Photography at FRC Events

The FRC photography challenge#

FRC events are a hard environment: gyms are often dimly and unevenly lit, robots move fast, and you are shooting through the field perimeter and barrier. The goal is fast, well-exposed, sharp images.

Gear#

• A DSLR or mirrorless camera with manual control beats a phone for match action, but a modern phone is fine for the pit and candids.
• A fast lens (wide maximum aperture like f/2.8 or wider) gathers more light. Community photographers on Chief Delphi favor fast zooms (e.g., a 24-70mm f/2.8) for flexibility and fast primes (35mm, 50mm, 85mm) for low light. A telephoto (70-200mm) helps reach the far side of the field.
• A monopod can steady long lenses without getting in the way.

Manual settings for match action#

Shoot in Manual or Shutter Priority so the camera doesn't slow the shutter and blur the robots:

• Shutter speed: 1/500s or faster to freeze robot motion; 1/800-1/1000s for very fast game pieces.
• Aperture: as wide as your lens allows (low f-number) to let in light.
• ISO: raise it (1600, 3200, even 6400) as needed to keep the shutter fast. A little grain beats a blurry photo.
• White balance: set a custom white balance or shoot RAW so you can fix the orange/green gym color cast later.
• Focus: continuous autofocus (AF-C / AI Servo) with burst mode to track moving robots.

Composition tips#

• Get low, near robot height, for dynamic angles.
• Shoot through gaps in the field perimeter; avoid shooting through scuffed polycarbonate when you can.
• Capture peak action: a shot scoring, a climb, an intake grabbing a game piece.
• Mix wide context shots with tight detail shots.

Pit and team photography#

The pit is where the human story lives: drivers strategizing, students wiring, the alliance handshake. Bright but indirect light works; a small on-camera flash bounced off the ceiling can help. Always get a clean team photo in matching shirts in front of your pit banner - you will reuse it in sponsor packets, the website, and award submissions for the whole year.

After the shoot#

• Cull ruthlessly; keep only your sharpest, best-exposed frames.
• Edit for exposure, white balance, and crop in Adobe Lightroom, free Darktable, or even phone apps.
• Always keep and archive your photos - FRCZero's repeated advice is "ALWAYS KEEP PHOTOS OF YOUR WORK!" They are gold for Impact Award presentations and sponsor recaps.
• Submit standout match shots and team photos to The Blue Alliance so they appear on your team profile.