Friday Night Lights

[Mark0519]

A friend asked me to photo his daughter who is a high school cheerleader (American high school football) this Friday for high school senior night. Due to COVID, I am not allowed to be admitted to the venue on another day for a trial run with exposure settings, angles, etc. It will take place at dusk with stadium lights and it appears I have one chance to get it right. Are there any tips from high school football regulars that you could send my way? What glass? Anything special about stadium lights? Or will the usual Sports approach (minimum shutter speed, auto ISO, low angle) be sufficient?
TIA! Mark

 

[Tim Mayo]

I can't offer much advice here since I've never shot in a stadium before but I'd definitely recommend sticking with the mechanical shutter and not using the electronic (silent) shutter otherwise you might have issues with banding and possibly rolling shutter as well if you are panning. As for the lens, it's going to depend on how far away you will be shooting? But ideally a fast aperture like f/2.8 will be best suited to low light, that said I have used the Sony FE 100-400 F4.5-5.6 to shoot indoor ice hockey once before and had no issues other than cranking the ISO up.