I have been asked several times this week about photographing a football game. The common information shared is how do I set up my camera for the photos I create during a game. I use Nikon Camera's and Lenses.

Two critical components are your shutter speed and how much light is available. Your camera flash will not help at virtually all sporting events.

For me, I set my shutter at 1/250th of a second. I set my apeture to f2.8 (this varies among cameras greatly, select the smallest number for your f-stop) The critical setting is now my camera ISO (film speed). I begin with my camera set at ISO 800, and will increase it as required to have better exposed photos.  I use the manual settings on my camera to maintain constant shutter / apeture settings. This allows me to concentrate on the action, rather than what my camera doing. I will error on having a darker photo using a lower ISO setting on my camera.

Not all cameras offer high ISO settings or 2.8 apetures. Not all cameras allow for manual control of all your camera functions.

Some things to consider when you are working with limited equipment. If there is a sports setting, place your camera there. Don't use your night setting. If you have a camera with the Letters "A" "M" "P" "S". On my Nikon camera these settings mean the following.

Shooting in Mode A: = Apeture Priority - This is the f-stop setting on your camera lense. This is great for many bright sunny day outdoor sports. You adjust your apeture and the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed for your image exposure.

Shooting in Mode M: = Manual - You have complete control of your camera. Many have a seperate manual setting for focusing your lens manually. I recommend using auto focus if it will keep up with the action. Otherwise anticipate where the action will be and focus for that zone.

Shooting in Mode P: = Program mode. This is fully automatic setting on your camera. Many call this the "Professional" setting on their cameras!

Shooting in "S" Mode = Shutter Priority mode. You set the shutter speed where you feel you need it to freeze the action. This is good when you maybe want the spokes of a bicycle wheel to blur, yet provide a crisp image of the person powering the bicycle. Your apeture will automatically adjust.

In all shooting modes you will always have influence over your exposure using your ISO setting. Higher ISO's generally result in more grainy photos, but brighter or lighter photos.

Feedback welcome!