Ice Hockey photography thread - 2011/2012 season - Post your shots here

And a few more


D7K_9204 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr


D7K_9205 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr


D7K_9162 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr


D7K_9130 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr


D7K_9127 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr


D7K_9139 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr

Great set steve the tigers did get a beating at the weekend from the Bracknell Bees, how's the lighting at telford rink our bees photographer was saying its poor, you didn't seem to have any problems with yours, i think he had wrong wb setting,
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Yes Kev the lighting isnt great at our rink, I think its less orange inside a Tango can so taking a custom WB reading is essential to get good quality images. (y)
 
Great set steve the tigers did get a beating at the weekend from the Bracknell Bees, how's the lighting at telford rink our bees photographer was saying its poor, you didn't seem to have any problems with yours, i think he had wrong wb setting,
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Yep, the light in Telford is dire. You need to get a good WB to start with or youve had it. Cant do much in PP if its not right. I do a little bit of PP for the shots, just lighten them up, reduce a bit of noise, sharpen and good to go. Trouble in Telford is the lights take a good five minutes to warm up after the national anthem, so get a wb before they are hot and youre already out for the game. :-(
 
Hello Steelerdean we are looking to hire a tog to shoot ice hockey in Sheffield each weeekend in June. If you are interested in learning more please call me on 07851 074 879. Thank you. Martyn
 
Some great shots on this thread ...where is the best location to shoot from where are you guys getting these images from ?? They are so clear you must be in the dug out ?
 
Why am I only just seeing this thread now, will have to get some shots up from the games ive attended.
 
As I said earlier in the year, I need to do some hockey again... :(
 
Hey Matt, I've had the nod from the wife to pick up a second hand D3. You bored of yours yet and ready to move it on???
 
hewhoknows said:
Good stuff mate, ive been super impressed with mine. The image quality really is superb and like you i cant wait to get it working with the ice hockey this year.

How have you found getting used to yours mate??
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I haven't really done much other than try it out round the house at the minute but from the time i've had so far, i'm really impressed! Bumped the ISO right up to 3200 the other day and took some shots in low light. Couldn't believe how little noise there was in it - and I won't need anything like that kind of ISO level at the Arena/iceSheffield (will be shooting at around 2000).

I'm shooting some U12 hockey this weekend for Martyn (Topgrin). I might have to talk nicely to him to see if he'll let me post a couple of watermarked photo's up here for you to have a look at. :)
 
steelerdean said:
I haven't really done much other than try it out round the house at the minute but from the time i've had so far, i'm really impressed! Bumped the ISO right up to 3200 the other day and took some shots in low light. Couldn't believe how little noise there was in it - and I won't need anything like that kind of ISO level at the Arena/iceSheffield (will be shooting at around 2000).

I'm shooting some U12 hockey this weekend for Martyn (Topgrin). I might have to talk nicely to him to see if he'll let me post a couple of watermarked photo's up here for you to have a look at. :)
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How did you get on shooting the U12s hockey with the D3 mate?
 
hewhoknows said:
How did you get on shooting the U12s hockey with the D3 mate?
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Awesome mate, just awesome. Crisp, clear pictures. They had the minimum lighting on a iceSheffield so had to shoot at ISO 3200. The noise levels in the pictures were excellent.

Decided to make the jump to the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII but didn't manage to pick it up until after the tournament. Can't wait to see how that performs on the D3!
 
steelerdean said:
Awesome mate, just awesome. Crisp, clear pictures. They had the minimum lighting on a iceSheffield so had to shoot at ISO 3200. The noise levels in the pictures were excellent.

Decided to make the jump to the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII but didn't manage to pick it up until after the tournament. Can't wait to see how that performs on the D3!
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Havent used mine for any hockey yet, have you got any sample shots up on the web yet?
 
hewhoknows said:
Havent used mine for any hockey yet, have you got any sample shots up on the web yet?
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Afraid not mate, I don't think i'll be able to either due to some child protection issues with posting the shots up. I know Martyn (the owner of the event photography company) isn't able to so almost certain that I won't.
 
Mind if I butt in with a quick question?

I'm going to be shooting an ice-skating gala. I'm prepared for poor light (D3 and fast-glass), and will use custom white balance. Just wondering the minimum shutter speed I should go for - I'm guessing 1/250th?

They are opening one of the rink doors for me so I'll have an unobstructed view, and I'm planning to stick to f/2.8 to blur out the horrible ad placards.

Anything else I need to know about ice-rinks?
 
Never shot ice skating before however when I'm shooting hockey I aim for a shutter speed of no slower than 1/400th. I'd recommend you do the same then if you're getting excellent results, try dropping back. You'll know as well as I do how good the D3 is at high ISO so don't be afraid to bump it up to increase that shutter speed.

Not much more to add except to reiterate the custom white balance - an absolute must in most ice rinks so don't forget to take a good measure before you start shooting.
 
As mentioned above, needs to be 1/400th or above and get that white balance setup!!. I use a D7000 and the iso up at 2500 without any issues - see photo posts above; so the D3 should be able to cope with these settings and beyond. At least with figure skaters, and an open door, you wont have to worry about getting hit with a puck or a player at full speed :)
 
Thanks, all, for the advice. The shoot went really well.

Light levels were better than I expected, so in the end I opted for f/4 at 1/400th and was generally getting around ISO2000, which is child's play to a D3. I shot everything on the 70-200, initially from rink-side but then opted for the front of the stadium seating as that helped eliminate the scrappy background (the ice forming the background for the majority of shots.

One of the parents has given permission for me to post some samples, so I'll do that later.
 
benl said:
Thanks, all, for the advice. The shoot went really well.

Light levels were better than I expected, so in the end I opted for f/4 at 1/400th and was generally getting around ISO2000, which is child's play to a D3. I shot everything on the 70-200, initially from rink-side but then opted for the front of the stadium seating as that helped eliminate the scrappy background (the ice forming the background for the majority of shots.

One of the parents has given permission for me to post some samples, so I'll do that later.
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That's some pretty impressive settings for an ice rink. The only time i'm able to shoot at those kind of levels is with the superb TV lighting on at iceSheffield. Which rink were you shooting at??

Looking forward to seeing some images - hope you remembered the white balance!
 
Planet Ice at Milton Keynes (happy to say now that it's done). They switched on all the lighting for me - they don't usually use it all.

I did indeed remember white balance - used the ice to set it and it was perfect.

I also reckon I could probably have locked in a fixed exposure instead of using auto-ISO - any of you do that?
 
I shoot in aperture priority mode with an ISO level set to ensure I never drop below 1/400th.

I've not actually shot any of my 'normal' hockey since picking up the D3 but one of the other photographers who shoots at the Arena also has a D3, and shoots at ISO2000. That being said, he prefers to shoot manual with the ISO and aperture set, then uses his dial to increase/reduce the shutter as needed.
 
I only have permission from one of the parents to post samples, so here are a few.

ice1.jpg


ice2.jpg


ice3.jpg


ice4.jpg


From a technical perspective, the vast majority were keepers (just missed focus on a few). Artistically, the main issue was skaters going around the outside of the rink, so not enough separation between them and the horrible ads even at f/4. This was solved by going up to the balcony level so that's what I'll do in future. (Subject to enough sales from this event, I've agreed to do another in October.)
 
Some nice bright pictures there. Looks like you got the white balance measure spot on.

Did dropping the aperture to f/2.8 not help with the ads? Mind you, I suppose if they were pretty close to them and you were shooting from the other side there'd be no aperture size to account for them! Not a problem in hockey as the sponsors want to see their ads on pictures - different for what you've been shooting though.
 
benl said:
Yeah, with a D3 I think nothing about shooting at ISO3200 or even 6400 when needed. And yes, quite pleased there will be no pucks involved. :)
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I shot a martial arts fight night at the weekend rooted at ISO6400, the D3 coped well. Suitably impressed.

Cant wait to test it out at the hockey in a few months (y)
 
steelerdean said:
Some nice bright pictures there. Looks like you got the white balance measure spot on.
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Thanks. Yes, taking a WB reading from the ice seemed to work perfectly.

Did dropping the aperture to f/2.8 not help with the ads? Mind you, I suppose if they were pretty close to them and you were shooting from the other side there'd be no aperture size to account for them!
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Yes, that was the thing - when they were skating right at the edge on the far side, even at f/2.8 the ads were in focus too. But that was just a case of accepting that you weren't going to get artistic shots at certain places on the ice, and hoping they did some spins and jumps in mid-ice.
 
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