Hockey practice for my 10 year old, Photography practice for dad.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking that f/4 would be too limiting for the dimly lit rinks we will be in - I recall the feeling from my old film days with an f/4 zoom.

I have the 400d so the long end of a 70-200 would equate to approx. 320mm in zoom if I am doing the math right? Hockey will most likely be shot from the stands just above the glass so I can move from end to end as well.

I am considering this as my all-purpose zoom (for now) and not just for hockey, therefore the IS considerations. I've never had a lens with IS, but then, I've never had a lens that would go out past 300mm either.

Thanks again,
Walt

Troy,

Good timing on the shots. I'm not so sure I'd do a "dodging" under the helmet though, as I prefer to lasso the faces and use the curves adjustment, but that's just me. I posted my try below on one of the shots.

I'll echo the sentiments about noise reduction software, and f/2.8 being the smallest aperture lens that will be of any use here. I ran the image below through a mild Noise Ninja treatment.

You stated:

But didn't give a shutter speed, and I couldn't get one off the image. The shots are a little soft, which may be due to your shutter speed being a little low. Her right leg looks sharper than her right glove, for example, and this might be due to movement. Have you shot at ISO 3200 and bumped up your shutter speed as far as it'll go?

Also, Av mode is gonna be a little challenging in an arena with white ice and dark backgrounds (not to mention sometimes having light and dark jerseys). You're exposures may bounce all over the place. I would shoot manual, taking a reading with a handheld meter, or lacking that, take a camera reading off your daughter's face and one off her jersey and average those two (they might be very close anyway). Unless the arena's lighting is overly variable from end to center ice, you'll probably see better results than shooting in Av.

I might suggest you get a little lower if possible. i sometime bring a folding stool to sit on in the Box, and move it right up against the boards. My lens will end up resting on top of the dasher, but this will help get under her helmet even more.

Walt, WRT IS, I own a lot of glass, and shoot a lot of indoor and outdoor events, and the only time I find myself wishing I had IS is when I'm covering something like a press conference (or if I shot more weddings, for example, on my 70-200 f/2.8L ). Occasionally, the IS will accidentally get switched "on" with my 400, and I can tell instantly that this has happened as the AF is noticeably slower.

So, when I bought my 70-200 f/2.8L , I took the money I saved by buying the non-IS version and picked up a 85 f/1.8 .

Thanks for sharing.

Dennis

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DMWIERZ - I have never used any type of noise reduction software. I have CS2, does that have it on there? If not what software should I get for the noise reduction? I have never shot in Manual mode. I dont have the slightest clue on where to set the camera at in manual. Maybe you can give me some suggestions? She has a tournament beginning today so I should get plenty of practice. I have never shot at 3200 either but will try it. How do I post the picture so that you can get the shooting info off the image? The pic looks great by the way. I have to learn how to clean up my shots like that. I also like to lasso the face instead of dodge. I am just learning how to do this though.

97,

When you "Save for Web" in PhotoShop, it strips the information in the image, known as EXIF, from the image. What folks usually do is reduce the size of the file manually, or alternately, "Save for Web" and then post the exposure data separately.

I believe PS CS2 does have noise reduction capabilities, but they're not very good. Noise Ninja (what I use), Neat Image, and a couple other 3rd party programs, are specifically intended for high ISO images. You can download a trial version of Noise Ninja here (it embeds a watermark in the images until you buy a license, I think):

http://www.picturecode​.com/download.htm

Be sure to also download the profiles for the ISO's and camera you use, as this is what really makes the software sing. Noise Ninja is available as a stand alone program or a PhotoShop plug-in.

Here is a cool article on Noise Ninja, written by Pulitzer prize winner, Vincent Laforet:

http://www.sportsshoot​er.com/news/1415

To learn PS, my suggestion is Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers ". There are more useful "how-to's" and lessons in there than all other books I have read combined.

To shoot in manual, select the widest aperture your lens will allow, and a relatively high ISO (like 1600), then see what the meter inside the camera tells you about your exposure - adjust your shutter speed until the indicator is in the middle of the range. If you can't get it up to the middle and have a shutter speed >= 1/250s, bump your ISO to 3200 and try again. Also, read your camera's manual on M mode.

Thank you. I will try it out today.

97,

Remember that the advantage to shooting in manual mode indoors is, once you have the exposure nailed, you don't have to change anything.

Aperture priority works pretty well in many situations, but it can be fooled, especially if there is a large contrast between the subject and the background. In these situations, it's better to find out what the correct exposure is (which is why I use a handheld meter in the incident mode) and set your camera to this, then leave it. This way, regardless of whatever is happening with jerseys, backgrounds, whatever, the subject will be properly exposed.

Here's a pretty good discussion of the phenomenon:

http://www.sekonic.co.​jp …/product/meter/​tips.shtml

dmwierz, how do you doa "mild run" though noie Ninja or Neat Image. I never play with the controls, just use the presets...

Is there a tutorial out there that shows you how and what the controls on these do?

superdiver - neat image "how to"

97dad -- for manual exposure shooting hockey, use the histogram. Take a white balance shot in AV mode (set ISO1600, f2.8). the shot is any old unmarked part of the ice. set your custom white balance with it. Now look at the histogram of that shot, see how many stops from the right the main peak is. look at the shutter speed. Dial in M mode, turn the shutter speed down by the number of stops needed to move the ice peak on the histogram almost to the far right. take another shot to judge if you got it right. If your shutter speed is slower than 1/500 (maybe 1/320 for under-10-year olds), bump the ISO to 3200 and subtract a stop from the shutter speed.

superdiver wrote in post #3980071
dmwierz, how do you doa "mild run" though noie Ninja or Neat Image. I never play with the controls, just use the presets...

Is there a tutorial out there that shows you how and what the controls on these do?

I've used the settings discussed in this article for a couple years, and they work great.

http://www.sportsshoot​er.com/news/1415

This results in sharp images and excellent noise removal, without the "plastic" skin that comes from over-using noise reduction.

Hey- Nice shots- someone mentioned a shot would be better with the puck in it. You might be able to photoshop one in!! Good shots. Informative on shooting hockey!!

Great links guys! Thanks!