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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
What to expect at my first hockey game (high school)
Jonathan Durr, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Morton Grove | IL | USA | Posted: 12:05 AM on 10.31.09 |
->> I've been assigned a hockey game for Sunday night and I have never even been to a hockey game or watched one(except a few minutes of a game at Wrigley Field). I'm very familiar with soccer, since I'm a referee. Are there any comparisons that can be made between the two so I have a reference point?
Where should I expect to have to be? This is a public ice rink(Iceland Skate in Niles, IL). I've read in some threads for the professional rinks there are holes in the walls or glass, would that be expected at this venue?
Any other suggestions, links, or form of help would be greatly appretiated. Thanks! |
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Ethan Magoc, Student/Intern
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Erie | PA | United States | Posted: 12:34 AM on 10.31.09 |
->> Jonathan,
Expect some awful lighting. Count on it--especially in a high school rink.
Beyond that, it's tough to give much advice if you've never watched a complete game. It's good to shoot up sometimes if you aren't familiar with the action patterns and rhythms of the game because it's so fast. High school speed won't be quite as overwhelming for a first timer as college and the NHL, but you'll still want to get a feel for the game at first. Get there early and try to follow the players in warm-ups. During the game, make sure to come away with at least one of the goal celebration shots. Your editor is most likely to be pleased with those.
There will most likely not be shooting holes in the glass at a high school venue, so you may want to just walk around the rink's exterior when you arrive to see if there are any semi-clean panes of glass. If there's not, good luck trying to blow out the filthy and scratched panes. Be sure to bring the fastest lenses possible to battle the aforementioned horrible lighting.
I just looked at Niles' arena online and it doesn't look as much of a cave as some other places I've shot in. Still, expect some areas to be really unevenly lit.
A simple Google search ("hockey photography tips") will tell you more about where to stand or shoot from.
http://www.lexar.com/dp/tips_lessons/smith_hockey.html (lots of technical stuff here)
http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/photography/articles/24947.aspx?p=2 (where to stand)
http://ethanmagoc.com/?p=887 (personal example and blatant self-promotion, but you can get an idea of how to isolate players and action from an elevated angle from a few of these)
Hockey is definitely one of the most difficult sports to shoot, so I wish you the best of luck on a first assignment. More importantly, be sure to post back with your experience. |
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Geoff Miller, Photographer
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Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 1:31 AM on 10.31.09 |
->> Like Ethan said, don't expect holes. I'd recommend taking a short step ladder so you can avoid shooting though the glass. About 2/3rds of the rinks will have lower glass on one side of the rink (team side, not spectator side) and with a short step ladder you can usually get over the top of it. Shooting through glass will degrade your image quality and you'll loose about a stop of light to boot!
Try to put the ladder around the edge of the face-off circles . If you shoot there, be aware of when a defender in the corner is about to clear the puck up the ice as odds are he'll be shooting the puck in your direction. Likewise when an attacker is coming your way along the boards and a defender is between you and him.
Avoid shooting at center ice. It's OK for getting shots at center ice, but it sucks for shooting goals as you'll get a lovely view of the attacker's back.
Exposure will most likely be 1/500th at f2.8 at 1000 iso or there about. If you go slower that 1/500th you'll start to get motion blur... stick and puck for sure. |
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Justin Edmonds, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 2:02 AM on 10.31.09 |
->> I shot there in Feb during my internship at the Northwest Herald so here is a rundown of the facility. The light is not great but better than most at about 1/500, f/2.8 at 1250 ISO through the glass. It's a little better from the stands at around 1/500, f/2.8 at 800 ISO. The ceiling is silver so I brought Dynalite UniJr's, bounced them off the ceiling and was at 1/250, f/2.8 at 400 ISO through the glass. If you have access to some lights, even speedlights, I would bring them and try to light one half of the rink.
You can find a few relatively clean spots to shoot through the glass but I also shot a lot from up in the stands. The near side glass obstructs you a little bit from the top of the stands but you will have much cleaner and sharper frames more consistently compared to ice level. A 70-200 will work fine from up in the stands with a crop body (D300/30D) since it's relatively close to the glass.
Email me with any other questions. |
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Adam Cairns, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | USA | Posted: 9:42 AM on 10.31.09 |
| ->> I've found that at most of the rinks in my town the glass is much cleaner to shoot through the closer you get to the top. Geoff's suggestion of a step ladder is a great idea. Anything that will get you at least a foot off the ground will be helpful. Also, you're going to have to manually meter the rink as the ice will play havoc on your camera's meter. I usually shoot with a 300 down ice and switch to a 70-200 as they cross the center line. |
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Robert Longhitano, Photographer
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North Wales | PA | USA | Posted: 10:45 AM on 10.31.09 |
->> The rink I shot at has a spot on the end of the home bench closest to the goal. Since you never shot hockey before I would NOT recommend that area for the reasons Geoff pointed out. It can get pretty hairy with High School age kids.
If the rink has an open penalty box thats a good spot, plenty of room to bail if you have to. Another suggestion is if the rink has a lift you can get over the high glass to shoot down on the action, much more comfortable to shot on a platform than a ladder.
I'll also second Justin comment on lighting the rink. If you're limited just light the end where your home team shoots twice. With a silver celling it doesn't take much and the images will look 100% better. |
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Matthew Healey, Photographer
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Providence | RI | | Posted: 12:33 PM on 10.31.09 |
| ->> One thing that can be a challenge with hockey is numbers. Most high school teams only have numbers on the backs (around here at least). If you know you just shot a decent play then stay on the players and get a shot of their backs. It can be a real pain to try and ID a player by what kind of stick they are using. |
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Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer
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Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 2:40 PM on 10.31.09 |
->> To shoot at local rinks, I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Tricam-HSS-PL4Y-Project-225-Pound-Capacity/dp/B000I32...
It's lightweight, skinny (fits in some penalty boxes where other ladders don't) and easy to store in a car.
At some HS/Municipal rinks, I've even used this ladder to shoot over the glass - obviously the same warning holds true here as when shooting from the bench or penalty box: be aware of pucks at all times. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 5:25 PM on 10.31.09 |
->> To add to the warning of being aware of the puck at all times...... If you are going to use a ladder and shoot over the glass be aware of STICKS too. The blade of a stick will easily sweep 8 inches beyond the glass and into your lens or worse, face.
Some arenas/officials have made a fuss about helmets in the box/bench areas.
Dress in layers, the penalty box is COLD in relation to the higher areas like the stands or even 3' up on a ladder.
If you are shooting from in the box, players will not care about you or your safety. Watch for their skates when they're going over the boards to get back on the ice. Even if the skates don't get you..... the stick has a 2 second lag time to whack you.....
I have just found the ABSOLUTE BEST ****BY FAR**** pair of shooting mittens that I have ever used. They are made my Manzella.
They are the hunter convertible "glove" FLF-20-FIN-ALL ... The have a separate pocket for a heat pack, a mitten that folds back to expose 4 fingers AND the thumb has a slit that lets you poke your thumb through to spin a control wheel or swap cards without taking off the glove. Super warm, uses magnets instead of Velcro so no fuzzies clogging the Velcro. $20 at Dick's...... |
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Daniel Malmberg, Photographer
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Huskvarna | Sweden | Sweden | Posted: 7:59 PM on 10.31.09 |
->> If you are going to shoot from the box/bench areas. I do recommend that you use a helmet.
Here in Sweden, we don't have holes in the glass.
But special "boxes" for photogs.
Where there are no Plexiglas to protect us.
Last season i had a stick, hitting my helmet with some really big power.
My helmet saved me from being totally knocked out and get a really severe concussion. |
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Jonathan Durr, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Morton Grove | IL | USA | Posted: 12:51 AM on 11.02.09 |
->> Thanks for all the advice.
I brought a step ladder, about 2 and a half feet tall. It was enough to get over the glass. I stayed about 2-3 feet to avoid sticks. There was lower glass on both spectator and bench sides. I shot near one of the face-off circles, the opposite side of it, and the center. It wasn't very cold. They only had numbers on the back and arms. The arms really helped to ID them.
D300S
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter: 1/650
ISO: 2500
70-200 f/2.8 VR (With a protective filter)
If you'd like to, take a look at my page for the photos from tonight. Any criticism is welcome. |
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Jonathan Durr, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Morton Grove | IL | USA | Posted: 12:53 AM on 11.02.09 |
| ->> Oh and I got there early enough to catch the last 3 minutes of the JV game. It helped a little bit. I also got a little crash course in hockey by one of the book keeping people. |
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