settings for 2023

 1/1000, f/2.8 Auto ISO Matrix Metering is working at night. 

f/8 10 (ish) mm crop lens

Finally made the jump to full frame

Thanks to the newer mirrorless tech the price of DSLR gear is dropping fast! I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D5 and a 400mm Nikkor VR lens. I got a 400mm lens last year but it weighs 14 pound and was hurting my elbow.   So the week before football season I upgraded to the VR version that weighs four pounds less.  Getting the lighter lens was a great decision.  I hope I can sell the older heavier one though. 

Due to some other changes I will have a lot of my photos published for the next four months. 

400mm f/2.8 on a crop for football

 Sharp learning curve but I'm getting there.

Final Football Game for the Hometeam

I learned so much this football season. I look at my photos from two years ago and I cringe. It's good that I cringe, it means I'm still learning. The thing about learning is you don't know what you don't know. So what you think is good at the time becomes cringeworthy a few years down the line *IF* you have kept learning and improving. I hope that in two years time I cringe at these pictures that I am so happy with at the moment. I am already looking for a way to improve my kick photos.

Football Regular Season Highlights

 The title says it all.  Time to post some highlights and maybe a written recap later.  I photographed 25 regular season games.  Now for the post season.   A couple of local teams have a shot at going to state.  I might get to photograph them if they go.  I will be photographing semi final games and selling the images to parents and to media outlets.