I completed my New Year's resolution...

[speedneeder]

Congratulations Wayne!
I am trying. One parent asked me to take some baseball pics of her sons this summer, and I have been requested to do some family portraits next month. Wish me luck!

[Maritimer1]

LOVE those shots, Brian. What set up did you use for them? I am green with envy<LOL>! Word of mouth will soon travel when people see those. Good for you!

[speedneeder]

Thanks Myra. I'm not sure which setup you are talking about. For the game photos I nearly always use my 70-200 f4 L IS. Lately I have been shooting at ISO 3200 1/500 f4. I do venture away from these settings if I am trying to get more motion blur or something, but not often. For the shots on the bench I usually try to shoot 1/100 f4 iso 800. For the portrait shots I used two flashes and a black cloth background set up at the rink. If you want some more info I would be happy to share, just let me know.

[Maritimer1]

Thanks for the info, Brian. I am impressed with the shots at 3200! I usually do 1/400 at iso 1000 but have been trying 1/500 at 1600. I only use the 85mm so often have it at f/1.8 but tried it last week at iso1600 f/2 I still have to do some prep with levels in PP. So looking forward to the day when I don't have to zoom in and crop almost every photo Did you use your 70-200 for the portraits as well? I've been playing with the idea of buying a new lens and can't decide on a 70-200 or a wide angle. Except for hockey, most of what I shoot is outside.

I am totally inexperienced in using off camera flash and not that great at on camera, either.

Thanks again!

Myra

[speedneeder]

As you know, cropping and underexposure are the enemy in this application.
I DO slightly crop most of my hockey photos. I also make a slight curves adjustment to make the whites whiter.

If I try to crop a lot of the image or increase exposure in PP, the high ISO noise gets to be too much. I make sure my exposure is good - this is the most important thing.
You do pretty well yourself. What do you do for color balance?

Yes, I used my 70-200 for these portraits - f8.

[Maritimer1]

For colour balance, I often just set the white balance at auto (Canon 40D). Colours are usually quite correct. Last year I fine tuned the WB in ACR more often than I have been doing this year. Actual colours, themselves, I rarely touch. Levels is, hands down, my main tool I use in PS. In ACR, I usually up the clarity a bit, tweak the exposure if I underexposed, boost the contrast, check to see if I need fill light, check out curves to see if I need an adjustment and apply NR. As mentioned, in PS I apply a levels adjustment layer, crop and sharpen with USM before resizing for the net and USM again after. Since my photos tend to end up on Facebook, I stick my name in the corner for most of them.

You are so right about the zooming and noise reduction. What camera are you using? I might be shooting a minor hockey tournament this weekend. If I remember correctly, the rink is one of the worst I've ever been in for netting and lights. This one would be for a team I've not seen before, so it will be pay per photo. I'm trying to put together a site I can use here in Canada for that purpose. I'd like to go Smugmug or a competitor, but the shipping is just too pricey.

Nice to chat hockey!

[speedneeder]

Auto and white fluorescent color balance are usually the same for my results, though one end of the rink has a bright yellow wall that messes with things.
I just started a smugmug account, though I have yet to sell a photo through it!
If you are interested you can check it out at www.urbanshutterphoto.com

Any marketing tips would be much appreciated!
All of my hockey pics are taken with my Canon 60D.

[Antonio Correia]

The images on studio are fantastic Brian

[speedneeder]

Thank you Antonio

[Maritimer1]

You've got some wonderful photos there, Brian. The "boy in a box" portrait is great!

[speedneeder]

Thank you for your kind words Myra