richard_cooper5

Boundry Waters is much better than Voyageurs for your purposes. The entry points to Voyageurs are enormous lakes: Rainey and Kabtogama -- so big they used to have steam boats and tugs to tow the enormous rafts of logs that were harvested in the area. Today, there are many houseboats and fishing boats, though the lakes are so big they's not as obtrusive as that sounds. The main problem is that canoeing such big water can be challenging and tedious, and there are relatively few of the adjacent small lakes, streams and swamps that give you the best chance of seeing wildlife. Boundry Waters is just the opposite: Endless variety of smaller lakes, creeks and swamps. Ely is the most popular access point, with very well developed outfitter services, but also the most people. You might consider going in through Grand Marais on Lake Superior (spectacular drive up the shore from Duluth)and up the Gunflint Trail. Used to be some outfitters there; Google it. And used to be a lot fewer people. Either way, the key is to get off the main routes by portaging -- and following local recommendtions on bears; a few years ago, they had become a real problem out of Ely, coming into camps, hanging out around portages to steal packs et al. Hope this isn't too late. Boundry Waters may be the best canoe country in the world, especially in fall -- beautiful, clean water (used to be drinkable, though risky now), very accessible to all skill levels. I've spent a lot of time canoe tripping in that area. Glad to talk further if you have other questions.

A thought on position: shooting from behind the crease IS dangerous and, as with hockey, you'll never see the one that gets you. But if you move to one side (still behind the end zone, not on sidelines), you avoid the greatest danger and get the benefit of action coming toward you. By shooting vertical, you can isolate a player or players. And those areas inside the attack zone but just to the side of the goal are where a lot of plays develop. Also not a bad position for shooting in toward the goal.

One question you might consider before you make the camera/lens decision: How serious is your interest in photographing youth hockey and how long do you expect it to last? If your 'youth' is playing casually and hockey is one of many activities, then you may be happy with the kind of camera you mentioned. If it's more serious, then my experience coincides with that of most of the other posters -- you won't consistently get what you want, and what you will want more and more as the years go by, with anything but an SLR (digital or film) with good autofocus and an 80-200 f2.8 lens. Rinks are notoriously ill-lighted (nothing like NHL). More and more have so much side netting above the glass, as well as glass around penalty and scorers' boxes, that I often shoot through the glass near the goals. That's a preference, and comes at a price in image quality. But wherever you stand, game in and game out, the equipment matters.

As others have said, your equipment is not ideal, but since you're just testing the waters, there are some things you might try to improve your chances of getting some shots you like (even more than most sports, the speed and unpredictable nature of hockey mean the ratio of photographic hits to misses is low, regardless of equipment or film selection, so don;t give up too quickly).

First, don't shoot from the stands; the resulting images are tiny, the players look flattened out, and the results are seldom interesting. Instead, position yourself near the goal line at one end of the rink, find the cleanest bit of glass available, and pre-focus through it on the goalie. You can get good shots of the goalie facing toward you without high shutter speed. And, as attacks develop and players crash the net, they will tend to move into your focus zone. Try to anticipate action and let it come to you; hockey's too fast to 'chase' the puck. You can also stand almost directly behind the net, just a little to one side, and catch action coming at you.

When shooting through the glass, just watch out for distortioins caused by curves at the corners, and for reflections that project onto the ice. After one game, I was surprised to find a row of soft drink machines seemingly planted right in front of the goal, mingling with the players.

Hockey is a great game to photograph, but it takes some patience and learning where the action will be and what kinds of things the teams you follow are likely to do (those great SI photos are partly the result of elaborate camera and light setups, but partly the result of professional players doing stuff that kids and older amateurs just never do.)

Good luck

combinationavailable seems to be the combination of choice, where most of us end up

No, I use a Nikon F5. Maybe DSLR would be better, but I can't make the switch right now; too many tuitions. But thanks for the suggestion.

I've used Fuji 800 Press for several years with good results in non-

NHL rinks (usually shooting 250 at 2.8 or so), but I wonder if anyone

has used another 800 speed film that they think might give better

grain etc. for larger prints. Thanks for any suggestions.