Humbled by hockey...

Had lots working against me in that I have not been doing much sports work over the last year (relative to the past) so I am VERY rusty, and despite having played the game my whole life, have shot very little hockey. In any case, I was hired to shoot the parents/players photos pregame and thought I'd stick around and shoot some action as well. Short story short, it was a struggle for me and I'm pretty disappointed in most of what I walked away with but there are a few samples below all the same.

Lighting wasn't too bad really (1/500s @ f/2 and 2500 ISO) but shooting TTG really made things tough for me. Huge props to those of you here that have mastered that dark art! Most of these are very weak on action as I just couldn't seem to find a groove and some are pretty big crops as well which really destroyed things. ..

Feel free to rip them apart (but only if you are offering advice on what to do to improve them) ...

1.

Hey thanks for the laugh. I needed one after the way my week is going. ..

Your work rocks exposure wise and it looks like you got good faces & pucks.....

I like these... would be hard to shoot through the glass I would think.

thanks guys. Dave, was it the image quality that got the chuckle or something I said. I'm generally not as witty as I like to think...

These images look great.

Actually, I really like these shots. I also really appreciate and understand your comment about just not being able to find the groove some times.

I wish all could take bad pictures like you.

me too
1 is a winner

These look great, nice job!

Scott, good to see you out and shooting. White balance looks spot on. I hear ya' about "finding a groove" but as you well know, sometimes the peak action and emotion just fall right into your lap and other times it seems to be going in the "other direction." Like #3 (yeah, I know, it would be nice to see the puck). In #2, looks like you set up off camera flash (580 EXII?) or AB"s but didn't bounce them? (Fill me in.) I like #1 for, what I call the "trading card pose", parents love these. Also that type of goalie mask lends itself for a great shot in capturing his (her) eyes if you can get the proper angle. Keep shooting, man!

Thanks all, you guys are way too kind but I appreciate it all the same.

Chico, you are right about the 580 (actually a 580 and a Viv 285). The 580 was bounced, the Viv wasn't (there was simply no way to set it up without light stands and I'm not a fan of setting those up around crowds unless they are in a secured off area). I think it might work if I were able to bounce both but as it stood, I really didn't like the look even though it produced a generally cleaner image.

samsen wrote in post #15581136
I wish all could take bad pictures like you.

If the OP is humbled by these shots, he sets a very high standard.

Nice shots. Hockey is frustrating.

V4her and Fuce, thanks. I am probably too much of a perfectionist but its just how I am. When someone is paying for my images, I just want to be sure I am delivering nothing but the highest quality stuff and on this outing, I feel like I came up a bit short of that. I'm not saying the images completely suck, just that they are not the best I am capable of and that frustrates me.

good attitude nama
and great pics also