How to do hockey?

[IDLaxStar]

How do you photograph hockey? Where do you stand to take the shots? Will the glass really hurt your iq? Should you set custom wb? If you guys have any tips or anything at all please let me know? I am going to photograph my colleges hockey games this week. I have never done it and could use some tips. Thanks guys

 

[Big Mike]

Don't try to shoot through the glass. All the pro arenas (but none of the community sized rinks) that I've seen, have photographer holes in the corners. That way, they can shoot from up close but not have to shoot through the glass.

Other common places might be from the bench area or high enough in the stands to see over the glass (same place the TV cameras would be).
So in other words, it really depends on the layout of the rink/arena.

Make sure that you compensate your exposure (from the camera's meter) for all the white ice & boards etc. Otherwise you're likely to end up with underexposed photos. The lighting will hopefully be consistent around the rink, but again, that depends on the venue.

And of course, make sure to use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action.

 

[IDLaxStar]

My college teams plays at the arena that our semi pro team plays out. Its a nice stadium. I will just have to try to find a nice spot to shoot. Thanks for the tips too.

 

[Kenny32]

You'd be surprised what you can get through the glass...As long as it's not too marked up, you can still get good results. Here are a few...

I tend to stay along the red line...Also, depending on the arena, I might take my 300mm into the stands and shoot over the glass, but sometimes I'm too up close to do that. Do you lose something shooting through the glass? Most definitely. But, if it's your only option, it's your only option. And the fact that I use most of my stuff for newspaper, I'm usually pretty well off.

As for settings, whenever I walk into an arena, I set my camera at ISO 3200, and 1/500th and see where I'm at (aperture is at F/2.8, of course)...I adjust from there, and eventually find settings that I'm comfortable with.

 

[IDLaxStar]

Alright thanks for the help. I will experiment when I go. I will try some through the glass and some over the top and see what happens.

 

[Big Mike]

Yes...now that I think about it, shooting through the glass may not always be a problem, especially if the action is farther away from the boards.

 

[IDLaxStar]

Alright I will give it a shot.

 

[CNCO]

I just picked up a gig shooting hockey. Unfortunately I am not allowed to show the images but I can tell you that shooting through the glass does ruin the shot. There are a few shots before and to be honest they are blurry and noisy. I only shoot with a d80 because I just spent a lot of money on a 70-200 f2.8. Eventually I will get a d700. Here are my settings that I use - manual mode / f2.8 / 1/500th / custom WB(use a grey card) / exposure -.7 - +1.

I shot the last game at -.7 but I am going to change that very soon. I figured that I could adjust this in PS but last game I shot 900 images and its just too much work. I might start at +.3

Shooting location - before the game clean a few panels and always shoot from those same panels if possible, shoot from the bleachers, shoot from the scorers table. My rink does not have cut outs.

I see you are in Idaho, you wouldnt happen to be shooting on blue ice would you????

 

[IDLaxStar]

Haha. No. But funny story. The hockey team play at the local arena that out semi pro team plays in and for their first game they tried to get the light guy to make the entire ice blue and the lines orange. It didn't happen but still pretty funny.

 

[Big Mike]

Nikons are so weird. Why would you have the camera in manual AND adjust the exposure compensation?

 

[CNCO]

Yes I'm in full manual mode. It's a great way to learn. Try those settings I gave you n get me feedback. I have a game tomorrow so I'll be playing around but I'll start with those settings.