2014 Chicago Bears Training Camp

This week I got the chance to attend the Chicago Bears training camp in Bourbonnais Illinois. About this time every year I get excited to see how my team will fare when the season starts and training camp seems to help me get my football fix. The nice thing about training camp is that it's the only place you can get close to all the players and the action without an official NFL media pass. Since I was attending two days of practice, I decided to rent a sports lens so that I could get even closer to the action. I wasn't sure if I should rent the Nikon 300mm f2.8, the Nikon 400mm f2.8 or the Nikon 200-400mm f4.0. Due to the versatility of the length, I decided to go with the Nikon 200-400 f4.0. 

The Nikon 200-400mm f4.0 turned out to be perfect for training camp. The length of the lens allowed me to get very close to the players and the speed allowed me to freeze the action without any problem. With the lens I was able to get in close for Jay Cutler's passes to Brandon Marshall and into the backfield during hand offs. Overall, it was a great two days of shooting. Hopefully I can make it back next year and capture images as good as this year. I'm now ready for football season and once again excited to see how my Bears will fare. Bear Down!!

If you want to see the difference between the Nikon 200-400 f4.0 and my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 check out my blog post from the 2012 Chicago Bears training camp to see the difference. 

Loyola Academy vs Simeon - August 25, 2012

This past Saturday I was in attendance at the Loyola Academy versus Simeon high school football game.  For anyone who doesn't subscribed to my monthly newsletter, I'm adopting the Loyola Ramblers this season and plan on photographing all of their games.  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge football fan and this is a great way for me to get closer to the sport and practice my sports photography.

I shot the Chicago Bears training camp a few weeks ago and got some incredible images of Brandon Marshall but with pro sports you need all kinds of press passes to shoot at the games.  High school is great because I can get up close to the players and take some "Pro" style images of high school athletes.  This past Saturday was hot, like 90+ degrees hot and humid.  I remember those days of suiting up when the weather was blistering but today I only had my camera and hat and I was still uncomfortable.

The game was close all throughout the first quarter with a halftime score of 7-0 in favor of Loyola Academy.  Loyola dominated the first half with time of possession and yardage but they had a few fumbles and mistakes that kept them from getting in the end zone.  Both teams looked great and it was fun to capture a few of the more spectacular plays of the day.

Early in the fourth quarter Loyola Academy scored another touchdown and a few field goals to finish the game with a 20-0 victory.  It was my game with the Ramblers and I had a blast taking pictures and routing them on to victory.  Check back weekly to see the images I take from each game and to find out about how the season is progressing.