Everything An NFL Photographer Does On Game Day | LA Chargers
Summary
TLDRMike Nowak, a seasoned photographer for the Chargers, takes viewers through his game-day routine, showcasing his equipment and strategies for capturing unique shots. He explains the meticulous preparation needed, from setting up remote cameras to testing wireless connections, to ensure seamless photo transmission. Despite challenges like faulty gear and unpredictable moments on the field, Mike's focus is on creativity and problem-solving. He shares insights on using different lenses, capturing key moments, and his commitment to documenting the team’s journey. The video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the dedication and passion behind sports photography.
Takeaways
- 📸 Mike Noak has been the Chargers' team photographer for 25 years, covering 524 games.
- 🌅 The team arrives early at 7 am to set up, ensuring everything is in place before the game at 1 pm.
- 🔧 Photography is described as problem-solving, where issues like malfunctioning clamps or dead batteries need to be quickly addressed.
- 📷 Noak uses different lenses for various shots, including a 400mm and 600mm for distant shots and a 135mm lens as his favorite for general use.
- 🏃♂️ He strategically positions remote cameras in places like under the arches to capture unique angles of the players running out onto the field.
- ⚡ The Chargers have implemented a smoke wall for dramatic entrances, and Noak captures the 3D-like effect as players come through the smoke.
- 📡 Noak’s camera is connected wirelessly to a system that allows instant transmission of photos to social media in real-time during the game.
- 👕 He takes uniform shots of key players before each game, showing fans what the players are wearing, with custom lighting for an extra effect.
- 🎮 Game day photography involves capturing moments during pregame stretches, team huddles, and dramatic plays on the field, often focusing on reactions and celebrations.
- 🖼 Noak emphasizes the importance of capturing behind-the-scenes moments and unique perspectives that fans don’t normally see, creating a deeper connection to the team.
Q & A
Who is the speaker in the video and what is his role?
-The speaker is Mike Noak, the Chargers team photographer, and it is his 25th year in this role.
How early does the team arrive on game day, and why?
-The team arrives at 7 AM, even though the game starts at 1 PM, to set up equipment and troubleshoot any issues before the game.
What types of lenses does Mike Noak use for different shots?
-Mike Noak uses different lenses for various shots, including a 400mm and 600mm lens for long-range field shots, a 70-200mm lens for versatile mid-range shots, and his favorite, the 135mm lens, for close-up action.
What kind of problems does Mike encounter on the job, and how does he address them?
-Mike encounters problems like broken clamps, non-working transmitters, and dead batteries. He addresses them through early setup and troubleshooting before the game begins.
How does Mike capture unique shots of the players entering the field?
-Mike mounts remote cameras in strategic positions, such as under the stadium arch, to capture players running out onto the field and using the new 'smoke wall' for dramatic shots.
What kind of technology does Mike use to transmit photos during the game?
-Mike uses wireless transmitters connected to his camera to send photos directly to the editing team. Once he captures a shot, he presses a button to transmit the image instantly to his team.
What type of shots does Mike take for social media before the game?
-For social media, Mike takes 'uniform shots' of players to show fans what they will be wearing. He uses lighting to enhance the photos in the locker room before transmitting them for social media posts.
How does Mike prepare for capturing game moments?
-Mike ensures his camera settings are correct, checks his lenses, and tests remote setups. He coordinates with other photographers to ensure all angles of the field are covered.
What does Mike focus on during the game besides capturing key plays?
-Besides capturing key plays, Mike focuses on reactions, celebrations, and emotional moments that tell the broader story of the game.
How does Mike feel about his role as a photographer?
-Mike enjoys his role as a photographer, particularly capturing moments that fans and the general public wouldn’t otherwise see, like the team's emotional celebrations and unique behind-the-scenes moments.
Outlines
📸 Day in the Life of a Chargers Photographer
Mike Noak, the Chargers' team photographer, introduces himself and shares that he's been in the role for 25 years, covering 524 games consecutively. He walks us through his routine on game day, starting at 7 AM in the parking structure. The crew sets up their photo, social media, and video workspaces. Mike discusses the challenges of photography, such as technical issues with equipment and the importance of problem-solving. He explains his choice of lenses for different shots on the field, sharing insights into how he prepares to capture critical moments during the game.
📲 Wireless Camera Setup and Social Media Workflow
Mike describes the wireless setup that allows real-time transmission of photos from his camera to the social media team. He explains the process of taking 'uniform shots' of players for social media posts, which give fans a preview of the team’s outfits. Mike highlights the importance of adding lighting effects to enhance the shots in the locker room. He emphasizes the need to stay organized, as forgetting equipment can impact the day’s work. Mike also discusses the pregame routine as the players arrive, and how his team captures content for different platforms.
🏈 Pregame Stretch and Capturing Key Moments
Mike focuses on capturing pregame moments, especially players stretching on the field, and shares his strategy of transmitting photos to editors for quick social media updates. He works with a dedicated web link for fast photo uploads. He highlights the importance of framing and anticipating shots, particularly capturing emotions, facial expressions, and reactions, which can sometimes tell a better story than the play itself. Mike shares his attention to detail, from shooting through players' legs to getting the perfect angle of a huddle or player introduction.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Photography
💡Problem Solving
💡Lenses
💡Remote Cameras
💡Social Media
💡Lighting
💡Transmit
💡Game Day Setup
💡Action Shots
💡Teamwork
Highlights
Mike Noak has been the Chargers team photographer for 25 years and has attended 524 games in a row.
The team meets at 7 AM to set up gear for the game, ensuring everything works before kickoff.
Photography involves solving problems, such as dealing with faulty equipment like transmitters, clamps, and dead batteries.
Different lenses achieve different looks; Mike uses a 400mm and 600mm for long-range shots and a versatile 135mm lens for close-ups.
Mike can predict the ball’s destination by analyzing the quarterback’s body language, allowing him to switch between lenses quickly.
Remote cameras are set up in strategic positions, such as underneath arches and near the smoke wall, to capture unique player entrance shots.
Mike’s remote cameras capture dynamic shots, like players running through smoke, and must be timed for changing lighting conditions.
During the COVID-19 season, Mike was the only photographer on the field, and one of his long-exposure shots of the team won an award.
For social media content, Mike captures locker room photos and uniform shots of key players, enhancing them with lighting effects.
Photos are transmitted wirelessly in real-time to the editing team, who immediately post them on platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Mike uses his experience to create unique compositions, including low-angle shots, black-and-white images, and action sequences.
Mike positions himself strategically on the field, switching between long lenses for action shots and wide-angle lenses for crowd reactions.
He collaborates with other photographers to cover different parts of the field and ensure complete visual coverage of the game.
Post-play reactions and celebrations, like touchdown spikes, often make for more memorable shots than the play itself.
Mike enjoys capturing the behind-the-scenes emotions, such as locker room moments, that fans usually don’t get to see.
Transcripts
you got a little smudge on your lens or
is that a
crack yeah right
there
good hi this is Mike Noak I've been the
Chargers team photographer it's my 25th
year 524 games in a row and welcome to
my
[Music]
office we all meet in the parking
structure at 7 am bring the gear
inside and this is the team photo work
room where we'll have the photo and then
we'll have social media and then the
video team 7 in the morning as you think
it's early cuz game's at 1 but we have a
lot to go
through basically it gives us a little
time to set up and if there's any
problems we can fix them we can get into
situations where one of my clamps is in
is n working one of my transmitters
isn't working the batteries are dead
can't find a ladder photography is
basically just problem solving and you
know trying to eliminate as many
problems as
possible basically different lenses
achieve different looks even uh
different lighting situations these are
some of the long lenses I use it's a 400
and a 600 basically grabbing something
across the field and then shoot
something wide whether it's a celebr
shot or a catch right in the corner of
the end zone this would be a good lens
for it and then anything 20 yard in I
have a 7200 which is uh very versatile
and then probably my favorite lens right
now is the
13518 it's should just be welded to my
camera cuz I like it that
much with the 400 with a little bit of
practice I could shoot just in throwing
the ball and looking at his eyes and
Body Language I can kind of tell if it's
going far Corner inside of the end on in
the middle so as soon as he releases I
can swing this lens around and then grab
another body with a wide angle lens and
be ready to go by the time the ball gets
to the receiver if everything goes
right right now everything's packed into
my remote bag we will go down to where
the players take the field and we will
uh set up some remotes who wants to help
we're not mounting it on the B no I'm
going to try something different
I'm thinking put the one back there
again but then put one right here okay
going that way so see what happens I've
mounted a camera up underneath the arch
on one of these little mounting post and
I fired it out on the field it's kind of
cool when the players run out underneath
it get the whole stadium open up and
then another angle is I mount it back
here facing out this way which is a
great angle and and so this season they
just started using the smoke wall trying
to get as many looks out of it as
possible CU When the players come
through it the smoke wraps around their
feet and it almost looks 3D so we're
going to put a couple remotes up on it
and try and uh take advantage of
[Music]
it these will be up all day so I just
put fresh batteries in learn my lesson I
know the sun will be coming in kind of
this way so I'll put it in the shutter
speed the game's not for a while so we
just want to make sure that the camera's
going to record and be at the right
exposure 5 hours from now think I'll do
these 30th of a second get a little bit
of a
blur um and I'll do that one frozen so
what I'll do now to test it let's turn
this on there you go one down one more
to
go so the first year we had Co and with
the Restriction I was the only
photographer on the field for the season
I took I think it was first place for
one of my photos that we're hanging up
right now I got the whole team coming
out onto basically an empty field empty
stands right before pregame they look
like a river because of the long
exposure it was kind of neat but
everything else is clear as a
photographer you're kind of focused on
trying to make something unique
that no one else can get and that just
takes a little bit of trial and err
sometimes there we go what I do is I
mount this it's old but it still works
when I fire my camera this goes in the
hot shoe it will fire as you can hear
you can see the red lights go off both
of them y there you go we're ready those
are my utility belt basically I store
extra batteries lenses of water my flash
anything I need during the game that I
do not need to leave the field and go
get so this is our wireless setup the
ethernet logo and then we have our
wireless so basically the camera is now
connecting to to this little guy so if I
take a picture if I like that picture I
hit set which is what I program to
transmit so now it says transferring the
lights blinking and when it's done
blinking it means it's sent so em is are
Ed
so the photo goes right to her computer
and she can pull the photo I just shot
up on her computer there you
go let's do Justin first you want Locker
or do you want seat we'll just do Locker
it's easy every game for social media we
do what they call uniform shots
basically I'll grab two or three players
this week it'll be
Justin basically just to show the fans
what they're wearing so powder blue top
white pants there's no Lighting in the
locker so I just bring these along this
one's
blue drop it in somewhere add a little
blue light um this one is just daylight
balance so just kind of throw it behind
there little blue light just adds a
little pop to it the light I put in the
background is kind of spruces it up a
little bit so this will be sent right to
social so I'll just transmit it like
it's blinking and it's sent that photo
is off and then it'll be edited up and
out onto Instagram Facebook and Twitter
got to make sure to grab these lights
cuz I have left them in players helmets
before
so just doing a couple empty shots of
the locker room I think fans like to see
what it looks like I mean we're in here
every day we take it for granted but
people who don't see this very often
it's something special and it is you
usually everybody starts going to their
posts Kitty will go up top and shoot
tailgate parties ml will start editing
players will start arriving about 9:30
they should be done coming here around
11:00 after that I go outside shoot some
pregame players will leave the field
player introductions and then off and
run into the
[Music]
game morning
[Music]
morning
[Music]
so basically after we finish player
Rivals the team will be outside
stretching I will try and just capture a
few shots of certain guys stretching
real quick transmit those out for social
media this is set up to our dedicated
web link so we have a lot of bandwidth
so we can send photos throughout the
game really quick take another
one another one there you go and I'll
just let the editors pick out the best
ones just getting down low I'm shooting
really shallowed dep the field so head
down some of these I know will look
better in black and white you know
facial expressions they like to shoot
long so I get the Snapper hands on the
ball then I can shoot through his legs
and actually get JK spotting the ball so
look good returners will come out first
they usually huddle up right at the end
of the tunnel QBs will huddle up back
over here and they're pretty quick
taking the field so I'll probably shoot
a huddle with the long lens and then hug
the wall and try and just get facial
stuff coming down the hallway who's mik
that right here you yes sir mik that yes
sir
oh all right all right oh yeah oh yeah
let's go look right there shooting up SS
together baby hey let's hang out fly
around have fun lean on your brother
when it get tough and let's do this s
together on two one two s
together it looks like I'm taking a
picture of the ground but I can see
through the viewfinder what's on the
back of the screen really quick and I
just transmit so if everything's working
good I can still focus on the game I
know there's a little bit of a gap
between the last group and then defense
so that gives me time to send stuff when
I'm out there if I miss that window then
I'm trying to send stuff all the way
through player stretch and it's too much
hey fellas You' been blessed with
another opportunity to go hit a mother
in the mouth he dominating up front hey
let's go baby 3 1 2
3 let's go man we waiting on the ass
don't wait don't wait for the first
place to the last place let's go
clap give me
to
go get him bud I haven't done this shot
in a while we'll see what
happens Botham are you ready for your
treasers to hit that
field and now it's time to Welcome to
the field your
2023 Los Angeles
Chargers
and that quarterback number 10 Justin
[Applause]
Herber and
the of
the so right now for coin CH I'll try
and get low so I have my screen out so I
can get it really larger than live and
the ears fast when the screen wouldn't
flip out you just kind of like shooting
by F sometimes you get it sometimes you
don't this kind of like evens the odds
out so I'm pretty confident I'll get a
lot of good pictures all right it's game
time what a fun and fascinating matchup
it should be today in Los Angeles as the
Detroit Lions come to Southern
California to take on the
Chargers
usually it's me and Ty on the road so
I'll take one corner he'll take the
other um today we have a couple more
photographers so Ty is on the bench area
and he'll hang in a highend zone I'll
cover the corner and basically the half
of the end zone and then we have another
photographer on the other side so we
have all our bases
covered I'm always like kind of bringing
up my other lenses and looking through
them to make sure the settings are all
the same cuz sometimes when you're
running shutter speed or aperture gets
changed by hitting your pants or
whatever so this way I'm sure the camera
is going to work so if I'm on it with
the long lens and I bring it up real
quick to get a catch the camera's
already
set so that's Dennis proy I've known him
for like 25
years second and eight pass B and and
that's a first down by Keenan Allen out
at the
38 right now I'm just transmitting
kenan's first down catch and run and our
editor will have it within a couple
seconds going for it right away oh it's
tied away at the last
moment so you can see right here I get
from way back here I got the ball hit in
his hand Block in the pass so a lot of
times with uh Sports Photography it's
not the main play play that is always
the key highlight of the play sometimes
it's the reactions celebrations are
great so you always keep an eye out
after the play Lian
30 going for the big one to the end zone
what a throw touchdown
Chargers
[Applause]
[Music]
Allen
so like I said that was the touchdown
but then that's the whole
sequence of Keenan spiking the ball
which is way better than the touchdown
[Applause]
catch most of the job you know it's
hurry up and wait but then it's also go
go go during a game and like pregame you
know it's going to happen it's kind of
like you can set your clock to it but
during the game anything can happen and
it usually does the years I've been
shooting you kind of experience
different things different ways to win
celebrations afterwards get some of the
you know excitement the relief it's just
the the whole team aspect going into the
locker room of of of guys being there
for each other it's nice to be able to
be in that situation where you can
capture things that you know most people
will never see and then you can share
that with them it's
[Music]
great
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