Hockey and more hockey

[Maritimer1]

It's still hockey season in the Great White North. Just wanted to prove I hadn't dropped off the face of the Earth Since late October, I've been trying to squeeze the most I can out of my 40D with the 85mmf1.8 at the local hockey rink. Just sending a few examples. If anyone has any C&C to pass on, it's more than welcome.

Set up is usually between 1/400 and 1/500 shutter speed and between 800-1000 ISO. Anything higher than that does not look good at all. (A zoom of even 50% looks like tiny pieces of paper have been glued together to make the pictures. Nasty.) Aperture is 95% 1.8. Shooting through marked up plexi glass, so flash is useless. Leaving the camera set to auto WB seems to work best. Metering is usually spot.

LOTS of PP has to be done, from adjusting WB levels in ACR to cropping, adjusting levels and USM sharpening in Photoshop. It would be great to get some processing advice. I've tried getting as much right as possible in camera, but I can't get enough light in so have to tweak a lot later. Tried lowering the shutter speed but almost always ended up with blur as there is almost constant action. My copy of the 40D, as mentioned above, does not handle over 800 ISO all that well. I have downloaded a trial of Neat Image. It helps a bit, but I find it very time consuming when I've got so many shots to process, so I've only used it on less than a dozen photos. No knock against Neat Image. I just have an older, slower computer.


Enough yakking! Thanks for looking

Myra


IMG_8367 small for web by M.J. Hencher, on Flickr
Goalies are the easiest.


IMG_9074 by M.J. Hencher, on Flickr
Taken up in the stands and shot through the net.



IMG_7699 by M.J. Hencher, on Flickr

[tb72]

Hi Myra

Hockey is a sport that I would like to shoot, but in the west part of France we do not have hockey facilities.

In this serie my favorite is the first one. For the third one I think that there are too many players

Cheers

Thierry

[Donald]

Myra

I'd agree with Thierry's comments.

I think in the frost one the subject is good and large within the frame.. The second one is full of good action, but I think you're a bit too much above them. If you'd managed to be more at rink-side and at their level, I think it would have been more powerful.

[Maritimer1]

You're both right. The isolated subjects are much more interesting to look at. Unfortunately, the parents/players/coaches want to see the plays. If I can get the puck in the picture and some action, all the better. I'm not allowed to clone much out either, either The third one, Donald, is taken at rink-side at the other end of the rink. I think I am just getting so tired of shooting hockey, I'd shoot from the ceiling, if I could, just for a different angle!

Thanks!
Myra

PS... You'd laugh if you could see me walking around the rink trying to find a spot on the glass that is free enough from puck and finger marks to get in a shot. All sides, behind the goalies, you name it.

[wilgk]

A nice series Myra and good to hear you are still with us
for me the 3rd one is excellent, even though it's 'busy' in terms of players in the frame - it really does convey a sense of all the action going on - I will of course be eternally grateful that with Basketball there is no barrier...although I have had a player or 2 almost land on top of me as I perch under the ring

[djg05478]

I think they're great. The first one of the goalie is so crisp and vibrant. Hockey is hard to shoot (not that I've done it much) but you're definitely honing skills that will serve you well overall.

Our local recreation dept sponsored a "Pond Hockey" tournament last weekend. Wasn't played on a pond and the rules are different from regular hockey, very toned down:a tiny rink, three on three format, no body contact, no slap shots....but there was also nothing between the game and the spectators, except a 3 ft high snowbank. I was really looking forward to the challenge of shooting some action stuff, but was so preoccupied by the thought of a rogue puck to the head (or lense), I couldn't make much happen, but I got a couple of decent snaps.

[speedneeder]

Sounds like your rink has a little more light than mine
Interesting idea about the spot metering. I have recently started to shoot in manual during my sons's hockey. The amount of white changes so much depending on the particular shot and when my son plays the white team it is.... white! I can see how spot metering might help with this, though I usually use a single focus point off to one side or another. I take a few shots early and check out the histogram and pretty much stick with the same exposure during the entire game. Otherwise I end up with some under and over exposures to deal with. I suppose I could meter a shot off of my gray card to get it right before the game?

[Maritimer1]

Brian, I only shoot in manual, too, as that is the only thing that has worked for me and I have to use the 1.8 at 1.8 all the time. I tend to use the one point for focus (usually it's the middle, but sometimes the top or right point), focus on the player's face and try to keep the focus held until I push the shutter all the way. Easier said than done as you know.

Last night, at practice, I played around with different metering modes just to see if anything made a difference. It was really hard to tell, but I convinced myself that the spot metering was the best for keeping one player in sharpest focus.

Lots of fun trying to get a good shot, isn't it?

Myra

[speedneeder]

It is a good challenge!