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Originally Posted by nickerjones
1st. Obviously shooting hockey in crappy rinks is hard. I turn the iso down and too dark , I switch up and way grainy. What can I do to help this problem.
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I shoot a ton of hockey so I'll try and give you some tips as to what I do.
Cam and Lens:
Now when I first started out, I had my own camera (D80) and my work camera (Canon 30D). Both pretty basic cameras. What I did was purchased a prime 50mm lens (1.8) [prime means that it's a fixed lens, ie: no zooming etc).
So although you're stuck with a focal length of 50mm, having that f1.8 and pumping the ISO to 1600 would give me at least 1/500 of a second to shoot. The quality wasn't the best, but it got the job done.
With my work camera, what I used was a 100-400 4/5.6. The other people I shot with thought I was crazy to use it, but it would work for certain things.
I'd basically have to shoot at 5.6, ISO 1600 and something really terrible like 1/80th of a second. For these shots, I'd wait for action to stop and try and get the player profile pictures that we needed if a feature was done on that guy that week. Otherwise, I'd try and shoot dead-on (ie: they're coming up the ice directly at you.) Any type of side-shot, fast movement was basically not an option. It is a really tough way to shoot, but you can get a couple keepers if you time it right.
Lighting:
If you don't know, most rinks have a lighting system that "pulses" the electricity around the lights in a circuit. As the electricity moves through each light, it will change the colour temperature of the photo. That's why you'll see a lot of magenta tones when you get the photos back home. There's really no perfect answer to how to combat this other than knowing the rink. You should always take a custom white balance off the ice if you can or if your camera will allow it.
Shoot on a ladder:
I always, always, always shoot on a ladder above the glass when possible. Shooting through the glass will not only reduce your light by an f-stop or two, but you have scuff marks, scratches and everything else on the glass to contend with.
Most rink rats will give you a ladder. You obviously have to be watching the entire time as not to get a puck straight in the noggen. Position yourself at about the hashmarks of one of the zones. This way, you'll get good action from the goalie but can still get shots elsewhere on the ice. Forget about shooting anything past the redline.
Shooting:
It's generally a good idea to always have the puck visible on a play. Unless the photo is more creative, you always want faces in the frame. But this is all subjective. It's about the photo and the photographer.
Post processing:
Always shoot in raw format. This way, any white balance issues can be easily fixed as well as adjusting the exposure if it's a tad too bright or dark.
Once in photoshop, or whatever, check your horizons. Hockey players don't skate uphill. You need to select all (alt-a), edit>transform>rotate. Get the boards level, accept it, and then crop out the corners.
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2nd . I shoot a picture and it doesnt seem to focus on things. For example I shoot a guy 10 feet from me but I can see all the way to the other end of the rink clearly. ( does this make sense?) Any remedy for this?
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Your camera should have a continuous focus mode. At the very least, you'll have 3d tracking.
Basically, this will tell the camera that your subject is constantly moving. Keep your shutter pressed half-way, and the camera will continue to focus on what you have in-frame. You'll hit and miss on this sometimes as you camera may try and focus on the boards if your guy moves out of the way or if someone else enters the frame.
Put your shooting mode to continuous, and click away in a burst.
Here's a few. Shot with Nikon D3s, 70-200 2.8.
Now, shooting at the dome is a lot better because of the light. However, unlike most rinks you see on TV, the saddledome doesn't have holes in the glass to shoot through. They do have areas in the glass that have the film removed, but I was deep in a corner. As such, I lost a good couple of f-stops.
