How do I get into professional [freelance] sports photography?

Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 for sports photography?

• For my senior year in high school (next year) I am going to be the staff newspaper photographer and I want to get a good telephoto for when I'm photographing sports and various other things. I am looking at purchasing the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8. However, in the fall, I will have to photograph a lot of football games at night when it's dark. I've heard that the autofocus is slow on the Tammy so I'm a bit uneasy purchasing the lens. None of the camera stores in my area carry it so I can't really test it out. Does anyone have this lens, or have used it before? Is it adequate for sports photography? I really don't have the money at this point to spend two grand on the Nikon equivalent but I'm willing to go up to about 1,000. Suggestions for other lenses are welcome too. I already own the Sigma 70-300mm and do not particularly like it, especially for sports.

• Answer:

  Maybe the reason you don't like the Sigma 70-300mm is how slow the lens is? An f/4.5-5.6 lens won't give you the snap and the low-light ability of a f/2.8 lens. Personally, I use the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM and find it pretty remarkable. It's an older, non-macro model, but it focuses pretty fast. The f/2.8 aperture lets me use fairly high shutterspeeds for evening games or games shot in a gymnasium. The built-in HSM autofocus matter really does make a difference. Look at my galleries below and you'll see plenty of shots taken with my Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8, as well as some taken with my Sigma 135-400 f/5.6-6.3.