Field Hockey (7-1-07)

After the football excitement on Saturday, Sunday was a slightly lower key affair at the ladies hockey. Good fun to cover, even if the team I was covering got hammered about 7-1!

Having got through the variable lighting fun and games I was feeling more confident about dealing with variable lighting and shot in manual for the whole game. Can see a difference in the exposure and is definitely the way forward!

First 2 shots were with the 1D, 1/500 @f4, 300mm + 1.4x tc. The final one was with the 1.4tc taken off, and 1/400 @f2.8

Had a play around with Noise Ninja on these and some of the settings to see if I could reduce the plastic doll effect. Am getting there - these seem a little better, but there is still a way to go I think.

Thanks for looking - C&C welcome as ever.

1.

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Good stuff Paul, you can tell you've been shooting more recently as the pics have improved vastly from the original ones a few months ago...especially the old '2 players + ball' scenario! First one's the pick for me, nice peak action and slightly lifted ball add to the effect...good effort! S.

like #1 Paul nicely timed.

Steve.

Thank you for the comments chaps.

Si: Definitely getting more comfortable with the hockey shooting - the advice for where to sit definitely makes life easier. Can't remember who gave me the advice, guess he knew what he was talking about though!!

Nice work paul .

You mentioned where to sit to shoot hockey ,just as matter of interest where is that.

Thanks

Roy

Otta - thank you for the comments.

On the advice of Si (Stacas) I now sit on or around the 20 meter line. Originally I was sitting behind the dead ball line of the goal the team I was covering was attacking towards. This was great for portrait shots of single players, however peak action shots were few and far between.

By moving to the side and a little further up the pitch it means that with a 300mm +1.4tc I can cover a large part of the pitch, as well as being able to cover the goal mouths. There is also opportunity to pick up the action closer to the sidelines with the second body with a 70-200 on it.

Hope that this helps, hockey has been a steep learning curve for me, however finding it one of the more rewarding

Had a look at your website - some beautiful shots on there....and thank you for your advise on the shooting pictures at the end of last year - really was appreciated and made a difference.

Paul

Nice work Paul.

I like #1 overall, but I prefer the action in #2 but I'm not a fan of the pug 206 in the background

I want to get to a hockey game this month if I can

Darren

Cheers Darren - not sure whether to be impressed with the spot of the Pug or in fact a little disturbed!!

Paul...excellent shots I have to say.

And you give me hope that I don't have to sell my 1D MK 1 to get the MK IIN!

Ross

Disturbed, definitely disturbed

Darren

Some nice work Paul. I like the first image very much.

At these smaller hockey venues, the backgrounds are frequently a real killer. At some of the venues I shoot at, there are car parks in every direction Shambles indeed.

I'd echo the thoughts of shooting from along sideline as that position certainly opens up more opportunities... but, as with all these things, it's well worth varying it a bit throughout the season.

---- Gavin

Thanks Gavin - #1 was one I was trying to get all afternoon, I had noticed that everytime she tackled she was just lifting the ball away - not something that I have seen before. So a little bit of luck and a little bit of timing!

I agree on the surroundings of some of these places. The pitch this is at isn't great for car parks, however its major downside are the bins. Something like 12 of them around the pitch at the last count! And they always seem to get in the wrong places!!