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

steelerdean, have you ever shot roller hockey? theres a rink local to you on the chesterton trading estate up near asda behind the fire station. I imagine theres games every weekend I play out of there once a month brilliant sport, not as fast as ice and its non checking so no big hits but youll see players with stick handling alot different to ice.

Tampa steve, did you see the all star game last season when ovechkin was firing pucks though the holes in the plexi glass before the cameras were in place haha. got a couple through aswell wouldnt want to be on the end of his shots.

Rob
 
I helped out photographing the Sheffield Steeldogs for part of last season, know nothing about the Sport but got to enjoy it.

Too far to travel this season but popped over to Peterborough where they played last week.

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Really happy with the IQ of my shots now, its took a few weeks to get used to the D7000 and then the addition of the Nikon 70-200 but feel like im getting settled with what works in our rink. Just been processing a few more and finding that im doing less and less processing and getting things better in camera which is very pleasing.

This one took about a minute to process, slight levels adjustment and a quick pass through denoise and sharpen filters.


D7K_8841 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr

Got myself an expodisc to try tonight, had bought a cheap version which was pap so a friend lent me his, should improve my shots even more :D
 
Wookee said:
I play rec at Ally Pally and regularly shoot games there when I'm not playing in them using a D7000 Nikon 70-200 VR and/or an 85 1.8 combination. Since a refurb the lighting is excellent....when they turn them all on. Below are some from Sunday when they would only turn on half the lights:(. ISO 5600 in a couple of them!
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hewhoknows said:
Really happy with the IQ of my shots now, its took a few weeks to get used to the D7000 and then the addition of the Nikon 70-200 but feel like im getting settled with what works in our rink. Just been processing a few more and finding that im doing less and less processing and getting things better in camera which is very pleasing.

This one took about a minute to process, slight levels adjustment and a quick pass through denoise and sharpen filters.


D7K_8841 by Matt_Giles, on Flickr
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Wow Luke ISO 5600... I went above ISO1600 once and the image resembled the great smog of 1953 :LOL:. I must say I am impressed by the IQ of the D7000 , very nice indeed.
 
robhullfury said:
steelerdean, have you ever shot roller hockey? theres a rink local to you on the chesterton trading estate up near asda behind the fire station. I imagine theres games every weekend I play out of there once a month brilliant sport, not as fast as ice and its non checking so no big hits but youll see players with stick handling alot different to ice.
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I was actually down there a few weeks ago shooting some Dek hockey for the Sheffield Storm DHC. Lighting is a nightmare !!!
 
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Ok here's my set for the week Fife Flyers v Belfast Giants. Back to losing ways sadly, but the result in no way refelcts the game, the guys simply ran out of steam after the second.

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Thought I'd add a few on here - I do the pics for the Blaze in Coventry, and it's nice seeing so many familiar players in other people's shots! First few from last night's game v Cardiff, which we lost 5-4 (after going 4-0 down!). Next to no post processing done on these, as they have to be with the newspapers etc within an hour of the end of the game, so it's a quick crop, resize, sharpen & caption and that's about it.

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Cheers

Tredders
 
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Nice set of images Mark, welcome to the forum and hope you become a regular to this thread. Can you give us a bit of info on what you shoot as we all like to swap advice, try new things etc.
 
hewhoknows said:
Nice set of images Mark, welcome to the forum and hope you become a regular to this thread. Can you give us a bit of info on what you shoot as we all like to swap advice, try new things etc.
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Sure - thanks for the welcome.

I just (over the last couple of weeks) got a Canon 1d mk IV, to replace the 1d mk III I used for the last year. Although my mk III had the infamous submirror fix done by Canon, it was still quite hit and miss, and I never really trusted it. The mk IV is great though, much better at higher ISO (I think all of the pics I posted were taken at 2500 with no noise reduction applied), and it seems to hold autofocus a lot better too.

Regarding settings, I usually shoot manual, ISO 2500, wide open with whichever lens I'm using, and aim for a minimum shutter speed of 1/400. They've just replaced a lot of the bulbs at the Skydome, so I've been getting some ridiculous shutter speeds during the last couple of games (up to 1/2000 with the 135 f/2!).

As I said when posted the pics, I don't really get any time to do post processing, so the photos are pretty much straight out of the camera, apart from a quick crop, resize & sharpen. I've actually got it down to less than 30 seconds per photo these days to prepare them for the media.

If anyone fancies shooting at the Skydome, let me know, and I'll get you on the media gallery.

Tredders
 
Just clicked on your links, Matt - I reckon I've seen you play a couple of times, too!
 
tredders said:
Just clicked on your links, Matt - I reckon I've seen you play a couple of times, too!
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Thanks for sharing Mark, really good quality images for relatively no PP work too. Im definately envious of the lighting at Coventry, loos like its nice and bright which is stark contrast to Telford rink. However next year (during the out season) we are getting a £4mill refurb so fingers crossed they sort the horrible orange lighting out.

Seen me play eh, good stuff. Was that in my Telford Tigers days as I played for Chelmsford and Solihull too?? My playing days are over now though thanks to a dodgy knee and several ,lots of surgery. Thought it was best to hang up the skates while i still have my own knee joint lol!!

Hey I would love to get over to Coventry to shoot so if you ever get the chance to bring in a guest to drop me a line ;) (y)
 
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Tampa Steve said:
Tredders thats a cracking set of images, very well captured and that light :) !!, far cry for the dim orange lights at Telford, have to ramp the D7000 upto iso2000 to get any decent speed/ap settings and kill off a lot of noise after.
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Cheers Steve. I distinctly remember the orange cast on the lights at Telford - I don't envy you shooting there! The only issue we have at the Skydome is that there's a bulb or two out at the away end, so it's about one stop darker at one end of the ice than the other. You ever shot at Nottingham? Now that place has nice light :)

I'm lucky in that I shoot from the player bench, so don't have plexi to deal with, and that also makes a hell of a difference.

If you're ever in Cov, let me know. Oh, and say hello to Tommy Watkins from me. Top bloke.

Tredders
 
Firstly, welcome Mark it's nice to see a growing representation of clubs in the thread. Nice bright images you have there, look forward to a trip to the well lit Skydome some time this season (hopefully), it will make a change from Fife's Victorian gas lamps :LOL:
 
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Buck the Fifer said:
Firstly, welcome Mark it's nice to see a growing representation of clubs in the thread. Nice bright images you have there, look forward to a trip to the well lit Skydome some time this season (hopefully), it will make a change from Fife's Victorian gas lamps :LOL:
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Thanks. I was actually up in Fife for the Blaze game earlier this season - was that you on the ice doing the presentation pics? I reckon it'd been about 15 years since I'd seen a game up there, and it was nice to be back in the old rink. I'd forgotten how big the ice pad is - much bigger than in Cov. Hope the results pickup for you (and the crowds continue to come). Good to see Stewy up there - I had a chat with him after the game and he seems to be enjoying himself up there.
 
tredders said:
Thanks. I was actually up in Fife for the Blaze game earlier this season - was that you on the ice doing the presentation pics? I reckon it'd been about 15 years since I'd seen a game up there, and it was nice to be back in the old rink. I'd forgotten how big the ice pad is - much bigger than in Cov. Hope the results pickup for you (and the crowds continue to come). Good to see Stewy up there - I had a chat with him after the game and he seems to be enjoying himself up there.
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Removed - double post.
 
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tredders said:
Thanks. I was actually up in Fife for the Blaze game earlier this season - was that you on the ice doing the presentation pics? I reckon it'd been about 15 years since I'd seen a game up there, and it was nice to be back in the old rink. I'd forgotten how big the ice pad is - much bigger than in Cov. Hope the results pickup for you (and the crowds continue to come). Good to see Stewy up there - I had a chat with him after the game and he seems to be enjoying himself up there.
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That was Steve Gunn, Flyers official photographer. Stewy is a top bloke, as is our netminder, he's asked for a few photo's to send back to his mum...nice :)
 
Rob;

Tampa steve, did you see the all star game last season when ovechkin was firing pucks though the holes in the plexi glass before the cameras were in place haha. got a couple through aswell wouldnt want to be on the end of his shots.
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I know, was quite disconcerting listening to the regular togs in the media suite before the game began, about getting their lenses smashed not by pucks but by players. Apperantly for 'a bit of fun' players look out for the shooting holes been used by the photographers and see how many times they can 'stick' the end of the lens. The one guy had gone through two canon L series 24-70mm f2.8's - ouch. Also was told not to keep the camera a few cm from the face,found out why during the game - the whole side - bottom and plexi moves when players get checked and it just vibrates round the rink, got a small smack in the face from the camera :LOL:
 
tredders said:
Cheers Steve. I distinctly remember the orange cast on the lights at Telford - I don't envy you shooting there! The only issue we have at the Skydome is that there's a bulb or two out at the away end, so it's about one stop darker at one end of the ice than the other. You ever shot at Nottingham? Now that place has nice light :)

I'm lucky in that I shoot from the player bench, so don't have plexi to deal with, and that also makes a hell of a difference.

If you're ever in Cov, let me know. Oh, and say hello to Tommy Watkins from me. Top bloke.

Tredders
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Will do, luckily registered as an off ice official so always get to go 'bench side' on the ground or up on the balcony. Thanks for the invite, may just do that some day, yeah orange light and 1 stop difference between ends and different parts of the ice, you can see diferenet shade of bulbs in the housings :LOL: :LOL:
 
After some very kind advice from one of the other photographers on Sunday, I shot the game against the Panthers in manual mode for the first time since i've started. I was extremely happy with the results. Many of my images were a lot sharper than i've had previously. I even got away with the odd shot through the terrible plexi at the Arena. Here's some of them - the first one was through the plexi:-


DSC_0100 by jumper80, on Flickr


DSC_0240 by jumper80, on Flickr


DSC_0277 by jumper80, on Flickr


DSC_0286 by jumper80, on Flickr


DSC_0293 by jumper80, on Flickr


DSC_0317 by jumper80, on Flickr
 
tredders said:
Thought I'd add a few on here - I do the pics for the Blaze in Coventry, and it's nice seeing so many familiar players in other people's shots! First few from last night's game v Cardiff, which we lost 5-4 (after going 4-0 down!). Next to no post processing done on these, as they have to be with the newspapers etc within an hour of the end of the game, so it's a quick crop, resize, sharpen & caption and that's about it.
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Welcome to the forum Mark. Some cracking shots there. Beautifully sharp and bright.

When i've a little more experience under my belt i'm hoping to try to get to some other rinks so might take you up on your offer to visit at some point if you don't mind?
 
hewhoknows said:
Nice set Dean, pin sharpe and a good exposure. Its amazing what a few tweaks to the settings can produce isnt it.
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Absolutely. Was so grateful to the other photographer for spending 15 minutes with me before the game. Even set a manual white balance too which obviously went towards the quality of the images. Very happy and hoping as my general shooting standard improves, the new settings will help show that.
 
steelerdean said:
Welcome to the forum Mark. Some cracking shots there. Beautifully sharp and bright.

When i've a little more experience under my belt i'm hoping to try to get to some other rinks so might take you up on your offer to visit at some point if you don't mind?
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Thanks for the comments. Sure - just let me know when you fancy coming along and we'll meet up. If you shoot Canon, you can have a try with some of my lenses. Edit: Ah, just noticed you shoot Nikon, so ignore the last bit!
 
tredders said:
Thanks for the comments. Sure - just let me know when you fancy coming along and we'll meet up. If you shoot Canon, you can have a try with some of my lenses. Edit: Ah, just noticed you shoot Nikon, so ignore the last bit!
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'twas very kind of you to offer though - very much appreciated. (y)
 
Buck the Fifer said:
Well done Dean. I tried shooting manual once and they turned out to be right duff shots i.e. way too dark and fuzzy. Looks like you had a very good teacher.
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Thanks Ian. I'm lucky enough to have a couple of teachers on game night. One is the official club photographer and the other does the programme as well as getting to as many nights as he can to shoot.
 
steelerdean said:
Thanks Ian. I'm lucky enough to have a couple of teachers on game night. One is the official club photographer and the other does the programme as well as getting to as many nights as he can to shoot.
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Is Rik showing you the ropes, Dean?
 
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