Category Archives: Football

Placentia, CA – Bradford Stadium (HDR)

Bradford Stadium_Talke
This moody HDR of Bradford Stadium is home of the Valencia Tigers & El Dorado Hawks. The scoreboard is dark and the stands are empty….just a few weeks until Friday Night Lights are ready to fire up again. Bring on football season!

SPORTS ART – by Peter Talke Photography

YLHS_Talke
A new division for my photography will be Sports Art. This will include HDR Composites and Sport Art pieces like this one. I have a new Sports Art PDF brochure to send if you are in the Orange County area and would like to create a sports memory that will last a lifetime!! Become a SUPERSTAR!!! Contact me today at peter at talkephotography.com to schedule a sports art session!

Here is the art in a 29″ x 25″ frame (16×20 print)…nice!
Print_talke

Football HDR Composite


If you shoot HDR’s and love to take portraits…why not try HDR Composites!! Above is my recent one…a football composite. I posted this shot yesterday in various places and on one site someone asked…is that real rain? It is just a rain texture, then blended in photoshop. I had a great session with Shad over the weekend…took about 37 shots and pre-shot the background a month or so ago. I looked at my backgrounds and shots and figured out what would fit best. I know I wanted to add rain to the shot and the end result is above.

Sorry to pimp my products (but I will have to occasionally). If you are looking for backgrounds, please visit two locations:
1) Denny Mfg.
2) www.talkephotography.com
Both have exclusive backgrounds and I hope you can find a couple HDR’s to create your own composite art!!

You can find the background above here….Football Background

Here is the add from Denny Mfg. Please visit Denny Mfg. today! You can also find lots more photography products…such as; photography backdrops, studio props and accessories, studio equipment, studio sets, and much more!!

Also, I am planning on writing and article on how I processed this photo in an upcoming HDR One Magazine!! The Internet’s #1 HDR Magazine!! Let ya know when it is coming out!

Yorba Linda, CA – YLHS Football vs. Cypress (HDR)


This past Friday nite the Yorba Linda Mustangs football team beat up on Cypress. A great game! Thanks to the Booster Club President for allowing me access to shoot atop the press box! It was a chilly nite and the view was perfect! As I arrived I knew the sun was setting early. Game time was 7 PM. I set up around 6:15 and decided to try something a bit different. I wanted a game action shot with a cool sky. 7 PM kickoff would miss the sunset. This what I decided to try…

I set my camera on a tripod and noted all settings/placement in order to keep them the same throughout.
1) 6:30 PM: Took 7 exposures of the field and sky (+3 to -3). f/22 to get the flare in the lights…also to get longer exposure times. The band was playing on the field, but I knew they would not be in the final pic.
2) 8:00 PM: Took a single shot of on the field action during the game. Shot in manual

In photoshop I combined the two shots..lined them up and masked out the field without the game action. Touched it up and thats it! Worked easily!!! I added Tonal Contrast on the field action to give it an HDR like look.

Congrats Mustangs!!! Enjoy the photo!

Lakeway, Texas – Lake Travis Football – Ready to Rumble!

While photographing our local team….the Lake Travis Cavaliers a few weeks back…I grabbed this shot and my thoughts were that LT was ready to rumble this evening!   #32 is a guy called Turney Maurer…gotta love his preparation look. He is ready to play!   Kudos Turney!  This shot was incorporated into the recent cover of our local magazine called the Lakeway Voice….published by Peel, Inc.  Thanks for another cover shot Kelly!  Great choice!  LT has another playoff game tonite!   Good luck LT!!

Friday Night Lights – Lake Travis vs. Aledo


Friday nights in Texas are special during the fall.   HS Football is the biggest ticket around.  You may have heard of the TV show Friday Night Lights?  It is filmed here in Austin.   So our local team is Lake Travis.  I posted some shots from a game last year as well.  We have won three consecutive state titles and 48 games in a row going into tonite.   I had heard we were ranked number 9 in the entire nation??  Scheduling is not a cake walk at LT.   This evening we played Aledo High School.   State champs last year as well.   We were also without our fantastic starting QB…Michael Brewer.  He is one his way to Texas Tech next year.   He was hurt in the previous game and had to be held out.  The outlook was dim.  We led most of the game and near the end Aledo scored (up 14-10), we punted and they held onto the ball and the game ended along with our 4th longest winning streak in Texas history!    Great matchup!!

I had my yearly chance to photograph on the sidelines.  I was geared up with my monopod and 70-200 lens.  Above you can see some photos.  After the nite of shooting, I must say HS football is tough to photograph!!  As it gets darker…it sure is difficult.  Lighting is not great and I have concluded, that a D300 is just an average camera to shoot low light situations.   If I had a D3 or D3x…now I would be talking!   I was shooting Manual 640-800 second f/2.8 mostly.   Out of about 600 shots….I thought 150 ish were decent.   It was only my second time shooting HS Football, so not a bad nite, but just average.

Experience is needed to excel in the photography world of HS football.  At halftime I was on the sidelines and was talking to the photographer from the Austin American Statesman (our big newspaper) and he was downloading his shots onto his laptop for review.  I could see lots of blurry ones as well…so I did not feel too bad.  But he did have a 400mm lens…those were the shots that looked awesome!!  Hopefully I can shoot another game on the field this year?  I’d love to try College Football during the day!  Ah to dream!!  Have fun!

Pittsburgh, PA – Franco Harris (HDR)

Football season is now over and congrats to the New Orleans Saints on winning the Super Bowl!    A great game and a new champion in 2010!   They have taken the throne away from the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers.   If you ever travel into or out of Pittsburgh, PA via the airport, you will find this great replica of Franco Harris (of the Pittsburgh Steelers).  The statue is in honor of the Immaculate Reception.

Some info from the web:   The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972. Late in the game, after Frenchy Fuqua, a Pittsburgh half back, collided with Raiders Safety Jack Tatum as he tried to make a catch, Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris caught the deflected football just before it hit the ground, and ran in for a touchdown that won the game for the Steelers.  NFL Films has chosen it as the greatest play of all time, as well as the most controversial. The play was a turning point for the Steelers, who reversed four decades of futility with their first playoff win ever, and went on to win four Super Bowls by the end of the decade.

I will hopefully be back in the Burgh in the summer….see you then Franco!

Talke Photography Settings:

  • Camera:  Nikon D300
  • Lens: Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6
  • Setting: Aperture  Mode
  • Focal Length: 31.0mm
  • ISO: 200
  • Exposure:  HDR 5 exposures (+2 to -2)
  • Aperture:  f/4
  • Gear:  Tripod, Cable release
  • Post Process: Adobe CS4, Photomatix

Cleveland, OH – Browns Stadium (HDR)

Browns Stadium HDR

NIKON D300, Nikon 12-24, HDR in Photomatix

We are almost halfway throught the NFL football season and as a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, the Cleveland Browns are not a favorite of mine as we are rivals.  But this year the Browns are very bad…so I feel sorry for them.  I was in Cleveland recently and the stadium is right near downtown.  About 2 blocks from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I went to shoot the R&R Hall of Fame and decided to walk over the stadium.  Here is a shot using my tripod and cable release…5 exposures and post processed in Photomatix.  I heard from a Browns fan this shot is near the famous “Dog Pound’.  I wish the Browns good luck this year…I’d say they need a coaching change and alot more to turn it around.  I’m hungry…maybe it time for some Brownies!!  =)

Pittsburgh, PA – Art Rooney (HDR)

Art Rooney HDR

NIKON D300, Nikon 12-24, HDR in Photomatix

Are you ready for some football??  The NFL season kicks off tonite with the Steelers vs. Titans from Pittsburgh, PA.  Here is some info on the great Art Rooney:  Rooney was a life-long resident of Pittsburgh and attended Duquesne University In 1933, Rooney paid the $2,500 franchise fee to start an NFL team. The NFL reportedly was looking to bring a team to Pittsburgh because of the city’s strong affiliation with the game. Rooney founded the Steelers in 1933 after Pennsylvania relaxed the state’s Blue Laws, which prohibited the exhibition of sporting events on Sundays. Under Rooney’s guidance, the Steelers became one of the league’s most storied franchises.

This HDR was completed using my standard method: 5 exposures, tripod, cable release and post processed in Photomatix.  The clouds addd a little flare to the shot.  Good luck tonite Steelers…hope we can defend our title!!