Beginner Photographing Ice Hockey

Mich56

Mich56

Messages
971
Name
Michalene
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm going to an ice hockey game next weekend and would appreciate help with camera settings (no flash) - I've got a canon 80d. Not sure what lens to take - whether the 150-600 would be too long? Or if the 70-300 would be better? Obviously know I'm going to need to use a fast shutter speed. First time I've tried something like this so if anyone has done this before I'd appreciate any advice :)
 
Mich56 said:
Not sure what lens to take - whether the 150-600 would be too long? Or if the 70-300 would be better?
Click to expand...


The game – the way I know it — is crazy fast so your main concerns
should be two folds:
  1. following and
  2. zooming.
1, When I shoot hockey games, I have special arrangements and
position that permit me to shoot with my 200~400mm ƒ4 on gimbal.
The gimbal IS the better tool when it comes to following the action.

2, I would have liked to have a 100~400 IF but it's not made. You
should always start following zoomed out at any given point and
be very quick at zooming in — specially in the corners. Your longer
lens will do just fine though I don't think you will have too many
chances during the plays to go to 600mm but between the whistles
there will be many opportunities.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
The game – the way I know it — is crazy fast so your main concerns
should be two folds:
  1. following and
  2. zooming.
1, When I shoot hockey games, I have special arrangements and
position that permit me to shoot with my 200~400mm ƒ4 on gimbal.
The gimbal IS the better tool when it comes to following the action.

2, I would have liked to have a 100~400 IF but it's not made. You
should always start following zoomed out at any given point and
be very quick at zooming in — specially in the corners. Your longer
lens will do just fine though I don't think you will have too many
chances during the plays to go to 600mm but between the whistles
there will be many opportunities.
Click to expand...


thanks Kodiak - regarding seats, once you get your ticket you can sit anywhere - would I be better a bit back and up as opposed to near front ? Its not a huge rink with lots of tiers for sitting.
 
Mich56 said:
once you get your ticket you can sit anywhere
Click to expand...
For a first time, try a red line position — I use it often.
Mich56 said:
would I be better a bit back and up as opposed to near front ?
Click to expand...
The most adversary element, here, will possibly be
the edges of the glasses and nets around the rink.
See if you can get a height that would blend the top
edges with the other side of the rink.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
For a first time, try a red line position — I use it often.

The most adversary element, here, will possibly be
the edges of the glasses and nets around the rink.
See if you can get a height that would blend the top
edges with the other side of the rink.
Click to expand...


:ty:
 
Everyone's different but here's my take. Indoor hockey can be difficult to shoot. I did quite a lot of ice hockey photography a while back. I preferred being as low down and close to to the rink side as possible. Some rinks have holes in the plexiglass or at least the glass is clean, others you may need to try and shoot through the netting, unless they have a special spot for photography.

In my case the rink lighting was terrible so a 2.8 lens was vital (70-200 in my case), shutter speed as fast as possible to get a good exposure. Don't worry about the iso, set it up as high as you need - rather a well exposed grainy shot than an under exposed or out of focus one. Set the focus to tracking, keep both eyes open and try and predict the play.

Don't forget to get plenty of shots of the celebrations/(fighting!) and close-ups of the facial expressions - players and spectators included. You may want to add half to one stop exposure compensation to get the ice white. Position - I liked midway between center and an end (blue line) as it gave a good view of play at one end. Try and get opposite the player benches so you can get some shots of the players and coaches on the bench as well as perhaps the penalty boxes. Enjoy!
 
Last edited:
drounding said:
Everyone's different but here's my take. Indoor hockey can be difficult to shoot. I did quite a lot of ice hockey photography a while back. I preferred being as low down and close to to the rink side as possible. Some rinks have holes in the plexiglass or at least the glass is clean, others you may need to try and shoot through the netting, unless they have a special spot for photography.

In my case the rink lighting was terrible so a 2.8 lens was vital (70-200 in my case), shutter speed as fast as possible to get a good exposure. Don't worry about the iso, set it up as high as you need - rather a well exposed grainy shot than an under exposed or out of focus one. Set the focus to tracking, keep both eyes open and try and predict the play.

Don't forget to get plenty of shots of the celebrations/(fighting!) and close-ups of the facial expressions - players and spectators included. You may want to add half to one stop exposure compensation to get the ice white. Position - I liked midway between center and an end (blue line) as it gave a good view of play at one end. Try and get opposite the player benches so you can get some shots of the players and coaches on the bench as well as perhaps the penalty boxes. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

thanks @drounding Duncan Lots of good advice there. I'll see once I get to the rink regarding seating and whether there are any holes in the plexiglass and how clean it is. good thinking about being opposite the player benches. Will take a few shots before the game starts to try and get an idea of settings. Hopefully be a couple of good fights to focus on! ty!
 
Mich56 said:
It's at Dundee @KIPAX on Sunday (just going to watch taking camera) Thanks for the link to your shots!
Click to expand...

Haa.. Solway the furthurst north I ahve been for ice hockey :)
 
I've shot ice hockey at the Dundee Ice Arena a few times.

The best spot to shoot from tends to be the stands along either side of the rink. You can shoot over the glass from there and you certainly won't need more than a 300mm to do so. If you keep an eye out the rink photographer is likely to be shooting from up there for most of the match as well since he hates shooting through the awful safety glass they have.

If it's a Dundee Stars match that is on they will definitely turn on all three sets of lights which should help you out a fair bit for shutter speeds.
 
Covering Ice Hockey has changed since they started to introduce the 'safety plexi glass' to the rinks..
It was fun when they still had the ones you could shoot through (as long as you went and cleaned them well in advance to teh game).
Nowadays it is more shooting from high up - or through the holes in plexiglass.. if available.
Me, never got used to teh shooting from a higher vantage point :-(

From the higher view point, it's easier to see how players more and so to get a clear shot of them.
300mm is more than enough for most rinks in the UK, so you should be OK with that.

Great sport to cover and you should get some nice shots for sure!
 
Just a thought - I shot some Ice Hockey in Toronto when I was on holiday there. Thoroughly enjoyable btw. Shot through the plexi glass, which was dirty and full of scratches, and didn't think I'd get any decent shots but the DeHaze tool in LR really brought them to life! Definitely worth bearing in mind if you use LR?

Going to do my second Ice Hockey game this Saturday, looking forward to it. Good luck with yours (y)

Here's the set that I used the DeHaze tool on : https://www.flickr.com/photos/125661695@N08/albums/72157672442737143/with/30106339953/
 
Personally i wouldnt stick a big thick piece of plexi or anythign else between me and a subject.... shoot over the plexi with anyhting from a 135 upwards and your OK .. I use a 70-200 .. The best i ever used was a 300 prime but got rid when i bought thwe 400 which is too long for this sport IMHO ..
 
KIPAX said:
Personally i wouldnt stick a big thick piece of plexi or anythign else between me and a subject.... shoot over the plexi with anyhting from a 135 upwards and your OK .. I use a 70-200 .. The best i ever used was a 300 prime but got rid when i bought thwe 400 which is too long for this sport IMHO ..
Click to expand...

I've got the 300mm 2.8 which I'll take but unfortunately I don't think that the seating goes higher than the plexi glass where I'm going :(
 
wezza13 said:
Just a thought - I shot some Ice Hockey in Toronto when I was on holiday there. Thoroughly enjoyable btw. Shot through the plexi glass, which was dirty and full of scratches, and didn't think I'd get any decent shots but the DeHaze tool in LR really brought them to life! Definitely worth bearing in mind if you use LR?

Going to do my second Ice Hockey game this Saturday, looking forward to it. Good luck with yours (y)

Here's the set that I used the DeHaze tool on : https://www.flickr.com/photos/125661695@N08/albums/72157672442737143/with/30106339953/
Click to expand...


thanks @wezza13 - enjoy your game and we can compare! (if I get half decent shots that is!)
 
wezza13 said:
I've got the 300mm 2.8 which I'll take but unfortunately I don't think that the seating goes higher than the plexi glass where I'm going :(
Click to expand...

I'm hoping I'll get a seat above the plexi glass but that link will be handy if it doesn't work that way!
 
I guess the elite league is not as strict as the premier keg ice hockey league? Who would not allow any dslr photography unless you were accredited/official during games when I used to go watching Manchester phoenix
 
No Flash photography allowed! .... how many times can they say that in one match haha )
 
Had a great time at the hockey - I will say it was like trying to photograph a swarm of bees! Next time will be better. Photos are noisy. Really enjoyed the actual game tho - here are a couple of pics. Home team won - a bonus!

fight.jpg

hockey5.jpg

hockey6.jpg
 
Mich56 said:
Had a great time at the hockey - I will say it was like trying to photograph a swarm of bees! Next time will be better. Photos are noisy. Really enjoyed the actual game tho - here are a couple of pics. Home team won - a bonus!

View attachment 118798

View attachment 118799

View attachment 118800
Click to expand...

Well done for getting some shots :)

I spent the whole game aiming through a two-inch gap, as I tried the plexiglass too but that was a definite no-no!
 
thanks @wezza13 I really enjoyed it. Photography wise was like nothing I've done before an awful lot to think about at once!
 
wezza13 said:
Well done for getting some shots :)

I spent the whole game aiming through a two-inch gap, as I tried the plexiglass too but that was a definite no-no!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't give up on shooting through the plexiglass.You do need to find a clean spot and get your ens as close to the glass aspkossible to stop reflections
All the images on my Flickr are taken Through the Plexi,it definitely gives you a lower straight on perspective.Hope this helps !!

Link
https://flic.kr/p/23Azd5d
 
hanson16 said:
I wouldn't give up on shooting through the plexiglass.You do need to find a clean spot and get your ens as close to the glass aspkossible to stop reflections
All the images on my Flickr are taken Through the Plexi,it definitely gives you a lower straight on perspective.Hope this helps !!

Link
https://flic.kr/p/23Azd5d
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, they're pretty good :)

My set is here : https://klmphotography.photoshelter...ardiff-Fire/G00000YhHB.GjnB8/C0000bE8jiktUJV4

Spoke to the guy who shoots the Dynamos every week and he said that he cleans the plexi (both sides) before each game and he has some good quality shots (y)
 
Mich56 said:
Hi @Byker28i - the light was ok they had all the lights on. I used the 70/300 lens. Speed I used was 1250.
Click to expand...

Excellent. I shot at our local rink for a season for the ice hockey. I used to use my 70-200 f2.8 and the lighting was terrible. It was a juggle between ISO and shutter speed.
 
Byker28i said:
Excellent. I shot at our local rink for a season for the ice hockey. I used to use my 70-200 f2.8 and the lighting was terrible. It was a juggle between ISO and shutter speed.
Click to expand...

I put the ISO at auto and used to exp comp to get it lighter - I couldn't set the ISO manually where it didn't look too dark and I wanted the shutter speed high. So they were noisy but I reduced the noise a bit in LR.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top