1st time strobing

[VinnyC01]

My first try strobing hockey. (really my second) I have been shooting video and photo for two local teams. One want senior shots, so I borrowed a buddies. He is nice enough to let me keep them for the winter. The first night I show up an hour early and the media box is full of the local cable team. I have covered about 35 hockey games this winter and 34 out of 35 times, I am the only media guy in the booth. By the time I settle, get the strobes set up and even try to set my camera it's halfway through the 1st. I have not looked at those yet.

Yesterday, I shot for two HS's from the same town. Big rivalry. Here's what I produced. Still got a ways to go, but it's a start.

I had 2 - Speedotron - Force 10 with pocket wizards shot with Sigma 200 and the 40D.

This was my favorite:



This was the funniest one - this is the penalty box ... NOT the team bench ... see the stat girls being squashed and the condensation on the glass?:


I was happy here too:


Thoughts, comments, suggestions welcome, but just so you know, I think did a better job later that night at a another rink with silver ceiling that I bounced the lights off of. - post those later.

[Mackinbiner]

Very interesting. Where and how did you have the strobes mounted? What kind of settings were you using on the camera?

[VinnyC01]

There are two strobes at center ice, on top of a press box about 35 rows up. This is a very big rink for NJ high school, almost 3,000 seats. The pictures you see: this strobe is bounced off the ceiling. The majority of the lights on this side are new and it is brighter than the other side. The other side I pointed from the center line to the far corner, where the goal line meets the boards.

I had a hard time with the settings.

I started in Manual at 1/400, F4.0 and ISO 800 then worked the ISO and f-stop until the histogram looked balanced. I just kept getting that dark bottom, so I may need 4 strobes at this rink or two and just shoot one side, crossing the lights at both goal line/boards.

The 1st one: 1/320, F4, ISO 200.
The 3rd Photos was shot in Manual with 1/400, F3.2, ISO 500.

[livin4lax09]

i wouldnt shoot from the opposite side of your strobes, because of the light fall-off. your players will be dark while the background will be bright, and will take attention away from the subject. as a rule of thumb I would always shoot from the side your strobes are on, and never put them on the side you are shooting towards. just my opinion.

[VinnyC01]

i wouldnt shoot from the opposite side of your strobes, because of the light fall-off. your players will be dark while the background will be bright, and will take attention away from the subject. as a rule of thumb I would always shoot from the side your strobes are on, and never put them on the side you are shooting towards. just my opinion.

Thanks. I was referring to the lights in the rink, not the strobes. The rink has a few newer lights over one zone as opposed to the far zone. I did shoot from the same side as the strobes.

VC

[Mackinbiner]

What do you think the result would have been if you had had a strobe on each side of the ice? Would that have cut down on the shadows?

[VinnyC01]

The person that lent me the strobes for the winter said that using two strobes on opposite sides at half power would cut the shadows. But, I am only able to do that when the crowd is small. That was a huge crowd, so there would have been no "allowable" place to hook the strobes.

The parents I shot for actually mentioned that they like the effect of the shadow. :thumbsup:

[Mackinbiner]

Thanks for the information. I like what you've done. Someday, when I've acquired all the equipment, I hope to give it a try myself.

[VinnyC01]

Here's the seconds game that night. This rink is very well lit and I could only place 1 strobe. The roof was this silver tin foil stuff and declined at (what seemed to be) a 60-degree angle.

[Jetref]

Hey, great effort. I have been collecting some equipment to try this myself in our home rink using a sunpak 383 and Vivitar 285HV, radio triggered from my 20D. Positioning the strobes and photographer seem to be the biggest obstacle of some nice hockey pictures, but it looks like you're well on your way to solving this. As it takes time for everything to show up I've been looking for ideas about where to position my lights. I appreciate the ability to share your experience thus far, as soon as I can get some images I'll be glad to share them here as well.

KEep up the great work.

Jetref

[livin4lax09]

i just noticed your shutter speeds. The 40d syncs at 1/250. Drop it down to 250 and you'll probably lose that dark section of ice. when you're strobing, shutter speed doesn't play a part in your exposure, the aperture is what determines the exposure if you are relying solely on the strobes to light your subjects.

did you take any vertical shots?

[VinnyC01]

i just noticed your shutter speeds. The 40d syncs at 1/250. Drop it down to 250 and you'll probably lose that dark section of ice. when you're strobing, shutter speed doesn't play a part in your exposure, the aperture is what determines the exposure if you are relying solely on the strobes to light your subjects.

did you take any vertical shots?

Thanks! I realized that .. so I have been shooting at 250ss. Wait till you see my basketball from tonight! WOO HOO!