Girls Hockey - first time with flash

[Darsk47]

For the first time, I used my flash to do hockey. I've got to experiment more with it. My keeper rate was way down.

Many of the action shots showed a lot of motion blur. The "stand still for the faceoff" were easier. I had a pretty high perch because of this rink's configuration; the ceiling was lined with a silver reflective tarpaulin, so I bounced off it. Need more practice. Lemme' know what you think. Darcy

1.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2248/2097196089_d717652c02_o.jpg

2.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/2097974628_5bfa686435_o.jpg

3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2178/2097973688_2cb270ff36_o.jpg

4.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2097973770_f9218361cb_o.jpg


Four more, these with no flash.
5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/2098036222_7963b8241e_o.jpg

6.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/2097189647_223e05d3ac_o.jpg

7.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/2097258345_e80036cbd5_o.jpg

8.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/2097189267_b7aa0bb11c_o.jpg

[creechjs]

These look great! Your locations look very similar to the ones I have to deal with. Good timing on the first four considering you couldn't burt with the flash.

[Darsk47]

These look great! Your locations look very similar to the ones I have to deal with. Good timing on the first four considering you couldn't burt with the flash.

Thanks Jeff. I've always liked the M of O hockey shots you post. Do you ever use a flash? You've written about the great light in your new rink so I'm just curious if you ever wanted or needed to.

[dmwierz]

Darsk -

Many of the action shots showed a lot of motion blur.

Post some examples. I'm gonna guess they don't have motion blur, but have ghosting, instead. If you ensure your flash is the dominant light source (at least one stop over ambient, preferably more) your flash acts as the "shutter" and its duration is around 1/800s so motion blur shouldn't be an issue. If the flash isn't sufficiently higher than the ambient, you will get ghosting, which occurs when your sensor exposes the shot twice while the shutter is open - once during the flash duration (1/800s or faster) and once for the duration of the shutter speed, with ambient light.

[Darsk47]

Dennis - I trashed many of them, but here is one I still have - not a great frame, but it's a decent enough exposure. However the blur is likely from the 1/160 shutter. Any tips?

Darcy

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/2099855418_ec6d5f69cb_o.jpg

[TopGear1Ds]

Dennis - I trashed many of them, but here is one I still have - not a great frame, but it's a decent enough exposure. However the blur is likely from the 1/160 shutter. Any tips?

Darcy
Yeah, thats an example of what dennis said. The ambient light is strong enough that you're basically getting two exposures. One from the flash which as dennis was saying lasts about 1/800s, and then there was enough ambient that it played a significant role in the exposure giving the blurred image. Make sure your flash power is at least two stops higher than ambient light (ie, meter for ambient light at at least -2 stops with the shutter speed, and meter for the flash with aperture)

Getting that much of a difference between ambient and flash with just a speedlight-type flash bounced off the roof like that might not be possible though. (with such a high ceiling, and relatively well lit area) Thats why pro sports shooters use big remote strobes.

[dmwierz]

Darsk (and TopGear) - that very well could be ghosting, though it doesn't look like the classic case. First of all, as TopGear pointed out, the shutter speed is almost irrelevant providing you get the flash power high enough relative to the ambient light.

I'd still keep ss at 1/250s, though, as this will make it easier to get your flash above ambient. I have shot hockey with all manner of artificial light, and it IS possible to even use a camera-mounted flash, providing the rink is dark enough. I know it sounds paradoxical, but the darker the rink, the better it is for using smaller flashes. When you got to brighter rinks, the little SpeedLights have trouble getting enough over ambient, and you start getting ghosting.

Here's what I would do (not knowing the specifics of your rink, these can only be rough guidelines: set your ss to 1/250s ISO 800 and aperture to f/2.8. Take a shot without the flash. It should be nice and dark - maybe not totally black, but at least showing very dark, shadowy figures. Then turn your flash on full power. Take another shot or two. Look at the histogram. With hockey, a properly-exposed histogram will have a lot of data over the middle point since there is so much white in the frame from the ice and boards. Don't let this scare you, however don't have so much data that it smashes up against the right edge otherwise all your highlights will be blown. If you are under-exposed, raise your ISO. If you are over-exposed, lower your ISO.

Give this a try. BTW, I see lotsa guys shoot their flash direct and this doesn't seem to bother anyone. I don't like the look of direct flash, so I always bounce, but again I have strobes and they're a little more powerful. Here's a shot I took this past weekend (also posted this on another forum) and think it's kinda interesting - looking at the goalie and the shooter I was CONVINCED the puck had to be in the frame somewhere. Took me a while to find it.

Lens (mm): 120
ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/250

http://www.pbase.com/image/90145200.jpg

You may find that whites look interesting with artificial lighting. As you can see in the above shot, the whites of the uniforms look pretty good but the ice and boards are a bit yellow. This is because I custom white balanced on a gray card with the strobes firing before shooting. Your eyes aren't deceiving you - the ice and boards really aren't truly white. Our eyes have trouble in the brightness of all that white and semi-white discerning this, but the camera doesn't.

Hope this helps,
Dennis

[Darsk47]

Dennis - thanks for the tips. Slow this week, no games till 5 scheduled this weekend. I might try it at a practice this week. I'll post up a result when I get it. Thanks again.
Darcy

[blindz24]

I like the no flash shots better. I myself am trying to get into this hobby/shot ops, I don't know anyone who plays hockey so I usually just show up to a rink and snap away. Lately I've done this with the OHL games from my seat. Keep reading through these posts for hints and tips :)

[namasste]

Darcy, thos shots look solid for the lighting setup you used. I have been debating if I want to invest in strobes and I may try your method first (along with Dennis' great tips on settings). Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing your shots.

[serviceover]

ok, I'm going to ask a really stupid question...

Coming from europe and not knowing...what are stobes??

Are these studio flash units or custom sports flash units?

[serviceover]

sorry darcy,

nice set of shots..I havent tried with flash yet, hense the question above..

Mark

[Darsk47]

ok, I'm going to ask a really stupid question...

Coming from europe and not knowing...what are stobes??

Are these studio flash units or custom sports flash units?

There are never stupid questions.....

I'll give you a short answer and maybe one of the others on here with more experience in using strobes at a event could expound. ( I don't own any, have never used them)

Strobes are lights, flashes essentially, that are mounted above the playing surface. A 'tog may use 2 or 3 to cover one end of a rink or basketball court. They are mounted to a rafter, beam, catwalk etc.

They are activated on shutter release by the photographer who has a wireless transmitter installed in the hotshoe of his/her camera. The strobes have a receiver that accepts the signal the transmitter sends. It's off-camera flash.

It all takes a lot of set -up, but makes for awesome sports shots when done well.

Any body else got anything to add?

[Sauk]

just to add to this, some just use stands to set them up as well and bounce it off the ceiling.