Almost had it C & C

[brian87gt]

One of the pics from my sons hockey game. Frame rate was 1/250, f5.3, 145mm focal length, and ISO at 800.

 

[dhilberg]

A little underexposed, and could use a higher shutter speed to completely stop the action. Focus also looks a tad off. Cool action shot though!

 

[brian87gt]

A little underexposed, and could use a higher shutter speed to completely stop the action. Focus also looks a tad off. Cool action shot though!

Could you please explain what you mean by "underexposed" ? thanks

 

[Jaszek]

underexposed=too dark

 

[TheSon]

I agree with everyone.

Too dark, oof or blurry. You need faster shutter, wider aperature, and lighter exposure.

Switch the camera to Manual before the action shot. Make sure it is at the correct combo of shutter and (wide open) aperature, to get the correct exposure, with some test shots, and then take pictures with only adjusting the shutter up or down a notch.

Do not rely on the auto setting to take correct exposures, especially in an ice skating rink.

 

[linpelk]

Nice shot. You captured a great moment even if it is a little off, who cares. Your son will love this picture for a long, long time (unless, of course, your son is the unfortunate goalie)

 

[bigtwinky]

Nice shot. You captured a great moment even if it is a little off, who cares. Your son will love this picture for a long, long time (unless, of course, your son is the unfortunate goalie)

I would think the person posting on a photography website that gives critiques and comments on pictures and how to improve them would care about the shot being underexposed, out of focus and a bit blurry.

I think the composition is good though, so yes, the moment is very well captures. The eye for the shot is there, just need work on the technicalities.

Ice rinks can be horrible to take pictures in. The ice is really bright, and thus your camera will try and darken it down which will in turn darken everything down. To get a better exposure, check what kind of metering you are doing in your camera. If you are doing spot metering, you would of probably been pointing at the ice for the meter reading or something light coloured.

I would also go with a higher shutter speed to freeze the action more. However, going with a higher shutter speed means that you need a wider aperture or a higher ISO (or both). You are probably shooting at near the max aperture for your lens (I’m just assuming the max is 5.6 at a max length of 200) so you can’t go wider. You’d have to up the ISO to 1600 to make the shutter speed somewhat faster.

As for the focus, check how your focusing is set. Some cameras have servo / tracking focusing that follows the moving target.

 

[gsgary]

You should have been at ISO1600 or higher and bigger aperture

 

[linpelk]

I would think the person posting on a photography website that gives critiques and comments on pictures and how to improve them would care about the shot being underexposed, out of focus and a bit blurry.

You're right. I didn't mean the picture was perfect. I just meant that he should be glad that he caught the "big moment" at all. So many times in a fast action sport like hockey we miss these big shots all together so I just wanted to encourage him to not worry too much about the critiques and be glad he got the shot at all. All of your input will hopefully prepare him for the next big moment. Thanks for taking the time to write in detail ways to help improve pictures. It really is what helps us ALL get better pictures next time. Since I'm still learning, I think my best strength is to tell people when I "felt" some emotion when seeing their images. This particular one made me smile.

 

[stsinner]

The same-underexposed, and your shutter speed/aperture weren't appropriate to capture the moment crisply.

Is this a crop, or were you using a zoom lens? You were at 145mm, so I'm assuming it was what, a 55-200 lens? If it was a zoom lens, very few zooms are going to be good indoors in this situation unless you spend some serious coin, because they are too slow and your flash will be ineffective at that range. You need a very fast zoom (f/2.8) for this type of shot (and you can plan to spend around $1200 for it) if you want to do more than simply capture the moment, which you have done here.

However, if the shot looks good to you and you are happy with it, that's all that matters, but if you post it here for critique, it will pretty much always get the same critique-underexposed and motion blur.

Also, you shot in JPEG-try shooting in RAW format so that you can adjust your exposure if you don't get it right..

Just my $0.02..

 

[brian87gt]

Thanks for all the comments, I was in apperture mode. next time I'll take them in manual.

 

[HoosierJoe]

I don't know what equipment you are using. But you can try auto exposure bracketing for a shot like this.

When shooting in snow (I assume ice would be the same) I usually do an exposure compensation of +1, take a sample shot, then adjust the exposure comp up or down from there.

 

[gsgary]

I don't know what equipment you are using. But you can try auto exposure bracketing for a shot like this.

When shooting in snow (I assume ice would be the same) I usually do an exposure compensation of +1, take a sample shot, then adjust the exposure comp up or down from there.

You are kidding arn't you, by the time he takes a second shot they will be gone

 

[stsinner]

You are kidding arn't you, by the time he takes a second shot they will be gone

He could bracket on the goalie while the puck is down-rink.. Then when it gets near the goal, he's be exposing properly..

 

[gsgary]

He could bracket on the goalie while the puck is down-rink.. Then when it gets near the goal, he's be exposing properly..

By the time he has done that he has probably missed some good play
Why not just expose it properly, when i'm shooting my fingers are tweeking the dials non stop to get it right