UHL Hockey Game

[skyphix]

My first time shooting any sports... ever. I took ~243 photos and got 30 mediocre keepers... I guess I need to visit more sporting events. This was also my first Hockey game in ~5 years, so it took a while to get used to what to look for.

Coverage of a local UHL Hockey game.

Adirondack Frostbite vs. Port Huron Beacon's at the Glens Falls Civic Center

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/Action5.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/Action8.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/BeaconsNum17-1.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/FaceOff5.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/Action11.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/FrostbiteNum5-1.jpg

http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/Action12.jpg

The rest can be seen at http://non.skyphix.com/2005/Sports/Hockey/02052005/Small/

Higher resolution is available, I'll just need to upload them :)

[22littlereasons]

Pretty good. Might want to try a faster shutter speed to cut down on the motion blur via higher ISO.

[HJMinard]

This was also my first Hockey game in ~5 years

Was that about when the A-Wings folded - five years ago? Keep practicing and you might get a chance to get some shots of a few NHLers (Chelios, Hatcher ... maybe Kris Draper) when the Detroit UHL team comes to town.

[skyphix]

I can't remember exactly when the Red Wings folded... I don't really follow hockey but got some free tickets through Big Brothers Big Sisters, and had a blast at the game.

I think the last game I went to see was the Red Wings, so it might've been even longer ago than 5 years... time flies.

I definitely will be heading to more hockey games now, though. Seems like the Frostbite have a good team this year and it was a lot more fun than I remember. Great game if you hadn't heard... very close in the last minute and a half or so.

Thanks for the comments!.

22littlereasons:
I actually shot quite a few at a higher shutter speed, but I wanted to use the motion blur to show action. I definitely realize that stopping the action (if its at the right moment) would give me higher quality shots, especially like in the 1st and 3rd shot... thanks for the tip!

All of the shost were at 400iso with my D-Rebel and most were taken with a 70-210/f4 lens. Im quickly realizing that the lens is older and pretty soft... but I got it for cheap, so what can ya do? :D

[Groundworxs]

Hi skyphix, what camera and lens are you using? You do need a higher shutter speed action should be crisp. Also a much tigher crop is needed to isolate the action. If you are shooting from the second level you will need a 300mm or a 70-200 with a 1.4x. I would suggest shooting from the first row of seating along the goal line if you can with a 70-200. I shoot on manual settings ISO 640 2.8 with the shutter at 500. These settings are adjusted depending on the lighting in the rink. Good luck keep shooting it took me lots of crappy shots and some advice from others before I started to see an improvement. Here is a sample.

[skyphix]

Hey Groundworx ... thanks for the suggestions and nice shots :D

I was actually shooting from the 11th (gasp) row, but its a pretty small stadium so the 11th row is fairly close to the ice compared to some of the bigger arena's. Next time I go I'll walk down to the ice level and shoot some.

I was using a Digital Rebel (300D) and an old Canon 70-210 F4 Lens, so it isn't a very fast lens nor a very sharp one, which made for some difficult lighting situations, and as a matter of fact, most of my shots were underexposed (I realize I need to manually expose on the darkest players face to get the correct exposure, or at least thats what it seems... ).

I'm looking for a better lens but budget is tight (I can't afford to spend more than ~300 a lens and am looking to have no more than 3 lenses besides the 18-55 that came with the camera). Next time I'll bump the Iso to 800 (I can't do 640, at least that I know of). and use a higher shutter speed and f4.0 since thats wide open for this lens.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Groundworxs]

Hey thanks for the kind words re my pics. If you are shooting at f4 you may need to put your speed up to 1600. It may look grainy but it is better to have an in focus picture with grain than an out of focus one with out. I had the 10D for a year and it was great like your rebel for many things. Once I started to shoot sports I found the tracking speed very slow. The first shot in a series of 9 would be in focus and the rest were out. You can try the servo mode but I did not have much luck. You may want to try keeping it in one shot mode and and raise your finger up between each shot then it will re focus this worked the best for me. Also in rinks custom white balance is needed to get the best image. Read your manual if you have not already it's not hard once you know what to do.

A couple more pointers if you can shoot from behind the net wait for players to cross the blue line this is where you get contact and interaction between the players which reveals lots of emotion. Always try to have two elements in each picture. 2 opposing Players together if you get the puck in the frame that makes it even better.

You don't always have to follow the play stick with the goal tender he will get action. Again get the puck and an opposing player in the frame. If you get just a great save and no other player it could have been taken in practice. Shoot a bit wider then crop after. Look for emotion you know the guy who is having a bad night and is looking for a hit or a fight follow him when he is on the ice.

Any way I am sick so I have to go to bed I hope these help. Post some new pics soon. I may shoot a game Sat. night I will post a couple of pics if all goes well.

Cheers

[skyphix]

Thanks again for all the suggestions :) I have another game to go to on May 5th so hopefully I'll be a bit more ready for this one.

edit: At the rink I was in I was getting away with F5.6 @ 250 and items were ~1 stop underexposed, if that makes any sense.

Unfortunately I won't be able to get behind the net because there is floor seating there and me being 6'3 I dont think they'd like me standing in their way. I can get to the ground level probably in a line with the Goalie, which would be better than where I was.

There is another guy that shoots at the games and has a DSLR, but I haven't seen him yet... when I walked in the rink workers asked me if I knew him and told me that he's at every game. I guess I should try to find him and see if he is willing to give me some pointers :)

Setting the white balance... from what I've been reading the best way to do it is to use coffee filters over the lens, point the camera at a light and take a photo, then use that photo as the whitebalance model.

Sorry to turn this into a help thread, but what lens would you suggest? As much as I'd love an L class lens I simply can't afford one that is as fast as I'd need (lesser than 2.8 ... I could probably afford the 70-200 F4L, but thats still a slower lens than I'd need).

Ultimately, in the summer I'll probably be shooting baseball, fall be shooting Semi-Pro football, and winter hockey, so the more experience I can get, the happier I'll be.

Thanks for all the advice and I hope I am not the only one benefitting from this thread :)

[swatcop169]

I have and shoot with the 70-200L f/4 at the hockey games, it does ok. I'm in the process of selling my digital rebel and I'm going to pickup a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8, brand new they run $800 you can get a good used one for $500-600

[Groundworxs]

Hi swatcop169 you said you are selling your rebel what camera will you be replacing it with. There are some compatibility issues with Sigma and Canon. When I bought my first digi the 10D I was going to do the same and I tried both in the store the Sigma focus missed every time by the time it would focus any action sprorts would have passed you by. The Canon will work now and in the future should you ever upgrade cameras. I would suggest getting the F4 and keep working on your technique. Save for a 2.8 you won't be sorry and the F4 is a good lens quicker auto focus than the Sigma. You can always sell the F4 I would say to list it for sale here in Canada you will get close to what you paid for it. The resale value on Canon gear is excellent. Go to a camera store and try both of the lenses on the body you want to buy you will see for yourself

Good luck

[Groundworxs]

Quote
At the rink I was in I was getting away with F5.6 @ 250 and items were ~1 stop underexposed, if that makes any sense.


Your shutter speed needs to be higher to freeze the action around 500 if 5.6 is the fastest your lens will go you will have great difficulty with in door sports.

Quote
Sorry to turn this into a help thread, but what lens would you suggest? As much as I'd love an L class lens I simply can't afford one that is as fast as I'd need (lesser than 2.8 ... I could probably afford the 70-200 F4L, but thats still a slower lens than I'd need).


The F4 is a good lens you can make it work with a higher ISO 1600 and on manual at F4 and shutter set to 500 this should be fine.

Keep clickin'

[skyphix]

I can go to F4 with the lens at any focal length... I will try 800 and 1600 (and maybe even 3200 since Im hacked now) to see what kind of results I get. I can always run them through Neatimage to at least lower the amount of noise.

I'd like to stick mainly to Canon lenses, but I did explore that higher end Sigma as an option... I'll just get the f4L (eventually) and deal with the higher ISO's... not much of my photography is indoor sports photography... just the hockey games.

Hope you're feeling better and thanks for all your help.

[swatcop169]

Hi swatcop169 you said you are selling your rebel what camera will you be replacing it with. There are some compatibility issues with Sigma and Canon. When I bought my first digi the 10D I was going to do the same and I tried both in the store the Sigma focus missed every time by the time it would focus any action sprorts would have passed you by. The Canon will work now and in the future should you ever upgrade cameras. I would suggest getting the F4 and keep working on your technique. Save for a 2.8 you won't be sorry and the F4 is a good lens quicker auto focus than the Sigma. You can always sell the F4 I would say to list it for sale here in Canada you will get close to what you paid for it. The resale value on Canon gear is excellent. Go to a camera store and try both of the lenses on the body you want to buy you will see for yourself

Good luck

I have already replaced my 300D with a 20D. I'm working on selling the 300D so I can pick up the Sigma f/2.8 I've read alot of reviews about the lens and $800 is alot better then $1500 for the 70-200L f/2.8

[Groundworxs]

I have already replaced my 300D with a 20D. I'm working on selling the 300D so I can pick up the Sigma f/2.8 I've read alot of reviews about the lens and $800 is alot better then $1500 for the 70-200L f/2.8


The 20D is a nice bit of kit. The lens issue still stands the optics and price of the Sigmas are excellent but sometimes the sigma will not focus or back focus. It will dial in the point of focus then go past it and then return to the original focal point. This is not intended to be a knock on Sigm, this is not Canon snobbery. There is a local College that has a photojournalism program and every year the students are cautioned about the Sigma and Canon issue. Every year at least five students get the Sigma because they are students and can't afford the price of Canon. Every year about three weeks after school starts they list the Sigmas for sale because they don't do what they need to. Then they get a fraction of what it was worth. Sigmas sell for alot less used than Canon used. I say go to the camera shop and try them out side by side. You maybe lucky and one that has not problems.

good luck
Cheers

Cheers