HS Hockey

This is my first time posting in this forum and wanted to know what people thought of my photos.
The lens I used for these was a 75-300 f/4-5.6 with no flash.

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The first one seems a bit soft. The second one is seriously underexposed. The rink you shoot in must be a lot brighter than any that I've been in if you can shoot with that lens and no flash.

Exposure looks alright in first one although there is no detail in the blacks. No face, no puck, no action makes for a weak photo. It does look a little soft although that could be from a number of factors, from the too-slow shutter speed (1/125) to web compression or some combination thereof. Personally, I'm also not a fan of the angle as I prefer to shoot from ice level and not from above: but that's just me.

The second one is underexposed and needs to be framed tighter. The lighting looks really odd, as signified by the directional lightning and long shadows, almost as if they were lit by spots mounted near ice level.

Your shutter speeds were 1/125 and 1/160 @ ISO 800. Those speeds are way too slow for hockey. Don't be afraid to increase ISO to 1600 to boost your shutter speeds.

Welcome to POTN.......couple of quick pointers:

You need to get low. Shots like this, they just look like snaps from the crowd.

First one - no face, no puck, no net, no action and no crop. Means a deleted shot for most.

Second one - no faces, weak action, harsh shadows, same result.

Get down to ice level, preferrably into an area with no glass like the penalty box. Or find a piece of clean glass around the goal line.

Face-puck-net is the trifecta - go for it. It takes a lot of practice and timing, and also means you don't get to watch the game as per normal. Better to practice on a game where you have no interest. When your youthful Gretzky tries to split the D with a scowl and tongue hanging out, chances are you'll be cheering rather than shooting and the opportunity for a great shot is lost. (happens all the time )

There's a ton of threads on here about how to shoot hockey. Find a couple....

It looks like you're just starting out , so get grounded on what most in this forum agree are key elements of how to shoot hockey and what makes a good shot.

Also don't take this harshly- it's a great place to learn and improve as a photographer.

Cheers.

Aspen has great lights for shooting and the balcony offers many great options.

+1 -- The first one seems a bit soft. I think it is over exposed and with the 70-300, you will want to shoot much tighter. Your color is very close to on.

But here in lies your difficulty: 1/125; ƒ/4.5; shutter priority (4); 800
being at 1/125 is causing blur or lack of sharpness. The ISO 800 is fine, but at this rink, from the balcony you can get away with 400 or 640. -- SHOOT IN MANUAL and adjust by chimping through.

#2: This looks as if a strobe a was fired from above the bench or that crows' nest. That is a rough shadow. The light on 17's back, but the dark behind the boards and on 66's right also makes me think one strobe fired. Again that 1/160 is not helping you.

Without a flash set at 1/400; f4; ISO 640; adjust your EX bar by testing. Work on one area of the rink until you get it down then experiment throught the rink.

Aspen is a very photo friendly place.

Also just read this good advice:

Darsk47 wrote in post #9371176
Welcome to POTN.......couple of quick pointers:

You need to get low. Shots like this, they just look like snaps from the crowd.

You should mix up your shots. Shooting through the glass is great. 95% of my shots are from above the glass (i.e. the stands - even at Mennen or South Mountain) That is my personal preference to take the glass out of the photo.

Darsk47 wrote in post #9371176
First one - no face, no puck, no net, no action and no crop. Means a deleted shot for most.

+1 which means I agree. Now, Many parents I speak to at rinks want wide shots. Most pro's (semi-pro's) want tight. While keeping face, eyes, puck, net (that is the hockey unwritten rule).

Darsk47 wrote in post #9371176
Second one - no faces, weak action, harsh shadows, same result.

Get down to ice level, preferably into an area with no glass like the penalty box. Or find a piece of clean glass around the goal line.

+1 on goal line extended -- I usually jump to glass planes toward the keeper and one glass plan outside the blue line. -- Parents should go no where near the penalty box in NJ nor near the bench.
+1 -- practice and timing

VinnyC01 wrote in post #9371452
. -- Parents should go no where near the penalty box in NJ nor near the bench.

Interesting note on that.. for a girls high school game I was at Saturday.. one obnoxious dad gets noisy sometimes and has yelled from right over their bench (a walkway/concourse circles the arena at the top row of seating) and they caution taped off that area to keep him away.. lost two good shooting spots because of him.. arena staff says "NOBODY can be in this area!" when I was using it on the visitors bench end that afternoon.

thanks guys for all your suggestions and comments. ill be sure to take all of those into consideration next weekend.
since this is for my brother's hockey team and i played last year i think id be able to get the coach to let me shoot from the bench.
im also starting to look on ebay for a 70-200 f/2.8 because i think it'll be worth every dollar and will only help my pictures get better.

unc818 wrote in post #9372434
thanks guys for all your suggestions and comments. ill be sure to take all of those into consideration next weekend.
since this is for my brother's hockey team and i played last year i think id be able to get the coach to let me shoot from the bench.
im also starting to look on ebay for a 70-200 f/2.8 because i think it'll be worth every dollar and will only help my pictures get better.

Not to burst your bubble but even with the 70-200 f2.8L, you may be limited if you can not go higher than 1600 ISO on your camera (XSi limit??). I shoot 40D and 50D with 70-200 and I am normally using 1600, 2500 or 3200 ISO in the dark rinks. At times I have used 6400 ISO with good results.

For hockey at any level you want a minimum of 1/400 shutter and f2.8 aperture with exposures that are at least one stop overexposed (to comp for all the white ice). Find a lens/ISO/camera setting that can get you there and you can do well.

unc818 wrote in post #9372434
thanks guys for all your suggestions and comments. ill be sure to take all of those into consideration next weekend.
since this is for my brother's hockey team and i played last year i think id be able to get the coach to let me shoot from the bench.
im also starting to look on ebay for a 70-200 f/2.8 because i think it'll be worth every dollar and will only help my pictures get better.

Shots from the bench are great, but if you are not insured, not part of the school insurance, you are risking your face, your gear and your health. Also, the rink and the school do not want to be sued. I have seen Aspen remove non-media from the crows' nest.

Which school did you play for - Montville or Gill? -- I did not even know Gill SB had a team.

The 2.8 -- Look here 'Marketplace' section for one. or at fredmiranda.com I prefer

yea i saw some people up in the crow's nest yesterday and i know at least one was a non-media but i believe he was the father of one of the guy's who runs nj freeze at aspen so i thinks thats why he was allowed.
i played for gill. its only a JV team since we started a few years ago and most of the kids haven't played hockey before but theyre suprisingly good considering that and there are only a few subs.