Florida boy does Hockey

First time in my 47 years I seen a rink let alone a hockey game. Deplorable light. Finally broke down and shot my 2 neighbors who play in a league. Never had any idea this game moves so fast .

Any suggestions for next time encouraged.

MKIII, 70-200 f/2.8 all with ISO cranked over 2000

Blue Deuce wrote in post #6150694
First time in my 47 years I seen a rink let alone a hockey game. Deplorable light. Finally broke down and shot my 2 neighbors who play in a league. Never had any idea this game moves so fast .

Any suggestions for next time encouraged.

MKIII, 70-200 f/2.8 all with ISO cranked over 2000

[GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED IN QUOTES]

horrible form on that slap shot.

also, i have watched my teammates play from the stands, when i was injured, and to the spectators, it seems like the game is moving slow. however, when you are in the game, i can assure you it feels like you only have a split second to decide what you want to do.

then again, every league is a bit different, these guys could be in the lowest level for all i know.

tomdlgns wrote in post #6150869
horrible form on that slap shot.

also, i have watched my teammates play from the stands, when i was injured, and to the spectators, it seems like the game is moving slow. however, when you are in the game, i can assure you it feels like you only have a split second to decide what you want to do.

then again, every league is a bit different, these guys could be in the lowest level for all i know.

+1 on the form haha, no wonder he ate it after

try to get people comming down the ice heads up with the puck
doesnt have to be full blown action to get a good shot
also, try to crop tighter and single out players

hey blue deuce, yeah, ice hockey moves fast.

say, u going to the air show in Kennedy Space center again in Nov?

BassBiggieD wrote in post #6158175
+1 on the form haha, no wonder he ate it after

try to get people comming down the ice heads up with the puck
doesnt have to be full blown action to get a good shot
also, try to crop tighter and single out players

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try my hand at it again in a week or so.

Aaagogo wrote in post #6158664
hey blue deuce, yeah, ice hockey moves fast.

say, u going to the air show in Kennedy Space center again in Nov?

Ahhhhh, my air show buddy. Probably will go. I had a blast last year. I think I will leave the 500 at home this time and use a 300 f/2.8 instead
Stay in touch as it gets closer.

Mike:

For a first timer I'd say you did OK. Hockey is a tough sport to shoot especially when presented with the dark, dingy arenas most recreational and minor hockey is played in. I have shot a ton of hockey over last winter and learned a great deal from folks on here. Generally here are my starter settings for most rinks (with 40D and 70-200f2.8L):

Shoot in full manual mode
ISO - Usually 1600 or 3200. Rare is the rink where I can use 800.
Aperture - Almost always f2.8 but as light permits sometimes f3.2 or f3.5. Hardly ever get to go to f4
Shutter - Again, try not to drop below 1/400 for recreational or minor hockey. 1/500 preferred where light permits.
Depending on light, I will monkey around with all 3 of the above to see what works best for that rink.

Use a custom white balance shot off of "used" ice. This helps reduce impact of color cycles in the lights.

Use AI Servo focus and use the * button for focus (Custom Fn IV...search for threads on this if you don't know what I am talking about).

It looks like you had a good position in the stands to shoot over the glass. Sometimes you can get excellent results standing at the end of the rink and shooting thru glass at players coming at you (as BassB suggests above). (EXAMPLE)

Ideally you want to try and capture eyes and faces of players in shot and puck, so look for best positions to do this. Being up high in stands is sometimes not conducive to this as you are shooting down. Try and get access to the penalty box if there is no glass on it (use caution though during game!), or if it is a fun mens game, ask to go on the bench.

Try and anticipate the play. For me, given that I play and coach, this is easy and I often have my lens pointed in the right spot before the play gets there. For you, this will take some time to learn, but it can be a valuable talent to pick up.

Post Processing - Shoot RAW if you can and then plan on doing PP of most images, especially to brighten them (as even with 3200 ISO and such you may still find images dark). You will also likley need to apply a touch of NR to them. I use Adobe Lightroom for processing and I find it to be good in this regard.

Again as Bass suggests, crop your images tighter to focus on the key player(s) or action and eliminate background clutter .

Other than that, just keep shooting and posting. My shots improved dramatically over the course of one season and I am sure yours will too!

Cheers!

Chris

PS: See more of my most recent hockey shots at www.cjscons.com/stars

Christian, thanks for taking the time to give me these tips. It always helps the learning curve to hear from someone who has been there done that.

I got free reign to walk around the rink. Only a few girlfriends and wives attend and from observing them I think they were dragged there. I tried to get behind the goal because I figured that was a good vantage point. It didn't work out because that section of "glass" was in terrible shape. Any thoughts on using flash for fill ?

Well aware of the * button. Been using it for BIF for 5 years since I made the switch.
Might try using the 300 f/2.8 so I wont have to crop as heavily.

I've never resorted to using flash, but others on here have, usually a more complex multiple strobe set up rather than just on camera. Results have been pretty good from what I have seen. If you want to try on camera, maybe try bouncing it off ceiling if the ceiling is low and of a reflective material (often the case in hockey rinks). You will lose the advantage of your fast fps though as you will then need to wait for flash to recycle after each shot.

u got a new toy... lucky u...

i might bring down the 100-400, it seems that the blue angels fly a little closer to the audience.

yeah, will do that, perhaps we can do another Canon/POTN meet

Blue Deuce wrote in post #6158729
Ahhhhh, my air show buddy. Probably will go. I had a blast last year. I think I will leave the 500 at home this time and use a 300 f/2.8 instead
Stay in touch as it gets closer.