Got the chance to cross another major sporting event off my bucket list when I visited the CFP National Championship in New Orleans January 13, 2020.

For this game i chose to put a Nikon 200 f/2 on my Z6 and use the 24-70 2.8 Nikon S lens on my Z7. The 200 is definitely not long enough for most of the game but in the end zone if I happened to get lucky i might get something. I put both cameras in H* for shooting speed... both in manual with 1/1250th to 1/1600th shutter speeds and auto ISO so that if i changed aperture or the light changed a little I'd be ok. I would never have shot Auto ISO years ago but this has become my normal set up when i shoot sports as I want control of the shutter speed and the aperture for creative choices while the ISO is simply a light gathering decision. My apertures were mostly wide open or close to it. You don't carry the 200 f/2 to shoot it at f/8. I'm chose it for it's unique look that paid off on some shots in a big way. In hind sight i would have put the 200 on the Z7 to allow more ability to crop the beautiful giant file in post but i was more concerned in the moment with ISO and frame rate.

Here we go...

This was the first image I took as I took a position at the Clemson endzone and shot up with the Z7 and 24-70 2.8 S - nothing happening but it set the scene for me. 

This would be the last time Clemson had a real chance to make a game of it after scoring a touchdown to make it 28-25

The beginning of the end - with Clemson up 17-7 LSU QB Joe Burrow ran in a Touchdown. Clemson was outscored 35-8 starting here.

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence just couldn't get it done against a tough LSU defense

After catching two TD's all season LSU Tight End (and Randy Moss's son) Thaddeus Moss caught two in the biggest game of his career

This is the opposite view of the amazing image that Sports Illustrated ended up using on the special edition cover of Joe Burrow directing blockers as he ran from trouble one more time.

This series defined the way the game was after the first quarter. Clemson tried valiantly but was left beaten rather badly at the end.

This was the sequence of the game for me - the 200 f/2 really created a great look and the Z6 AF did it's job as i captured the final TD of the game thrown by Heisman winner Joe Burrow to Terrace Marshall Jr