First-Ever Shots

[Sportfan34]

Alright, well i'm very new to photography and i though i'd start by shooting some of my friend's hockey game. Please give me all the advice and CC you can, i'd really like to get better at photography.
-All these pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel and Sigma 18-200 lens

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757318

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757305

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757292

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757308

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757279

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4757276

I know most of the shots arn't "action" shots, it was only a scrimmage type practice. Are any of the shots decent in your opinon, what can i do to improve? Thanks in advance! (I had to post the links, the images weren't showing up correctly)

[Jim7226]

I'd say the pictures are decent for a starter selection. Keep in mind shooting ice hockey is very challenging...typically low light arenas and a fast-moving game. With a few of the pictures I'm seeing lots of noise in the image which can be a distraction reducing the image quality. It also appears you have some exposure problems. To be any more helpful, we would need to know what settings you were using with your equipment. To get proper exposures you need to be setting a custom white balance and shooting at ISO 1600 with your widest aperature setting on your lens (in fact, with the Sigma 18-200 it is probably just too slow with an f/6.3 to produce spectacular results at full tele). I also detect some of your images are suffering blur perhaps from a slow shutter speed -- need to be up near 1/500th or faster with these guys to produce sharper results (for most action pics). Good luck...and keep trying! If you really intend to get serious about shooting hockey you will definitely want to consider investing in some new glass to get the job done right.

[Sportfan34]

Alright, thanks for your advice. I'm not really intending to shoot hockey, mostly paintball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

My settings were
-ISO 1600
-Auto White Balance
-Auto AV

Pretty much auto, i'm still getting used to everything. Do you think my lens is fast enough to keep up with the other sports i listed above?

Thanks

[Jim7226]

Do you think my lens is fast enough to keep up with the other sports i listed above?

Thanks

Just so you know...it's not that your lens is not fast enough to keep up with the fast-moving action. The problem is your lens was not intended for indoor action photography using the ambient light(no flash). If you're serious about shooting basketball or volleyball get an 85mm f/1.8 for about $330. Heck, in a pinch you could even use this lens for hockey and get some pretty decent shots. The current lens you have should do fine for outdoor sports photography. However, if you are really feeling the desire to improve your lens selection to get better shots on all of these sports you would do well to consider a 70-200mm f/2.8. Hope this info. helps.

[Sportfan34]

thanks for the advice, I've only had the camera for about a week, i'm still learning everything.