Ice Hockey

[bexman]

Bit tricky because of the really poor light but tried to get a few Ice Hockey shots tonight. Had to pump the ISO up to 5000 (eek) and the shots had a fair bit of grain but those guys move so fast on the Ice. Hard work and not something I'd like to have to photograph regularly, or for a living for that matter!


IMG_4574 by Bexman, on Flickr
EXIF 1/1250 170mm f2.8 and ISO 4000


IMG_4723 by Bexman, on Flickr
EXIF 1/640 170mm f3.2 ISO 5000


IMG_4661 by Bexman, on Flickr
EXIF 1/640 200mm f3.5 ISO 5000


IMG_4686 by Bexman, on Flickr
EXIF 1/2000 180mm f3.5 ISO 5000

[hockeyboy150]

Re: Ice Hockey

The images arent showing but checked them on your flickr stream and they look good for the high ISO on a 7d. Where are you shooting from. Rink? you look to have a high POV.
I'm not sure whether my rink will allow me in with my camera (Hull Stingrays). I think they have a sign up saying No Photography.

[bexman]

Re: Ice Hockey

The images arent showing but checked them on your flickr stream and they look good for the high ISO on a 7d. Where are you shooting from. Rink? you look to have a high POV.
I'm not sure whether my rink will allow me in with my camera (Hull Stingrays). I think they have a sign up saying No Photography.

Thanks fella, yes very high up in the raised stands. Only other option was through the plexiglas but it's filthy so not ideal! Flickr is playing up at the moment so have to upload them again shortly.

The devils have always had a very camera friendly policy providing no flash is used, there was a guy there the other day sat right at the back with a 400mm 2.8! Bonkers. The official togs use 70-200's too but they are stood on raised steps hanging over the plexiglas almost for a perfect view point and maximum light.

[warrerj]

Re: Ice Hockey

They look good and at that size you can't see too much noise

Looking at some of your other pics on flikr I spotted a few locations i know (e.g. Bronwydd Park in Porth). I live in Nelson now but am from Tonypandy and worked in Porth for 10 years. I was just wondering if you were involved with a club or know any good clubs in the area?

[bexman]

Re: Ice Hockey

Hi Rob

Thanks, i've uploaded them to Flickr again now but looks like EOS forum is up to its site limit as I cant re-post them on here at present. Cheers for the comments though

The autumn shots were from a park near Lisvane in Cardiff, not Porth i'm afraid. I'm not in any clubs but would be definitely up to going to a club if you find out anything, keep me posted!

[tredders]

Re: Ice Hockey

Bit tricky because of the really poor light but tried to get a few Ice Hockey shots tonight. Had to pump the ISO up to 5000 (eek) and the shots had a fair bit of grain but those guys move so fast on the Ice. Hard work and not something I'd like to have to photograph regularly, or for a living for that matter!

Nice pics, and you took them of my team (I do the photos for the Blaze - www.marktredgold.com). I've taken pics at the Big Blue Tent on a couple of occasions and the light isn't great, so any non-blurred photos are always a result from there!

Generally you should find 1/400 is quick enough for Elite hockey, so see what you can reduce your ISO to in order to get that kind of shutter speed.

Tredders

[bexman]

Re: Ice Hockey

Nice pics, and you took them of my team (I do the photos for the Blaze - www.marktredgold.com). I've taken pics at the Big Blue Tent on a couple of occasions and the light isn't great, so any non-blurred photos are always a result from there!

Generally you should find 1/400 is quick enough for Elite hockey, so see what you can reduce your ISO to in order to get that kind of shutter speed.

Tredders

Thanks Mark, just had a look at your site! Very impressive, do you shoot above the glass? Out of curiosity what sort of kit do you use, the contrast and detail look really good.

[tredders]

Re: Ice Hockey

Thanks Mark, just had a look at your site! Very impressive, do you shoot above the glass? Out of curiosity what sort of kit do you use, the contrast and detail look really good.

Cheers Mike. The website pics are pretty much straight out of the camera, as I try to get captioned pics off to the press within an hour of the game finishing. So, crop & resize, and that's about it. Plus, I'm rubbish at Photoshop, too, so never really got into the whole post processing thing!

I actually stand inside the Blaze bench (between the home and away benches), so luckily get to shoot at ice level without any plexi in front of me. It's great for pics, but also great for catching the occasional stick or puck in the face too (my last Boxing Day present at the hockey was a stick in the face and several stitches done on the bench - caused by a Cardiff player, funnily enough!).

Most of the pics from this season are with a 1D mk III and my new 135 f/2. Higher angle shots are with a 300 f/2.8 from the media gallery upstairs. Prior to this season, it was pretty much all 70-200 f/2.8 but the light's not great at the Skydome, so I need all the help I can get from the quicker lenses. I recently managed to track down a mint condition 200 f/1.8, which is an amazing lens, but quite an awkward length for hockey. Plus, it's a big beast and it's not great to have a monopod and huge lens on the bench, being surrounded by players.

If you're ever up in Cov and fancy a go with any of the lenses, come and find me :)

Tredders

[bexman]

Re: Ice Hockey

Ouch a stick in the face sounds painful! I've been knocked off my stool once at a football match but that was more embarrassing as the 18,000 odd fans taunted me!

Thanks very much, I'd love to have a go on the 200 1.8! Would be perfect for footy with an extender, what did you pay for that if you dont mind me asking?

[paul linton]

Re: Ice Hockey

Hi Mike
Images look clean for such high iso settings.
Not sure how you went about your camera settings,I did some of the Hull stingrays last season and i shot in manual and to a spot meter reading from the players shirts and then set the shutter/ aperture accordingly always best to be a little over exposed i found, to get that ice really white.
Not the easiest sport to shoot as you say shooting through the perspex glass is not great due to all the scratches and dullness of the thing,I managed to shot from a raised position with the announcer/DJ/Mail reporter and ended up using my ef200mm for all the games.
May be doing some more this season its just finding the time ,but looking at Tredders web site Think I'm going to make time as they look really good.

Paul

[paul linton]

Re: Ice Hockey

The images arent showing but checked them on your flickr stream and they look good for the high ISO on a 7d. Where are you shooting from. Rink? you look to have a high POV.
I'm not sure whether my rink will allow me in with my camera (Hull Stingrays). I think they have a sign up saying No Photography.

Hi Hockeyboy
I know last season you could use your Camera at the Hull ice arena with out any problems, though the owner will tell you he owns the copyright and you can't sell or make profit from the images you take,but they seemed very relaxed about people taking photos so you should be OK But you could always ring them just to check

[tredders]

Re: Ice Hockey

Hi Hockeyboy
I know last season you could use your Camera at the Hull ice arena with out any problems, though the owner will tell you he owns the copyright and you can't sell or make profit from the images you take,but they seemed very relaxed about people taking photos so you should be OK But you could always ring them just to check

Paul's right - it'll be the same as at Coventry (seeing as we have the same owners). You can take pics for your own use, as long as you don't start selling them! Oh, and make sure your flash is always off :)

[bexman]

Re: Ice Hockey

Hi Mike
Images look clean for such high iso settings.
Not sure how you went about your camera settings,I did some of the Hull stingrays last season and i shot in manual and to a spot meter reading from the players shirts and then set the shutter/ aperture accordingly always best to be a little over exposed i found, to get that ice really white.
Not the easiest sport to shoot as you say shooting through the perspex glass is not great due to all the scratches and dullness of the thing,I managed to shot from a raised position with the announcer/DJ/Mail reporter and ended up using my ef200mm for all the games.
May be doing some more this season its just finding the time ,but looking at Tredders web site Think I'm going to make time as they look really good.

Paul

Hi Paul

This is exactly what I need to be doing (Re:metering) do you do that for the football you shoot too? Do you lock that reading in then for all shots on that occasion?

[paul linton]

Re: Ice Hockey

This is exactly what I need to be doing (Re:metering) do you do that for the football you shoot too? Do you lock that reading in then for all shots on that occasion?

I've only taken spot meter readings from ice hockey as it was the only way of getting the right exposure for the players, when left to the camera in AV mode the readings were mainly form the bright whiteness from the ice fooling the meter and making the players to dark Once you get the right exposure in manual you won't have to change your settings all night just fire away, your exposure will be OK because the light will not change its not darker in one area of the arena than another its all the same.

The Only thing i some times do in football is go from AV Mode to TV Mode, the weather for me is to changeable outdoors You can take a spot meter reading from a player and it does work to an extent but not in changeable lighting conditions.

Paul

[tredders]

Re: Ice Hockey

I shoot manual for hockey. Usually shoot wide open, and try to get 1/400 or 1/500 of a second, and set the ISO to give me that. Unfortunately, our rink has a couple of lights out at one end, so there's a stop difference depending on which part of the ice you shoot. I'll generally control this by keeping my eye on the exposure meter and increasing the shutter speed (at the bright end) or decreasing (at the dark end). Never lower that 1/400 though. As long as you over expose by a stop and a half, you should be ok.

For metering, I generally use centre weighted, although if you're photographing a game between a team in white and a team in black, whatever metering method you use will generally get confused!