Leading Off
December 28, 2010 by David Bergman
The fall is my busy season for sports, with much of my work coming from Sports Illustrated magazine. At the front of every issue, they have a section called “Leading Off,” where they pick the best three images from the week and run each one across two full pages.
Having a photo published in the section is, in some ways, tougher than getting a Sports Illustrated cover. You’re competing against every sports image shot that week whether it’s from an SI staffer, a freelancer, or any of the wire services around the world. Jimmy Colton, the man who is tasked with finding images for the section, looks through 100,000 photos each week. He can only publish three.
I’ve been fortunate to have a few of my images in the section this fall.
This photo from the Steelers-Ravens game was just named one of Sports Illustrated’s Pictures of the Year. I shot it with the Nikon 200-400 on a D3 body and the exposure was 1/3200 f/4 at ISO 400.
This Colts interception, right in front of Washington coach Mike Shanahan, put an end to a Redskins comeback. This was the 600mm lens on a D3 and exposure was 1/800 f/4 at ISO 4000.
As soon as they announced that the Notre Dame - Army football game was going to take place at Yankee Stadium, I imagined this photo in my head. I went up in the first half and shot with the 14-24 on a D700. Exposure was 1/160 f/5.6 at ISO 1600.
This image is from the Eagles’ amazing come-from-behind win over the Giants last week. As DeSean Jackson ran the game-winning punt return, I switched from my 600mm to my 24-70 on a D700 to show the entire scene including the scoreboard. Exposure was 1/1250 f/4 at ISO 2000.
I got lucky that Jackson ran right towards me. I guess he wanted to be in “Leading Off” too.
Couple of questions David:
- Are you going to be joining us on the Ships and Dip 4 cruise this coming February? I know there’s going to be another naked picture but I wasn’t sure if you shoot the SuperBowl or not.
- I love reading what settings you use to shoot your photos. Is there any way you can also publish the focal length when you use a zoom lens?
Alex, I’m still finalizing my schedule for February.
Exact focal lengths were: 250mm (Ravens-Steelers), 600mm (Colts-Redskins), 22mm (Yankee Stadium football), 45mm (Eagles-Giants). Keep in mind they were all shot with “full-frame” bodies (D3 or D700). The Steelers and Eagles images are cropped a bit while the other two are edge-to-edge as I shot them.
David- love the video of you behind the scenes at Bon Jovi. I’ve followed your blog for quite a while and really like your work. One question- I see you have a GoPro stuck to your lens, what are you using it for? I love my little GoPro, it’s a fun little camera.
Thanks, Ed. I strapped the GoPro on because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get the fstoppers guys into the dressing room and it would be a good chance to see what I see back there. It turns out that they got in so we only used a clip or two from that camera.
David,
I really love the last two wide shots and having 4 from one season is amazing!
Brian