Friday night hockey, 3/4/05

[swatcop169]

Taken with the 20D, custom WB set at the rink with grey card.

http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/16918730-L.jpg

http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/16918765-L.jpg

http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/16918793-L.jpg

http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/16918844-L.jpg

http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/16919054-L.jpg

The rest can be seen here; Asheville Aces (http://jdsphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/422031)

[Alan Dye]

Great Pics as usual Swatcop! What lens and settings did you use??

[swatcop169]

Great Pics as usual Swatcop! What lens and settings did you use??

70-200L f/4, 1/320, ISO 800

[Ballen Photo]

You got some GREAT action shots! That custom white balance and grey card worked real well. :D
-Bruce

[swatcop169]

You got some GREAT action shots! That custom white balance and grey card worked real well. :D
-Bruce

It worked out better then I thought it would. Don't know what I had been missing all that time :)

[Alan Dye]

Did you shoot these in manual? Still tryin' to figure my 300D out. :o

[swatcop169]

Did you shoot these in manual? Still tryin' to figure my 300D out. :o

Yea, manual mode, 1/320 and f/4

[Avalonthas]

3rd shot was a little blurry but brilliant at the same time. Amazing!

[swatcop169]

3rd shot was a little blurry but brilliant at the same time. Amazing!

Yea, I had hoped that one was going to come out better.

[skyphix]

You just convinced me that the 70-200F4L is a "good enough" lens for me! (Indoor hockey, ourdoor under-the-lights American Football, and summertime daytime baseball).

Great shots as in the other post!

What league are these teams in?

The UHL game I went to see tonight was the Adirondack Frostbite (playing as the Mulletteers) against the Fort Wayne Komet.

[Dante King]

grey card makes all the difference for me! Nice captures.

[swatcop169]

You just convinced me that the 70-200F4L is a "good enough" lens for me! (Indoor hockey, ourdoor under-the-lights American Football, and summertime daytime baseball).

Great shots as in the other post!

What league are these teams in?

The UHL game I went to see tonight was the Adirondack Frostbite (playing as the Mulletteers) against the Fort Wayne Komet.

THey are in the Southern Professional Hockey League. www.sphl.com is the website.

The grey card did make all the difference in the world.

[musthavemuzk]

any of these shot through the glass?

the past couple weeksi have been to my first hockey games. both high school.
was too enthralled watching so the camera stayed in the bag.

Monty

[DwightMcCann]

I like the tight crops.

[swatcop169]

any of these shot through the glass?

the past couple weeksi have been to my first hockey games. both high school.
was too enthralled watching so the camera stayed in the bag.

Monty

No I shoot out of the penlty box.

Thanks, I know SS.com is looking for tight crops so I've been working on it

[billshack]

Would you mind explaining the GREY CARD and Custom White balance. I'd love to get that sorta clarity from my shots.

Bill

http://www.pbase.com/billshack/ice_hockey&page=all

[swatcop169]

Would you mind explaining the GREY CARD and Custom White balance. I'd love to get that sorta clarity from my shots.

Bill

http://www.pbase.com/billshack/ice_hockey&page=all

Check this out, it will more then explain what it is and what its used for.

http://www.cameraguild.com/technology/gray_card.htm

[billshack]

Now my brain hurts.

Ok. So that being said, should i just get one of these gray cards, shoot it at the hockey rink under ambient light, set THAT as my custom WB and then shot the action?

I guess i will figure something out. I was able to find a Canon 300mm IS to rent for tonights hockey game. Hopefully I wil have some shots worth showing tomorrow. Thanks for the input - it is valuable.

PS.. Do you use a light meter as well? Or modify the light temperature?

[swatcop169]

Now my brain hurts.

Ok. So that being said, should i just get one of these gray cards, shoot it at the hockey rink under ambient light, set THAT as my custom WB and then shot the action?

I guess i will figure something out. I was able to find a Canon 300mm IS to rent for tonights hockey game. Hopefully I wil have some shots worth showing tomorrow. Thanks for the input - it is valuable.

PS.. Do you use a light meter as well? Or modify the light temperature?

Yes, shoot the card at the rink where you will be shooting under those conditions, set your camera's Custom WB to that.

You should have some great shots with the 300 IS

[musthavemuzk]

cool mayb some new shots to check out and learn from.

i think i will have to read that gray card info thing as well

Monty

[billshack]

Ok.. Heres how my night went.

The 300 is VERY heavy and I think i was too close because i had a difficult time framing most of my shots. Most times had to shoot vertically to get anything at all and the monopod i was using is perhaps on the cheap side so the head was a little difficult to keep steady.

The full size images of these shots SEEM much softer and a bit noisier than the resized images that appear here. No real compelling shots but i am really just trying to go for exposure and clarity at this point.

I think the gray card wiht Custom WB helped out as it seems my colors are better than many of my previous pictures. I have included some sample histograms though and they don't look quite right. Please let me know what your take is. Also, the last image was taken with my 70-200mm f2.8. ALL of these were Tv=1/400, ISO 800, exposure comp +2/3, and auto aperature - mostly 2.8 and 3.5

The EXIFs are included at the PBSE site: http://www.pbase.com/billshack/20d_shots
__________________________________________________ _

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559222.comewithme.jpg
1. The AF was just above the Hawk in this one. Fairly soft on the referree.

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559223.cropped.jpg

2. This was cropped and still soft i think.

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559224.crosschk.jpg

3. slightly sharper here i guess

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559225.mauled.jpg

4. One of the better ones i thought

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559226.sharper1.jpg

5. ehhh

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559227.sharper2.jpg

6. ehh again

http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40559228.sneaksby.jpg

7. And this final one was with the 70-200 f2.8 (Non-IS)


All together I shot about 200 pics. I know i have to start concentrating on good content but i really wanna get the image quality right first.

[billshack]

Oh i forgot the histograms (attached). These are just sorta typical of what i am getting from the above settings.

And heres one other photo i kinda liked but is a bit poorly exposed. It was taken with the 70-200 f2.8



http://image.pbase.com/u39/billshack/upload/40560520.bothfeetupH.jpg

[swatcop169]

Those look good, alittle on the dark side but nothing PS can't fix.

Something to remember for next time, try to get your shutter speed up to 1/500, if that means upping your ISO to get there do so, its better to be grainy then have motion blur.

[Alan Dye]

For the first time out you did fine. Those teams look familier (Affton Americans). Where were these shot? Are you from the St. Louis area?

[billshack]

Well actually its not my first time out - just with that 300mm rental lens.

Did these links actually show up because in my browser at work they are red x's although it looked fine from home? My wifes laptop also shows red x's. What the ????

Also, i am not seeing the attachments either.

Yes, I am in the St Louis area. You too?

[Alan Dye]

Yep! St. Charles actually. Both my son's play, so I've been gettin' alot of practice of my photo skills on them.

Been checking into a Sigma 70-200 f2.8. From the looks of it, I'll probably pick one up befor the next season starts. Here's a couple I shot this season. But I think I can do better with the Sigma.

BTW, what rink were your shots at?

[billshack]

Yeah i noticed the Francis Howell Jersey on a goalie in one of your other posts. My son also plays on the Varsity team for O'Fallon (IL) HS.

We were at the Affton rink and i was perched atop the scorekeepers box over the benches if you are familiar with the rink. The Midget AA team (Southern Illinois Ice Hawks -vs- Afton Central States) was playing for the MO State Championship.. sadly we lost 2-1

Nice goal - Was that one of your son's shots? And what lens are you usin currently?

Anyway, looking forward to seeing more of your shots. Looks like my son may be playing in an Afton league this summer so we will see maybe i can get some better shots then.

I don't have any experience with the Sigma but i DO like my Canon 70-200L 2.8 but wish i would have opted for the IS for a few hundred more - well maybe 500 more. The 300mm is definitely too long espeically with the 1.6 FOV crop. I think i might look into that 135mm f2 though for next season :D

BTW, nobody answered my question about my links..do you see red x's or are the pics showing? The only browser i see the pics on is my editing station at home. All other browsers show red x's :confused:

[swatcop169]

Pictures didn't work for me, had to click the link to get them to work.

[billshack]

By the way, my Mom recently moved to your area - Hendersonville. I was there last month moving her from Florida. Nice area. Love the mountains. Not too much of that in St Louis.

[Alan Dye]

Both of those pix were taken with my 300D and a 75-300 f4.5-5.6. The first one is at Chesterfield the second one is at St. Peters. Both from the top of the stands.

Every year we end up goin' to Granite City to play. Ever shot over there?

I also had red X's and had to click on the link to view the pics.

Good luck this summer!

[swatcop169]

By the way, my Mom recently moved to your area - Hendersonville. I was there last month moving her from Florida. Nice area. Love the mountains. Not too much of that in St Louis.



I'm about 45 minutes from Hendersonville, I have family there. Your right no place like here :)

[billshack]

I have shot a few pictures at Granite but it is always at night it seems and most of my older shots were a mixed bag. Nothing really memorable there. I hate that place :p