I'm new to all this fancy photography and am having trouble getting my setting just right for photographing my son's hockey games.

I'm gettting about 1 out of 8 pictures that come out just ok. I was getting some better shots, but I think I changed some settings.

My question to any expert out there is what are the correct settings on my Canon Rebel XT 350D that would give me the best pictures. I am using a 75-300mm lens as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Current Settings:

Tv
Shutter Speed = 250
ISO = 800
AF Mode = AI Servo
White Balance = Flourescent

Pictures are a bit grainy and not very focused.

Thanks for any help!!

Your settings seem good. You could bump up the shutter speed to 1/500 and the ISO to 1600 and keep the same exposure. This should help with getting more of a stop action photo if that is what you are looking for. You could also try panning but your going to still end up with photos that just don't make the cut.

Or better yet try both and see what works for you. Good luck!!!

Chris
www.chris-grant.smugmug.com

I agree with Chris. Bump it up to ISO 1600. The pictures will be noisy (grainy) but much more useable. You'll get a much higher keeper ratio. I don't know how much post processing you want to do, but investing in a noise reduction program like Noise Ninja is worth every penny if you plan to shoot at ISO 800-1600. I use it quite a bit myself (I almost always bump my ISO to 1600 for indoor shooting without flash).
I suggest shooting in Av mode and keeping your aperture at max aperture and let the camera pick the fastest shutter speed possible for your lens. If your budget allows, I'd recommend investing in fast zoom, say something with a constant f2.8 aperture. The Canon EF 70-200 f2.8L IS comes to mind, but Sigma, Tokina and Tamron make comparable products for less money.
Just my two pennies of course, take with a grain of salt. :-)