More Hockey! Scrimmage

I got to test my 3 day old 70-200/2.8L today for the first time at the ice rink.

I was very worried that the image quality would not be satisfying since I was so spoiled with the 135L previously. Boy, was I pleasantly shocked by the performance of this lens. I actually got more sharp keepers than I did with the 135L! I was BLOWN away by the image quality and focusing ability. I need lots of practice using a zoom. I definately let my equipment down rather than the other way around.

This was not the amatuer rink I normally shoot at, but rather one in a megaplex. The lighting here was much darker, but I still got great performance from the 20D at ISO3200, usually getting exposures of about 1/500s which was plenty. I shot in AV mode, wide open, and added +1 exposure compensation. The shots where the exposure was bang on were virtually noisless, mainly because of there were no real shadows. Oh, and got to sit on the bench, so I didnt have to shoot thru plexi glass, save for a few pictures, like #1.

This was just a noon hour scrimmage where most of the guys didn't know each other. There was one "gal" playing, and she was exceptional...

#1 Goalie Warming Up.... (110.0mm, f/2.8, 1/320s, iso3200)

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif'

Nice shots Drisley!! See, the big white zoom is nothing to fear!! Man, if I could only use ISO 3200 on my 1D!! I can definately see the improvement in your shots just because of the ability to frame the subjects much better!

Thanks schmoelzel.
Even with the ability to zoom, trying to decide what and where to shoot is very difficult, especially if you don't want to be shooting the backs of their heads all the time (when in the center ice penalty box).
Also, it's hard to include a couple players in the play, and the puck, and still be able to blur out the background, at least a little. That may be why many hockey photogs like the 300/2.8.

Nice effort Drisley...theres some good stuff there, of course faces are important but they arent always everything, if it feels good then run with it!

I took this one at a end of career testimonial game, for some reason I like the feel of it:

MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

Thanks Dave.
I really need to get more acton into the pictures at this point.
It's only my 4th time shooting hockey, and up until now it's just been about getting the lighting and other technical issues down pat.
I find it difficult to get a nice isolating picture of two players that doesn't just look like a snapshot from a point and shoot camera.

That's an amazing picture btw. It looks like you were down on the ice with the player. (you weren't were you?)
Oh, and I think schmoelzel meant that he wished the ISO3200 on the 1D wasn't so noisy.

Excellent shots Drisley. I am assuming that you are setting a custom white balance before you start shooting.

Well Done Drisley! I wish the lighting in our arena'a were as good. The noise at 3200 seems minimal, did you use Noise Ninja or any other?

Hey Drisley -nice looking shots. I haven't shot hockey for about 20 years. Colors look really nice. I am surprised by the wide swings in shutter speed. For the nice part you also got the ice looking pretty nice too - only 3 and 5 looks on the verge of being blown. Its not easiest sport to capture.. you did good.

Thanks ssim, Alan, and Croasdail.
Ssim, I shoot Raw, so I eyeball white balance in Adobe Camera Raw when I get home.
Alan, I used Ninja on a few images that were underexposed by more than 1/2 stop. The images that nailed the exposure were extremely good.
Croasdail, I shot AV and added +1 EC, and this seemed to work the best, although there were still times that I had pictures that were up to 3/4 stop under exposed or up to 1/3 over exposed. I tried setting a manual exposure, but the light in the rink really did vary a fair bit, especially behind the goal. I may have blown the highlights in the images you mention tin post rying to get the ice to look white rather than dull grey

Really nice sequence of shots. It looks like your new lens is a definite keeper. Thanks for the post.

Thank you!
Some people in another forum have mentioned that I need more action in my pics. However, that is VERY hard to do when shooting an amateur scrimamge game. It's too slow and there is no contact.

What were your camera settings reference saturation, contrast, etc?

thanks

Dman, I shot Raw, so there were no in camera settings that apply to sat, contrast, etc.
I converted in Photoshop CS2 Raw, and added a little bit of saturation, like +10 or so, then maybe added a little bit more later to certain colours.
For some reason, ice rink lights give a strange redddish tone that others have noted as well. Something to do with the frequency or cycling of the lights or something. I didn't initially catch it, but about half way through post I began making an attempt to remove this tint from the ice and boards using "Replace Color".
Oh, and to add a little contrast, rather than use levels, I make a duplicate layer, set it to "soft light" and set the opacity to around 20%.
Looking again, I think I may have oversaturated, especially the reds, that seems to have caused some noise and banding on this colour that is made more noticable after resizing down for web.

Nice Drisley! Looks like you made the right choice. Congrats. Holy Crap that ISO is rocking! My 1Dsmk2 does not put out ISO 3200 like that

Cant wait to see your BB and H&F shots! When are those coming up anyway?

Oh, sure youve heard it before, but....

I went to a fight yesterday and a hockey game broke out!

Wish I had more time to follow it. My favorite sport. When I played in school, I sucked, but man could I fight!

Those are some sharp shots, man. Gives me something to look forward to when thinking about getting the 20D...

Steve