Kicking off Football Season 2015 with Photojournalist Al Diaz

Al Diaz aldiaz305@aol.com

Football season, my favorite time of year!  Kicked it off by photographing three winning teams. This weekend I traveled to Washington DC as the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins 17-10.

Shot with the Canon 1DX DSLR with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II with Peak Design camera straps I haul it all in my Think Tank Airport Security

On Friday night in Boca Raton, the Hurricanes stormed into FAU stadium with a weather delay during the game that lasted over an hour. The University of Miami defeated Florida Atlantic University 44-20.

Shot with the Canon 1DX DSLR with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II with Peak Design camera straps I haul it all in my Think Tank Airport Security

The previous week in Orlando FIU Panthers roared into UCF but barely squeaked by with a 15-14 win and the U trounced Bethune-Cookman at newly renovated Sun Life Stadium 45-0.

 

On September 3, the Miami Herald published my football preview covers featuring Ndamukong Suh for the Mami Dolphins, Brad Kaaya for the University of Miami, Richard Leonard for Florida International University, Flanagan High’s Devin Bush Jr. for Broward High Schools and Central High’s Donovan Thompson for Miami-Dade High Schools.

My favorite shot is of Flanagan’s Devin Bush Jr. That image was shot in a hot tub overlooking a pool. 

 

I used a black muslin background on a backdrop stand weighted down with sand bags. On either side I used two light stands with two Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT elevated to about six feet. At the bottom of the each light stand I placed two more Canon 600 strobes attached with Manfrotto 244RC Variable Friction Magic Arms. The rim light backlit the water nicely. For the main light I used a fifth Canon 600EX- mounted on a Manfrotto 025BS Super Boom Arm with Pivoting Clamp boom attached to a Manfrotto Cine Stand 008 with Casters.

Below and off to the left I used a Photoflex Litepanel 39x39" Aluminum Frame reflector for fill.

By the time we were ready it was dark. The strobes are all set to high speed sync so I could shoot at a shutter speed of 1600 at f/3.5, ISO 500 on the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR Camera with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM AutoFocus Telephoto Zoom Lens – USA.

 I triggered the devices using a Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT.

The toughest part was getting the beam of light from the strobe mounted to the boom to strike the subjects face. The high-speed sync also causes the batteries to drain quicker which caused a few misfires. Bush made several attempts at leaping out of the water until I finally captured an image with his hair looking hydro electric!

Shot with the Canon 1DX DSLR with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II 

I haul all in my strobe gear in a Think Tank Photo International rolling camera bag and the Production Manager 40

Using my 3 Legged Thing Monopod, Canon gear and Peak Design Sling.