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Taking shots of a hockey game


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This weekend I am going to my great-nephews birthday. My neice (his mother) plays in an all girl hockey league so we are all going to cheer her on.

 

I would love to take some great pics, but live action is a new one for me, and hockey players move fast.

 

I probably would have access to that nice Canon lens for the weekend (F2.8 70-200), or would I be better to stick with my Canon f4 55-250? I could take a tripod with me, but would rather not, so I worry about the weight of the 2.8.

 

Should I go for Aperture Priority or manual settings and then try to work with the pics in PP.  I know I'll need a shutter speed of at least 1/1000.

 

All advice gladly accepted.

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Hi Jill, assuming its outside rather than inside, the main problem this time of year is poor light levels. If you have access to the Canon 70-200 2.8 with its excellent IS, I would take that, dont bother with a tripod, and set a reasonably high ISO - you dont mention which camera you have but go for 800-1600, and see what the shutter speeds are that you get. Dont forget that they do not have to be pin sharp to be good images of sport - some motion blur sometimes helps. I would work with aperture or shutter speed priority rather than manual, and experiment; also set the focussing to AI Servo to follow movement.

 

Essentially you have to experiment at the start to see which setting suits best but that costs nothing with digital photos and a good size card!

 

Have fun!

 

Kumar

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I shoot a lot of indoor sports (not a lot of ice hockey though . . . well, none really). My experience leads me to suggest the following:

 

If the light is even, establish optimum exposure, set it manually and forget about it. BUT . . . do try some slower shutter-speed shots to convey the flow and motion of the game, they can be fantastic (especially if your panning technique is good). Otherwise, set for fastest shutter-speed you can. And remember, gettng a shot at a very high ISO (with associated noise) is better than not getting a shot at all . . .

 

Try both lenses, but in my experience the f/2.8 is the way to go.

 

I never use a tripod for indoor sports, too restrictive--especially as you will (should?) be doing lots of panning.

 

And shoot and shoot and shoot . . . and then shoot some more. Sounds like fun :)

 

dd

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Hi Jill,

The most important thing about live action sports photography is being able to anticipate the play so your camera is pointed properly and then let the shutter fly at its fastest rate. There is surprisingly a lot of light in most arenas, especially with the reflective ice surface. Take two bodies and leave the tripod at home, one with a long, fast lens for distant action and goalie saves  and a second with a short lens for crowd reactions and if you are near the glass, close action shots. Plus hope you have insurance because a puck in the lens isn't unheard of!

 

Have a great time,

Chris

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Here in Canada, there is no other hockey but ice hockey (that matters anyway). It's a way of life. Indoor arena. And who would want to play field hockey in Ontario in November? :D That would basically be another form of hockey, shinny.

I'll try to take the good lens (if my son can get it for me from college) but otherwise I'll be using my f4 55-250. The arenas are usually well lit, so I am hoping not to have to use too high an ISO.

And the camera is a Canon T4i (650D) and not having lots of money, I don't have the luxury of two camera bodies to take with me. I could try to steal my son's 7D, but I think he'll be doing lots of shots on his own.

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Well in that case I'd say you definitely need to be looking at your 70-200 f2.8 if you can get hold of it.

 

You won't want a tripod, probably wouldn't be allowed to use it - at best a monopod in that kind of environment or hand-held. I suspect you won't be panning as a technique but you will be following the action and you'll be better off with it in your hands given how fast the ice is and rapid the change of direction and movement of the puck. 

 

You will be surprised at the amount of light you have but more so because you'll need a shutter speed of 1/500 or higher to freeze action. Any lower than that and you'll be getting blur on the legs/arms/sticks. You'll also want speed of focus and you'll benefit from the L lens and f2.8 maximum aperture for that even if you are shooting a f/4.

 

As this is ice hockey and indoors then you could shoot on manual exposure and assuming your rink is relatively evenly lit then I'd recommend it for two reasons

 

1) Consistency of exposure

2) The risk of underexposure due to the amount of white in the frame from the rink itself and boards surrounding it. This will happily fool your meter. 

 

You should also shoot RAW which gives you the chance to correct any colour cast from the lights (depends if you have sodium/fluorescent etc) as well as the greater latitude on exposure recovery. If you know how to set a custom white balance when you are there then go for it - I usually set to the lighting type and then adjust with a WB dropper in lightroom when I get back to the computer....

 

Personally I'd shoot a test frame, check the histogram and then set a manual exposure which gives a reasonable result at both ends/edges/middle with a shutter speed of 1/500 and whatever ISO you need for an f/4 or f/5 aperture. At my local rink that gives me an ISO of 3200 or 6400 but it is dark, and far below the standard I would expect in Canada - it being the national sport ;-)

 

Good luck, shoot loads and don't forget to check your LCD and asses some of the first images to make sure you have the right shutter speed, exposure etc rather than be disappointed when you get back. Oh and shoot a little wider than you might think - you can always crop.

 

HTH

Mike.

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I don't shoot hockey, but I do photograph my daughter during figure skating

competitions, same type of arena and light. I shoot a test shot during practice

or warm up and set my exposure based on that and sometimes I do a custom

White balance (WB), but mostly just use auto WB. I always shoot RAW or NEF

so that I can do my color corrections and noise reduction when I convert to

16bit TIFF's. I added a NIKON D700 just to get the higher ISO, 6400 is

great and gives me f5.6 @500 in most arenas. I mostly use a 80-200 f2.8 AF

and a 300 f2.8 MF with a FF body and just the 80-200 on a DX body. I would never

use a tripod, considered a weapon at any hockey game and a monopod would be

worse...

 

Important thing to keep in mind is going out of the arena to a warm room

and back to into the arena can give you some serious lens fog, I carry two nice

clean lens cloths. Most DSLR’s don’t like cold, I keep my bodies inside a loosed

parka inside the arena.

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.

 

Personally I'd shoot a test frame, check the histogram and then set a manual exposure which gives a reasonable result at both ends/edges/middle with a shutter speed of 1/500 and whatever ISO you need for an f/4 or f/5 aperture. At my local rink that gives me an ISO of 3200 or 6400 but it is dark, and far below the standard I would expect in Canada - it being the national sport ;-)

 

 

HTH

Mike.

 

Actually, lacrosse is our national sport. Hockey is our religion.  :)

 

 

I don't shoot hockey, but I do photograph my daughter during figure skating

competitions, same type of arena and light. I shoot a test shot during practice

or warm up and set my exposure based on that and sometimes I do a custom

White balance (WB), but mostly just use auto WB. I always shoot RAW or NEF

so that I can do my color corrections and noise reduction when I convert to

16bit TIFF's. I added a NIKON D700 just to get the higher ISO, 6400 is

great and gives me f5.6 @500 in most arenas. I mostly use a 80-200 f2.8 AF

and a 300 f2.8 MF with a FF body and just the 80-200 on a DX body. I would never

use a tripod, considered a weapon at any hockey game and a monopod would be

worse...

 

Important thing to keep in mind is going out of the arena to a warm room

and back to into the arena can give you some serious lens fog, I carry two nice

clean lens cloths. Most DSLR’s don’t like cold, I keep my bodies inside a loosed

parka inside the arena.

 

Will 6400 pass QC at 100%? That's pushing it another 2 stops over the 1600 I kinda see as my end push for decent noise correction in PS.  I probably won't be able to get the 2.8 for the weekend, so will be have to use my f4 lens. I'll take a zillion test shots before she starts playing. It will certainly be a good learning experience for me as I haven't tried shooting such fast motion in lower light conditions. And I may have had a glass of wine or two before I go, so I hope that doesn't hinder my skills any.  Will have the camera set for AI Servo to follow the action.

 

Should be a bit of a hoot and a holler anyway.

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Will 6400 pass QC at 100%? That's pushing it another 2 stops over the 1600 I kinda see as my end push for decent noise correction in PS.

 

 

I don't know. It depends on the camera you are using, and how accurate your initial exposure is.

 

I have had 6400 ISO images accepted for Alamy Live News from my D4 - but I would say that unless you were using a Nikon D4 or D3s, or Canon 1Dx then you would be pushing the boundaries for news unless it was an exclusive and of national/international interest, and very unlikely to get it into regular stock.

 

Whilst obviously there is no such thing as a completely unsaleable image should it make it through QC I guess you would have to ask yourself given this is your first time shooting hockey - what exactly were you expecting to be able to deliver to Alamy from this that would be likely to sell (vs what is already in the library) ?

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If I were taking a crack at this, I'ld leave the long zoom in the bag mostly and concentrate on shooting the girls/ladies on the bench cheering on their team mates. Maybe with a bit of hockey action in the background. You know the girls, so they'll probably let you get close. I've sold kids playing hockey on ponds and local rinks as images of Canada.

 

Hockey action? leave that to seasoned pros shooting NHL players.

 

My guess is that on the ice, they'll be wearing helmets so it may not be obvious that you are showing girl's hockey. You should work on that aspect

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