Hockey Help

[babekha_2]

I should put this in sports, but I think more people would see it here and I'd like some comments before I leave

So we're leaving in a bout an hour to play hockey here in town and just for kicks I thought "d bring the camera along. I did last time and had a horrible time. The building is fairlly dark and you're trying to take pictures of some pretty fast action. Any tips for getting good pictures? Which settings are best to use?

I have the XT with an IS 18-55 and the 50mm 1:1.8

Thanks!

[TopGear1Ds]

well the 50mm is pretty darn short for hockey, but your best bet is to shoot with the 50mm wide open at ISO1600. I'd shoot M, chimping during warm-ups to lock in a good exposure by chaging the shutter speed.

For AF use Servo set to center point only. good luck! post your results if you want some more help later.

[babekha_2]

I'm planning to get another lens someday, but at the moment I have short stuff :-) I'll be sitting on the bench so it won't be too bad.

I'll def. try that, thats for the advice

[brian_lewis67]

The rink I train at is quite dark during training sessions but brighter during a match. Even then I end up shooting at iso 1600 at f3.5 and usually about 1/320 sec.

[babekha_2]

here's one from last night. I tried the settings you suggested but wasn't having much luck. So I ended up switching to TV mode and just changing the shutter speed. But I was having a really hard time freezing any action. It was all really blurry. So here's a still :-)

[DDCSD]

1/60s is much too slow for sports. You'll need to open up the aperture quite a bit more to get an acceptable shutter speed. Your 50 1.8 would have worked better.

You should also set a custom White Balance from the ice.

[TopGear1Ds]

here's one from last night. I tried the settings you suggested but wasn't having much luck. So I ended up switching to TV mode and just changing the shutter speed. But I was having a really hard time freezing any action. It was all really blurry. So here's a still :-)
maybe you misunderstood me? Those aren't the settings I suggested. I said to shoot with your 50mm wide open (aka, @ f/1.8 ). You were at f/4.5 in that shot. Thats 2 2/3 stops slower than you needed to be. In that light you could've had a shutter speed around 1/400s if you opened your lens up.

If you're not going to shoot M (which I still think is the best idea), at least shoot Av mode at f/1.8. That will give you the fastest possible shutter speed that your camera thinks is possible for the given light. To freeze sports action, you should try to stay above 1/500s (1/320s at the absolute minumum if lighting conditions really won't allow it). Anything slower than 1/400s and I just put my camera away, and start watching the action because I know I won't like the results.

Next time you try shooting, use M and really open the lens up. Shoot f/1.8, ISO1600, and the fastest shutter speed that gives you proper exposure.

[Brikwall]

Shoot M. Using Av or Tv will cause your meter to adjust either shutter speed or aperture as the light changes/cycles.

Use 1/400 sec minimum. Faster, if possible, subject to lighting conditions.

With your 50/1.8, start with an aperture of f/2.8 at ISO 1600. Bump ISO to 3200 if necessary. You can increase your aperture to f/1.8 but keep in mind that DOF will be thin and you might have trouble getting players sharp (ie: logo may be sharp but hands or face may not be).

50/1.8 is not a good sports lens as AF is too slow to keep up with action. It will be alright, however, for static shots as you posted above. The 18-55 is too slow aperture-wise.

[DDCSD]

Remember, that in an automatic mode, you'll need to most likely set your EC up by a fair bit, since the camera will want to underexpose because of the bright white ice. That is why M is best, it isn't fooled by the ice.

[Tom Reid]

babekha_2... hope the following helps.

Use your 50/1.8 lens. As noted by Brikwall set the camera to Manual mode and ISO to 1600. Here's where I stray from the previous advise.... use 1/250 for shutter speed and f2.8 for the aperture as a starting point.

I use those settings in dimly lit rinks when I hang off the end of my 70-200 f2.8 lens and it works well. May require some PS work but end result pleases your fans (players and parents). Have a look at these www.tomreidphotography.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=143 which have very quick PS edits. They were taken in one of the worse lit rinks in my area. One of the tricks for hockey is to "pan" the target. In other words, move with the player you want to take a photo of and shoot on the move. That said you might also be able to get away with a shutter speed of 1/200 or less. If you pan smoothly and that will come with experience (and frustration), the main target will be in focus however background subject will be motion blurred which is perfectly normal.

Might also want to consider the following:

- Set focus to AI Servo (page 70 of your camera manual)
- Selecting the drive mode, set to Continuous (page 78 of your manual). This increases your chances of obtaining one or more sharp images of the target.
- Set white balance to Auto (page 56). I've played with WB by shooting at the ice, shooting at a grey card and shooting at the light source with a white balance filter (waste of money for indoor sports) and then selecting that image as the WB photo. Auto works best. Not all of the lights in the rink are the same so you end up PS'ing photos later.

Here's some taken in a well lit rink www.tomreidphotography.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=157

BTW...here's your image with some quick edits in Photoshop.

[mrgriggs99]

i shoot a fair amount of hockey and Miami University in Ohio and I adjust the white balance to the artificial light mode, manual mode 1/1000, 1600 iso and 4.0. I have to shoot through the glass which sucks but those images are well light with little noise and require little photoshopping