Minor League Hockey

[ACArmstrong]

Shot these of our local minor league hockey - what a pain to do with a digital in not-so-good light.

[Sebastian]

They look fine to me except for the SIZE! Try to keep them 600 pixels at the long end, or smaller.

I don't see any problems here, except that maybe a little too much noise reduction was used, making some areas seem waxy. What camera did you use? Did you curtom white balance? Did you manually meter? The automatic meters will be thrown off by the ice almost every time, especially from the stands like you seem to have shot these. Manual white balance will ensure the most accurate colors.

So tell us, why did you have a hard time?

BTW, your website is throwing a 507 error...

[ACArmstrong]

Yeah - sorry about the size of these photos - as you noticed I'm having a bit of a snag with the server today (hence the 507 error) and we're working on it as we speak. This is the only size I was able to get to right now.

I shot these with a Sony F717 with a FD Filter on the end of the lens. The tough part of shooting in that light with the digital I have is sheer shutter speed. If you've ever shot hockey, you know how fast and irradic the movements are on the ice. You have to do a tone of panning to freeze a player (especially with the digital I used).

Thanks for the comments, the site should be back up in a bit and I'll size down those photos.

[Sebastian]

Yeah - sorry about the size of these photos - as you noticed I'm having a bit of a snag with the server today (hence the 507 error) and we're working on it as we speak. This is the only size I was able to get to right now.

I shot these with a Sony F717 with a FD Filter on the end of the lens. The tough part of shooting in that light with the digital I have is sheer shutter speed. If you've ever shot hockey, you know how fast and irradic the movements are on the ice. You have to do a tone of panning to freeze a player (especially with the digital I used).

Thanks for the comments, the site should be back up in a bit and I'll size down those photos.

You used the FD flter to color correct, right? Ho much light did the filter cost you? A much better way to correct the color balance would have been a custom white balance. I have not had a 717 for over a year now, so I don't remember how exactly it was done, but I think you just fill the frame with something white (ice) and push the little button on the side of the lens and hold it until it tells you the WB is OK. THen all the colors will be accurate under that particular set of light, no filters required.

I know what you mean though, I shot a Wolves game with the 717 and the AF simply can't keep up. Manually prefocus on an area where action is boun to occur and your amount of keepers will increase. My biggest problem with the camera was the write times. I never had a chance to try MS Pros in it, but after three shots I would just wait there watching all the action happen in fornt of me...

[ACArmstrong]

Shwew! They're sized now and the site's back up. These pics were taken in late January and I just got the camera at Christmas. I'm still learning. Thanks for the help and suggestion, SEB.

[Sebastian]

Shwew! They're sized now and the site's back up. These pics were taken in late January and I just got the camera at Christmas. I'm still learning. Thanks for the help and suggestion, SEB.

MUCH better!

I like being able to see a whole image on my screen.

The 717 is very capable. Some of th chicago shots on my site were taken with it. I really liked it, but it was not as flexible as an SLR setup, and it was too large to carry around in a pocket, so I sold it.

Good luck with it, looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.