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San Jose Sharks - opening night
Opening night at The Tank, the San Jose Sharks hockey team host the Los Angeles Kings for a great game. We won at 4-1 and put on quite a show!
This is my first year with a media pass for the Tank and first lesson learned: one must plan in advance to get time shooting through the holes in the glass at ice level. Nevertheless, I took full advantage and climbed up into the catwalks for the opening sequence. If you've never seen this before, it's a real treat.
There are huge video projectors hanging above the ice which turns the entire ice rink into a gargantuan video screen. The effect is awesome, and I don't use the word lightly. I heard there would be a helluva show before the opening faceoff and I should be "up high by 7:15pm". Wait a minute ... I should climb up into the rafters to take epic photos of the opening Sharks game? Hell yeah! So, here are some shots of the night.
Critique and comments welcome.
Video projectors in action. More frames can be seen here.
I couldn't enjoy this overhead view enough. The catwalks are amazing.
The new coach emphasizing we should finish checks into the boards. Big thanks to April and others on the boards to suggest 500-800+ shutter speeds!
High sticking! I know a bit too small to see details here but it looks great full size.
Not sure how to crop this one actually. If I move in closer on our number 14 in the lower-left, it feels like he is loosing his mind and cheering for nothing. I believe leaving the rest of the shot intact it gives him a reason to be so excited (scored his 2nd goal of the game). What do you think?
One pair of the Christie Digital projectors mentioned earlier. There is one pair roughly above each goal that combine in the center to create a beautiful and seamless presentation. Amazing stuff.
I spent most of the third period shooting from a wheelchair accessible area. These two were having a great time and I couldn't resist.
-Justin
This is my first year with a media pass for the Tank and first lesson learned: one must plan in advance to get time shooting through the holes in the glass at ice level. Nevertheless, I took full advantage and climbed up into the catwalks for the opening sequence. If you've never seen this before, it's a real treat.
There are huge video projectors hanging above the ice which turns the entire ice rink into a gargantuan video screen. The effect is awesome, and I don't use the word lightly. I heard there would be a helluva show before the opening faceoff and I should be "up high by 7:15pm". Wait a minute ... I should climb up into the rafters to take epic photos of the opening Sharks game? Hell yeah! So, here are some shots of the night.
Critique and comments welcome.
Video projectors in action. More frames can be seen here.
I couldn't enjoy this overhead view enough. The catwalks are amazing.
The new coach emphasizing we should finish checks into the boards. Big thanks to April and others on the boards to suggest 500-800+ shutter speeds!
High sticking! I know a bit too small to see details here but it looks great full size.
Not sure how to crop this one actually. If I move in closer on our number 14 in the lower-left, it feels like he is loosing his mind and cheering for nothing. I believe leaving the rest of the shot intact it gives him a reason to be so excited (scored his 2nd goal of the game). What do you think?
One pair of the Christie Digital projectors mentioned earlier. There is one pair roughly above each goal that combine in the center to create a beautiful and seamless presentation. Amazing stuff.
I spent most of the third period shooting from a wheelchair accessible area. These two were having a great time and I couldn't resist.
-Justin
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Comments
So how'd you get to use the catwalks? That's some nice vantage point
Too bad the Shark head was broken for this game. The team skating through his mouth in the fog is a very cool shot too
Nice work!!
Steve
I used to work with KFOX radio, the home of the Sharks Radio Network. Now I'm shooting photos for their website and making good use of the media credential they supplied me with. Thus, the catwalks.
Yeah bummer about the big floating head. I'll be there again tonight and plan to capture it in all it's glory. Maybe I'll see you there!
-Justin
You so lucky! I wish that I had your access!
Keep posting!
I love your photos of the Sharks game. Oh, I would love to be able to attend and shoot a real NHL game! I shoot for the university hockey club in Logan Utah. I love shooting hockey! It is a blast. I have always thought that the lighting in our home rink is extremely poor. I shoot with an EOS 5D paired with a 70-200 f/2.8L USM IS lens. I generally have to boost the ISO to 800 or 1600, or somewhere in between, and then I can get shots off at about 1/160 sec with the lens wide open, which doesn't allow for enough DOF for the most part. I have tried to start creating my own technique to allow for a slight amount of movement, and try and keep it consistent through the photos recently, but haven't had a lot of luck with that. And, to make the lighting sound even worse, I generally have to boost the exposure by .67 in LR during PP. What equipment and settings can you get away with at a real rink? I would love to hear your responses to my questions, and also any additional tips/techniques that you use while shooting hockey. If you would like to view my photos, they are at http://www.rinkshots.com. Thanks!
I'm one of the lucky hockey shooters in that I've never tried to shoot in a typical dimly-lit cave of a rink, like a school or local public rink. I can however sympathize with those who have though, considering I am pushing my gear to the limit at the pro arena.
I use a canon RebelXT with 70-200mm 4.0 IS, and a battery grip for comfort (cannot recommend enough
You exposure, colors, and white balance look great. Shooting at f/2.8 has a much shallower dof than my f/4.0 does and I like the effect. On the flip side, I think the extra depth of shooting at 4.0 can help mask focusing errors better. My camera isn't the fastest continuous focus one out there after all. But you need to be wide open because of light so ... oh well. I know the 135mm/f2.0 is highly praised for hockey (on a 1.6x crop body), if that helps you at all. Looks like I have about 3.5 stops more light to work with than you do based on your settings.
As for tips and such, do a search of the Sports forum for "hockey" in the title. Look for posts from Aktse, I learned a LOT from her threads.
-Justin
You are the one who should get the key shots, not me. And yes, i'm holding you to a higher standard.
Congrats on securing a media pass! I'm so jealous
First question -- what's your goal for the photos? Are you trying photojournalism slant? Are you trying to get trading card photos? Or, just trying to people to oo--ahh over your frames?
In general, crop tighter, pick your locations carefully, go for action shots rather than players standing around, and get frames that regular people can't.
My originally suggestion was the 500-800+ as a starting point, change as needed, less for kiddos, more for pros. I'm at a minimum of 1/1000 and usually faster at the games if I want to freeze action, but it depends on what I'm trying to capture or how I want the shot to come out (panning, etc). Your action frames are not tack sharp and I think it's due to motion blurr. Also, this frame needs a tighter crop.
I can't see a good way to save this photo and do what you want. I would either do a really tight crop or don't even show it. It's a good snapshot and isn't tight enough to show detail without a closer look. Also, it's something that the fans can shoot from the stands.
Actually, I would never shoot like this from up at the catwalk. I don't know if this is cropped, etc, but from this angle, I know that won't get very many usable frames (my definitions of usable frames) when you're shooting the middle ground since it doesn't tell the viewer tell people very much. Also, you have the boards in the frame (watch your background). Honestly, I can't tell that there is a celebration going on. And if you don't have the lens -- rent it.
In many ways, sports photography is about knowing the subject and the preparation for it.
From the angle, it seems that you shot this from the media hole in the glass. The good -- clear, crisp, etc. The bad -- it does nothing. No emotion, no feeling of speed, etc. You snapped him when he was getting ready for a face off.
Please takes my suggestions with a grain of salt -- remember: i am not a pro by any definition. I don't have a media pass, not paid for my photos, not published, self-taught, etc.
At the pre-season, I shot this during warmups (similar to your hole in the glass)
1. Dan Boyle, First Season with the Sharks
And this from my seats:
2. Thomas Plihal trying to score
I think your non-action captures are great and really sets the mood.
I can't wait to see how you progress as the season continues! You're going to be amazing.
I am past the point of trying to impress friends and family. They think I'm awesome and it's no longer a challenge. Instead, I am moving towards making the shots that are used in the media; newspaper articles, magazine articles, something people would pay for. I believe this requires more skill; the average joe-shooter could not make those shots. Photojournalisic, yes. Trading cards, no.
I'm sure you can emphasize with how difficult it is to get action shots! My skill is improving little by little, but it's a whole new world to watch a game from ice-level. It's very difficult to track the action, let alone the puck, when everything is two dimensional and lacks depth I'm used to seeing from the upper-bowl seats. Plus using one eye in the viewfinder and the other independantly feels more like a chameleon than anything else ... still getting used to it. But! Improving nonethless.
Last night I was able to use the photo holes as you guessed. Three shots came out wonderful in my oppinion. The sad thing is as my skill improves these may look more like my first attempts from last year haha. Anyhow, here they are.
Action, a sense of urgency, I like it. Not the sharpest, but I don't have much control over the ai-focus on the camera. It's tough to work with, suggestions welcome.
Can't see #22 Roenick's face which is a real bummer, but there is a bit of panic in the other guy's face which I enjoy. It's the only one out of 40+ frames from this fight that is usable.
Tighter crop, a little more emotion than a straight face. It's just before a faceoff so I'm cheating a bit without capturing action, but it's better than some of the other static shots I have.
Thanks for the insight April!
-Justin
I would not say that it's hard to take action shots -- it's difficult to get properly exposed great action shots with clean backgrounds with emotion since it's a mixture of being the right place at the right place at the right time with proper lens on the body and with the correct settings.
In some ways, it all boils down to luck, but good preparation and knowing the sport is key. If you're shooting while on the catwalk, I would use a wide angle, fisheye, T&S or something long like a 500mm. If you know that a player is going after some milestone (games places, assist, goals scored etc.), I'll pick the media hole in the glass during the periods in which the Sharks score in the zone.
It's all about knowing the sport and knowing what the sports editor wants.
Much better. And yes, there is a sense of urgency. Personally, I would crop it a bit more and you already have a face cut off. In general, those two people on the left doesn't add much to the frame since I believe you should be focus on the two guys fighting for the puck and the goalie.
And AI focus is failing you, manual focus. You just need to know when to use it.
But what do I know? I just shoot for myself. I'm just letting you know what I would do and how I would things if I had a media pass.
You might get better tips/suggestions from real pros.