Hi jmp I'm glad someone else is shooting hockey. I would suggest you search out threads from aktse. April shoots great hockey pics though I have not seen any of her work recently. I tend to shoot at 1/500 f2.8 iso 1600 through 3200. Hockey is one of the more difficult sports to shoot. I shoot 7 to 10 year olds. Grandkids.
Yes I have fun with it.This is with my 70-300 is usm .not a good lense for rinks.But i try to repair as much as i can in cs-5.I did have the use of a 70-200mm 2.8 last year and wow what a lense! These photos I posted don't look the same as the originals on my puter,(not that they look that great either) I do enjoy it though and am striving for excellence (but it takes the right gear)
Hockey isn't easy to shoot and you really need fast glass in order to do so properly and your 70-300 will not be sufficient under available light at most rinks. Also, your image quality will be better if they're linked from your hosting service like smugmug rather than attached due to compression, but they still will look like someone trying to force and fix an image in post processing.
John L is correct when he states that hockey is difficult to shoot; his exposure settings are pretty much the baseline for most rinks (shutter speed may vary).
If I was forced to shoot with your lens, I would ignore the general rules of sports photography (puck, action, face, emotion) and not shoot a sport photo. Instead, I would attempt a "sportrait" type of images and ignore action shots because there's a good chance that they won't be good unless the lighting is awesome. With your lens/body combo, you will not be able to stop action. Instead, I would find situations in which lower shutter speeds would work (face offs, when people are standing still) or go for motion blur shots like panning images. Your best bet is to rent 2.8 or fast lens or save until you can afford one. Another option is to keep shooting your way with your equipment and be happy with results. After all, it appears you have good timing and a working understanding of sports photography.
Comments
John L is correct when he states that hockey is difficult to shoot; his exposure settings are pretty much the baseline for most rinks (shutter speed may vary).
If I was forced to shoot with your lens, I would ignore the general rules of sports photography (puck, action, face, emotion) and not shoot a sport photo. Instead, I would attempt a "sportrait" type of images and ignore action shots because there's a good chance that they won't be good unless the lighting is awesome. With your lens/body combo, you will not be able to stop action. Instead, I would find situations in which lower shutter speeds would work (face offs, when people are standing still) or go for motion blur shots like panning images. Your best bet is to rent 2.8 or fast lens or save until you can afford one. Another option is to keep shooting your way with your equipment and be happy with results. After all, it appears you have good timing and a working understanding of sports photography.
I hope this helps.