Hi! Here are a few hockey pics that I have taken lately. Just looking for some opinions.. Anything I can/should changer? I tend to get a lot of noise when I enlarge them. What can I change to reduce this? Thanks!

1st: 1/160 sec - F/3.2; Exp. Comp: +3.7; ISO: 800; Multi-Pattern metering
2nd: 1/160 sec - F/3.2; Exp. Comp: +3.7; ISO: 800; Center Weighted metering

your exposures look good, just crush the blacks. But speaking from a sports photo standpoint, they lack any real action/emotion, and therefore aren't very captivating photos.

your exposures look good, just crush the blacks. But speaking from a sports photo standpoint, they lack any real action/emotion, and therefore aren't very captivating photos.
Thanks. What do you mean by "crush the blacks"? (I am just a beginner.. LOL)

Also, these were just some samples. I have a bunch of action ones on my website. I can't seem to get that many that come out clear though! :(

if you're using photoshop, open up curves, invert the curve, and pull the upper right a bit up to the left. Pull the bottom left down a bit to the right. It will look a bit like a slight "s." if you're using PS elements, then open up levels, use the RGB slider, and pull the left arrow a bit right.

what do you mean clear? out of focus? what are you shooting with, and are you shooting on AI Servo?

I agree with Brent's comments. There is detail in the pants and socks that is lost because they are too black. These adjustments will bring out the highlights in the pants and the ribs in the socks. By "clear", I assume you mean "sharp". At 1/160 it will be tough to get your images sharp. Try upping your ISO to 1250 or 1600 and if necessary, run them through Ninja Noise using the specific profiles for your camera. This will reduce the noise you will undoubtedly get at higher ISO, and enable you to shoot at a faster shutter speed. The blacks on your action shots could also benefit from a midtone boost.

Check out this link... http://www.flickr.com/photos/badmire/336342836/in/set-72157594444625632/

This guy went to a minor league hockey game and brought along his Pocket Wizard. He fired it and lo and behold, there were strobes in the rafters. So he shot the game from the stands using the arenas strobes. How cool is that?

haha now that's just awesome...

Welcome back Chrissie!

Hmmm, you could really help yourself by using an f2.8 lens instead of the f3.5. Also try shooting with your meter one dot above center, that seems to help alot with the lighting and get more details.
JS

I love shooting hockey so I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions here too. Brent should we be shooting in Al Servo or some other? And about metering, what does it mean to shoot one dot above center? I shot a couple of NHL games last month and I've gotten the best shots that I've ever taken so far. But I just tried out that suggestion about bringing more detail into the black areas and I can see an improvement. So I do have a lot to learn still.

you'll want to be shooting in AI Servo most of the time for sports, simply because it tracks movement, and sports are all about movement. AI One Shot, or Single Focus, locks focus when you press the focus button down, and one it has maintained focus, will not refocus again until you release the focus button and press it down once again. AI Servo, as long as you hold that focus button down and keep your focus point on your subject, will keep tracking your subject, and will never stop focusing. It will even improve focus throughout a sequence, because it allows you to shoot even when you don't have focus. I've had a few sequences where the first shot is out of focus, but as the frames go on, the image gets more in focus, because it keeps focusing even when it's shooting a sequence.

For the metering, i believe JS is talking about spot metering on the AF point one above the center point. If that's wrong, he can correct me. I personally use scene evaluation, because a lot of the time I am shooting dark or white jerseys, and the metering gets thrown off by them a lot, so if I meter for the scene and overexpose 1/3-2/3, then I usually hit the exposure (compensating for sky in outdoor sports, and the 1d's tendency to underexpose by 1/3 of a stop.

But the easiest way to shoot, especially in indoor venues, is just shooting manual. Your lighting stays constant, so shoot a couple test shots, and turn on the option of glowing hotspots. I personally like a bit of blown out whites, because I think it helps bring the other colors out more. But shoot test shots, and check them out. when you see the blinking hotspots, go 1/3 of a stop lower, and keep taking tests until you hit that mark where one exposure has blinking spots, and the next one doesn't. Then you can decide between the two shutter speeds.

This is why it's important to get to games early, so you can do all this stuff!

Sarah,
By one step over center I was meaning on the built in light meter, of course that is assuming you have one in your camera. It seems that with every digital I have shot with, shooting right on center leaves a lot of detail out, and by going one step over it brings those details out.
I have trained myself to not only watch the action through the viewfinder but the meter, and try to adjust it on the fly if need be. When I do need to adjust I just go with the shutter speed up or down as needed, but most cameras don't have the ability to let you do that while foucing and following the action. It takes some practice but if you can do it, it will help alot. If I am using flash though I just set the camera where I want and let the fill flash do all the work, either way the results end up about the same, but with flash there are no dark areas or shadows.

JS