Ice Hockey

[Lavenderhill]

I attended my first Ice Hockey game last weekend, and took along my camera so I spent most of my time watching the match through the view finder!
Never having attended any sporting activities before I sought advice on this forum and received some useful tips, I also read various articles in the EOS magazine and online.
Initially I intended to use my default 24-105mm lens due to the weight but on reflection of the allocated seating near the top thought it would be more prudent to take along the 100 - 400 despite the size and weight.
Although I tried to plan in advance the settings and spares I might need I still failed; the one spare item it turned out I did need was my spare CF card which I had left at home..
I took 700+ photos during the evening, some of which I am delighted to say you can even see that it was an Ice Hockey match!!

Here are a few for you, I am still very much learning photography and would appreciate any help.
Rose

6O4A4912_1 by Rose, on Flickr

6O4A4860_1 by Rose, on Flickr

6O4A4853_1 by Rose, on Flickr

6O4A4834_1 by Rose, on Flickr

6O4A4815_1 by Rose, on Flickr

[NathCarr91]

Well done Rose, I think you've done excellently here. The colours are great, they're in focus, well done! I love the second and the third image.

Great action shot on the second one, and the 3rd you can really feel a sense of urgency with the player rushing back out onto the ice! Even the addition of the writing 'Fast - More than fast' to the right of the play adds to that feeling of, he's really eager to get back out there!

Well done, hope you had fun

Nathan

[NathCarr91]

Only thing I might have done with that 3rd image is crop it from the left a little to get rid of the blue sign, putting the player on the edge of the frame, slight crop on the right to get rid of the 'S' at the end of Fast and maybe used the healing tool/brush to get rid of the email address.

If that makes sense? Be great to see it if you did that

[Trev B]

Nice set Rose
700 shots did you sit and go through everyone - brave you if you did. I consider taking seven one to many.

[Lavenderhill]

Nice set Rose
700 shots did you sit and go through everyone - brave you if you did. I consider taking seven one to many.

Thanks Trev.
Yes I did go through every pic; many of them were easy to delete being either out of focus or the players had moved out of shot!
Due to the extreme speed of play I had my camera on high speed continuous, you would be surprised how far the players had moved between two frames. It is the only time I’ve used high speed continuous for a prolonged period. - I really wanted to try to capture some action.
Rose

[Bill53]

Great set Rose, you definitely caught the action.

[@imagesBV]

Nice work...some fine images there....and you managed to include the puck in some!
I know its tricky, I'm struggling to include the ball in under-12s football...I guess you have a similar challenge but it all happens faster on the ice!

[Lavenderhill]

Nice work...some fine images there....and you managed to include the puck in some!
I know its tricky, I'm struggling to include the ball in under-12s football...I guess you have a similar challenge but it all happens faster on the ice!

Thank you Brian.
I was truly amazed to see the puck in some of the photos. It was a challenge, especially not knowing the first thing about Ice Hockey!
One article I read said that if you concentrated in where the puck was you would be too late for photographing; for Ice Hockey they suggested looking at for example the goal keeper who is highly trained to spot where the action is and as soon as they start to bend their knees switch focus to them as that is likely to be where the next action will be. That did seem to pan out, but they move at such speed!!!
Rose

[@imagesBV]

Sounds like you researched and prepared well and it paid off.

[Lavenderhill]

Sounds like you researched and prepared well and it paid off.

Thanks, but you should see the enormous pile of rejects!

[Colin W]

Well done, the photos look great.

[Daisy M]

I think you did a magnificent job on these Rose, so good to learn a new skill, that’s why I would never bother with a phone camera.

[Lavenderhill]

Only thing I might have done with that 3rd image is crop it from the left a little to get rid of the blue sign, putting the player on the edge of the frame, slight crop on the right to get rid of the 'S' at the end of Fast and maybe used the healing tool/brush to get rid of the email address.

If that makes sense? Be great to see it if you did that

Thanks Nathan, glad you like the pics.
I had not noticed the words on the third pic, I've had a go at the crop and removing the email address as suggested, here is the new image.
It certainly makes a difference, and adds an edge. Hope you like it.
Rose

6O4A4853 v2 by Rose, on Flickr

[Farider]

Well done Rose, an excellent set of pics. You did very good job in getting these as it's an extremely fast game and must a job to keep up with the action! You'll make a sports photographer yet!

Ian

[NathCarr91]

[QUOTE=Lavenderhill;n757130]

Thanks Nathan, glad you like the pics.
I had not noticed the words on the third pic, I've had a go at the crop and removing the email address as suggested, here is the new image.
It certainly makes a difference, and adds an edge. Hope you like it.
Rose

That's excellent Rose, not saying the original wasn't, like I said, it was one of my favourites. However I LOVE this now.

I agree with what you say, it certainly adds an edge to the image, and it puts more emphasis on the player, making it seem like he's going out to win.

I just showed this to my partner and she said said, if she was that player, she'd love to see the image. And I agree, might be worth sending it to the club. They might have a club newsletter they might include it in, or pop it on their webpage. Plus I think the team and the player would love it. I know I would

Well done Rose! Can't wait to see more of your hockey pictures if you go again.