Why Ice Hockey is weird: An Editing Problem

Hi All,

I love this photo, told a great story of this particular hockey game back in March.

The problem: Apparently I either knocked the shutter speed down at least a quarter stop or these players were right under a good deal of light, because the highlights are either blown or almost blown.

My questions..

Can anyone help me fix this?

If not, is black and white too weird for a hockey picture in a newspaper? I'd like to make the highlight problem less obvious.

http://bdstewart.smugm​ug.com …378_yKfJA#32655​1378_yKfJA

Feel free to download and edit it so long as you tell me how you did it

Thanks!
Ben

Were you shooting in RAW or JPEG only?

Ben,

While it would be easier and more effective to work on a RAW image, here's a quick attempt at pulling down the highlights and boosting the shadow detail just a little with the Curves tool.

You can see more detail in the ice and uniforms and a bit more in the shadows of the breezers. Hockey is tough, though.

Oh, and BTW, this isn't an editing problem as you called it, it's an exposure problem. With hockey, I always expose and edit for the whites of the uni's and sometimes this results in blowing out the ice and/or boards (or having them appear off-white).

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Thanks, Denny!

Ben,

You're welcome. Shooting ambient light hockey, even at the NCAA level like this, can be challenging. Heck, even at the NHL level it's not easy.

This is a good shot - yeah you could have used a faster shutter speed to freeze the goalie's pads, but the action (I presume the puck went in?) trumps this minor shortcoming.

dmwierz wrote in post #5860597
Ben,

You're welcome. Shooting ambient light hockey, even at the NCAA level like this, can be challenging. Heck, even at the NHL level it's not easy.

This is a good shot - yeah you could have used a faster shutter speed to freeze the goalie's pads, but the action (I presume the puck went in?) trumps this minor shortcoming.

1/400 when based on previous successful photos, I should have used 1/500.

Going to shoot RAW when possible for hockey.

Can't wait for the next semester

HuskiesD1 wrote in post #5860718
1/400 when based on previous successful photos, I should have used 1/500.

Going to shoot RAW when possible for hockey.

Can't wait for the next semester

Of course the whole RAW vs. JPEG thing depends on deadline, if your working for a paper.

manutd101 wrote in post #5860950
Of course the whole RAW vs. JPEG thing depends on deadline, if your working for a paper.

School paper's deadline isn't until about noon the following day.

I would have a ton of time.

HuskiesD1 wrote in post #5860973
School paper's deadline isn't until about noon the following day.

I would have a ton of time.

Sweet! I was talking with one of the local PJs at the mass state finals for volleyball and he was lamenting having to work all night editing his shots to make deadline

manutd101 wrote in post #5860950
Of course the whole RAW vs. JPEG thing depends on deadline, if your working for a paper.

Depends on your workflow, i can RAW's up and done almost faster then JPEG's...granted my paper require it to be submitted in .tif

manutd101 wrote in post #5861276
Sweet! I was talking with one of the local PJs at the mass state finals for volleyball and he was lamenting having to work all night editing his shots to make deadline

Honestly, I wish my school paper pushed me harder.

I'm the only one who produces hockey pictures that don't have captions like "So and so battle for the puck" on the basis that someone chasing the puck doesn't tell a story unless no saves were made, no goals were scored, and no celebrations, storyline, or absolutely anything happened.

That's the only time though. When I am shooting for parents/sale or as a part of my internship at a daily in Minnesota, I have a strict deadline, enforced by either myself or a photo editor who WILL ask if I "have those in" every five minutes.

Photojournalism is an interesting experience - not for the faint of heart for a variety of reasons.