Hockey Shots

glassbuilt · Feb 8, 2015

These are just a few shots taken at the high school game at my local rink. I thought they turned out pretty good but any critique is welcome. Most of the shots were at about 1600 ISO on a 50D with f3.2 and shutter ranging from 1/320 to 1/400. I just chose these because I thought they looked the best but I would not count myself as one who knows too much about what is a great shot in terms of technicalities. Please check out the rest of my photos if you guys could Flickr tylrdoan38 s Photostream

tirediron · Feb 8, 2015

Not bad; a little dark, and a couple need leveling, but overall some nice timing!

Tabe · Feb 9, 2015

What tirediron said. That last shot, once touched up a bit, will be terrific. Love the composition on it.

#23 Dekeyser in the one photo - any relation to Danny from the Detroit Red Wings?

glassbuilt · Feb 9, 2015

Tabe said:
What tirediron said. That last shot, once touched up a bit, will be terrific. Love the composition on it.

#23 Dekeyser in the one photo - any relation to Danny from the Detroit Red Wings?

hahahah no I wish though.
So I should level it out and any other touch ups possibly? Im thinking its pretty bright but I could be wrong

Tabe · Feb 9, 2015

Yeah, I'd level it and maybe pop the saturation - if you can keep the whites from being too bright - a bit. Maybe a touch of sharpening, too? I dunno. That's one I'd have to just play with in Photoshop to see what I end up with, LOL.

Big Mike · Feb 10, 2015

Not bad.

I can see a few areas for improvement though.
For example, the backgrounds are pretty distracting in several shots. The one where we can see people cheering is the exception, but in the others, seeing the boards/glass and whatever is behind the glass, takes away from the main subjects. A possible way to avoid that would be to shoot with a shallower DOF (shoot when they are coser to you, rather than across the ice), or you could get higher and shoot down so that the ice is mainly the background.

I do agree that they could be a touch brighter. They are already brighter than any camera would shoot them in full auto mode, so you're on the right track, but when I checked the histograms, there is room on the right side, and when you have that much 'white' in the photos, the histogram should probably be very close to the right side.

vintagesnaps · Feb 10, 2015

You seem to be seeing some good moments to photograph. I agree you might need to do some adjusting and cropping/straightening.

In general it looks like you seem to be getting shots that aren't as straight when you might be firing off a lot of shots at once. If you keep practicing you might get better at slowing down a little and being aware of your framing - it helps to anticipate the play. I try to get set and ready for the action that will most likely come next.

I usually go early especially at a rink I haven't been to before, check out where might be some good vantage points and what the background will look like. These backgrounds aren't the worst I've ever seen! the Ducks Ice looks better than some places I've been, but think about your framing, in some if it's a little lower you might be able to minimize the background in your shots. But it's going to be there, the posts and railings and spectators etc. especially when play is closer to the boards, and I think you have to take that into consideration when you're setting up and framing.

I sometimes use the posts to check that I'm framing straight, usually the ones closer to center ice. For example the second one is just slightly off, but the fourth one is actually straight I think, would be better with less background showing to the left of the players, the angle/perspective makes it seem crooked. The second to last I think is straight but you've got the curve of the ice and it's framed tight enough that the players are crammed into the upper left and helmets are cut off, so it makes it seem to be on a lean.

You seem to be on the right track, keep practicing and maybe experiment some with your settings and adjustments. I've been in dark arenas where I had to use a slower shutter speed than ideal, it's something of a trade off between shutter speed and ISO etc. to figure out what works best.

TuxBrothers · Feb 13, 2015

Very cool hockey pics!

Boxhawk · Mar 2, 2015

Did you shoot that last one from the bench? The glass looks really clean in that rink though so maybe it was through there. You are not going to be able to do anything about the background from that distance, goalie is just too close to the glass. I bet the other end of the rink doesn't have that really dark entranceway, maybe try that end. I am very surprised at how sharp the shots are at that low shutter speed. A bit of blur in the puck for some but pretty good.

Remember, anyone can take sports shots, but taking them through half an inch of dirty plastic is true masochism!

imagemaker46 · Mar 3, 2015

Nice shots, I agree with all the comments that have been made about the changes to make them better. Doesn't matter how dirty the glass is, you can always find little holes to shoot through.

joeymas · Mar 11, 2015

I just shot Ice hockey and got my ass handed to me! Great shots man!!! lol

glassbuilt · Mar 14, 2015

Boxhawk said:
Did you shoot that last one from the bench? The glass looks really clean in that rink though so maybe it was through there. You are not going to be able to do anything about the background from that distance, goalie is just too close to the glass. I bet the other end of the rink doesn't have that really dark entranceway, maybe try that end. I am very surprised at how sharp the shots are at that low shutter speed. A bit of blur in the puck for some but pretty good.

Remember, anyone can take sports shots, but taking them through half an inch of dirty plastic is true masochism!

These were actually taken all through glass, I was just able to find a clean spot and work the angles from there. Yea I'm not sure, with my 50D anything over the ISO I was at was a little grainy for my liking but maybe I'll try them next time more.

glassbuilt · Mar 14, 2015

joeymas said:
I just shot Ice hockey and got my ass handed to me! Great shots man!!! lol

hahahah thank you!!! Just trying to have some fun and take shots at the same time

joeymas · Mar 16, 2015

Big Mike said:
Not bad.

I can see a few areas for improvement though.
For example, the backgrounds are pretty distracting in several shots. The one where we can see people cheering is the exception, but in the others, seeing the boards/glass and whatever is behind the glass, takes away from the main subjects. A possible way to avoid that would be to shoot with a shallower DOF (shoot when they are coser to you, rather than across the ice), or you could get higher and shoot down so that the ice is mainly the background.

I do agree that they could be a touch brighter. They are already brighter than any camera would shoot them in full auto mode, so you're on the right track, but when I checked the histograms, there is room on the right side, and when you have that much 'white' in the photos, the histogram should probably be very close to the right side.

Just to point out with a smile... Saying that now and trying to think of all that in the chaos of a hockey game are two different things. Things are moving fast and you are locked into maybe a 4 foot path around the ring looking for clean glass to shoot through.

Now true, If you can set op with the players and stage a shot then awesome, but.... Hockey just does not work that way.

Again, I related your post to my own disaster... lol I left with an entire list of things I could have done differently.

Big Mike · Mar 17, 2015

joeymas said:
Big Mike said:

Not bad.

I can see a few areas for improvement though.
For example, the backgrounds are pretty distracting in several shots. The one where we can see people cheering is the exception, but in the others, seeing the boards/glass and whatever is behind the glass, takes away from the main subjects. A possible way to avoid that would be to shoot with a shallower DOF (shoot when they are coser to you, rather than across the ice), or you could get higher and shoot down so that the ice is mainly the background.

I do agree that they could be a touch brighter. They are already brighter than any camera would shoot them in full auto mode, so you're on the right track, but when I checked the histograms, there is room on the right side, and when you have that much 'white' in the photos, the histogram should probably be very close to the right side.

Click to expand...

Just to point out with a smile... Saying that now and trying to think of all that in the chaos of a hockey game are two different things. Things are moving fast and you are locked into maybe a 4 foot path around the ring looking for clean glass to shoot through.

Now true, If you can set op with the players and stage a shot then awesome, but.... Hockey just does not work that way.

Again, I related your post to my own disaster... lol I left with an entire list of things I could have done differently.

This was my son's first year playing hockey. As my volunteer requirement for the association, I photographed every game in my son's division, during a 4-day tournament around Christmas time.
I agree, it's not a easy as it looks on TV.

That's one of the things I like about photography....it's not always easy. If it were easy, everyone would be churning out great shots all the time...and being 'good' at it wouldn't be as much fun.

And sure, it's tough to remember all the stuff that you've learned and are trying to apply. That's why we say that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master anything. You keep practising until these things become second nature and don't require you to actively think of them.

Keep at it, it gets easier, I promise.