The Los Angeles Chargers YouTube channel released a video almost a year ago called Everything An NFL Photographer Does On Game Day | LA Chargers. And, as a keen sports photographer myself and with Super Bowl LIX just a sleep away, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this fly-on-the-touchline deep dive into what sports photographer, Mike Nowak (@mikenowakphoto), does on game day.
Despite the game starting at 13:00, Mike arrives at the Bolts’ SoFi Stadium at 07:00 to check over his gear and set everything up. He refers to photography as “problem solving” and it looks like Mike makes sure as many problems are solved before the first whistle.
ABOVE: Watch the video and get hyped for the Super Bowl!
The American Football photographer is a Canon professional and, as you can imagine, he has some serious gear in his kitbag. It looks like his main camera is a Canon EOS R3, which he pairs with the mighty Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM – but it’s not all about the on-field action.
What’s really fascinating is how Mike sets everything up, and the smaller photography errands he has to do before a game. At one point he mounts some remote cameras over the tunnel – a pair of Canon EOS-1D X DSLRs – which is blocked by a wall of smoke, making some pretty dramatic-looking photographs of the team heading out onto the field. The tricky bit is anticipating the exposure for photographs that will be remotely captured hours into the future.
He also goes through how his photos get instantly transmitted to the team’s photo editor, so images can be posted online while the game is taking place. Mike even does a little product photography in the locker room, for social media, to show the uniforms the players will be wearing.
Obviously, the meat of the video is when the game starts. But I’ll let you enjoy that in peace. Go Bolts!!!!
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