scott_c4

<p>Ray,<br />I had the same questions you did a couple of weeks ago. See <a href="../sports-photography-forum/00UmT9">this forum </a>in photo.net. I'm a beginner too and the advice I got was <strong>really</strong> helpful. <br />You're shooting with equipment similar to mine (I use a Canon with a Tamron 70-200/f2.8 lens). What I found worked best for me was manual mode, 1/400, ISO 1600, f2.8. I set mine to AI servo and used the center dot for targeting. I think with the younger age groups I can probably drop to 1/200 or so with ISO 800 and still get nice bright clear pictures. <br />The thing I love is when I get a shot where the main subject is frozen and crystal clear but everything around them has a motion blur. As a rookie photographer, I think that is so cool and it is so much more interesting than the blah depth of field that people with the point and shoot cameras end up with. One warning though, when you get those kinds of awesome images it is only a short distance from there, to becoming the team photographer. :-)</p>

<p>Another...</p><div></div>

<p>Another...</p><div></div>

<p>Just got back from shooting a couple of squirt games. 1600 ISO did the trick. The levels came out just right. Yes when You zoom in tight they are a hair grainy but printing them at reasonable sizes they look great. I also tried 800 and they end up just a touch underexposed. I can probably lower the shutter speed from 1/400 down a notch and I'd get what I'm looking for at ISO 800. For squirt and peewee hockey 1/320 or 1/250 should be plenty fast enough. Here's a few samples:</p><div></div>

<p>Did you see the video on yahoo sports of the recent Washington Capitals game where a player shot the puck the length of the ice without really much speed on it and it skipped just before the goalie and went over his shoulder and in? It looked like he was trying to pass it to another player at center ice but it went the full length. The goalie looked like he was just going to casually stop the puck and sweep it away and it went over his shoulder and in. I'm not a Capitals fan by any means, but it was hilarious.</p>

<p>I'd probably have missed that shot screaming, get the PUCK, get the puck!!!! <br>

<strong>:-)</strong></p>

<p>The blur is an interesting effect, but I didn't spend the money on an f2.8 lens to get blur. I could do that with the stock lens that came with my canon XS body. What I want is shots where the main subject is crystal clear and frozen in time. If the action around them is blurred (ie the puck flying off the players stick, or another player moving in the foreground or background) all the better. My problem was the underexposure problem but I think we have a handle on that. I'll find out when I take some pictures this weekend. <br />Again, not that I don't appreciate the motion blur look that can be acheived with a slower shutter, I just want the "frozen" shots. Being that i'm pretty much the definition of amateur photographer, I've got too many blurry shots from last season already! :-)</p>

<p>I can do that for the mite, and maybe even the squirt level but when I shoot with that low of a shutter speed for Peewee level and up there is too much blur even when I try to pan while shooting (which I'm still not very good at). And at the HS level forget about it unless I'm shooting a face off before the ref drops the puck.<br />I'll try this weekend shooting some shots at 1/500 and ISO 800 and see what I get.<br />Thanks again to all of you for your suggestions.<br />BTW, Elliot - I looked at some of your work in your gallery. Very nice work. Hopefully some day I'll be able to catch shots like that. :-) Were those surfing shots taken at Hunting Beach? I was in Cali this past summer and that pier looks familiar.</p>

<p>Oh, duh. I should have read more closely.<br>

Much of the work I do is for our website or I hand off the files to parents for them to print game pictures of their kid. Occasionally I'll print off an 8x10 of my son or members from his team or make team posters as gifts for the season.<br>

Most of the hockey photography is just for fun since I'm at the rink already watching my son play so I'll hop over to any of the other 2 rinks and snap pictures of whoever is on the ice. Separate from that I do freelance web design work when I'm not teaching high school info tech classes.</p>

<p>Original size off the camera is 3888x2592</p>

<p>Ben,<br>

That's exactly what I did for all of the pictures. They brightened up nicely by adjusting the levels in Pshop. That being said, I'd like to start with brighter images in the first place.<br>

I'll try shooting some more shots this weekend with the ISO set to at least 800 and see what I get.<br>

Thanks for the advice everyone. Looks like I'm on the right track. Just need more practice.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice. That might be the trick (fast ISO). I was afraid if I set the ISO up much more that the images would get grainy.<br>

I dug through my images and found this one that I took at the following settings (Tv mode):<br>

f2.8<br />1/500<br />ISO 800<br />Exposure bias 0step<br />metering mode Pattern<br />white balance = auto<br>

I was a split second late on the shot so the main subject is partially covered by the red jerseyed skater in the foreground, but other than that the color looks better. Being a complete amateur I'm pleased with the results for the first time out with this lens but still the colors don't "pop" like I had hoped. </p><div></div>

<p>I have a Canon Rebel XS. Recently I purchased a Tamron 70x200 f2.8 lens. One of the things I do is take pictures for my local hockey association. This past weekend I took my new Tamron lens to a game and based on the suggestions from members of this forum tried a variety of settings.<br>

The coach allowed me to sit in the penalty box to take pictures. The lighting in this particular rink is flourescent and pretty poor in some areas. Despite my best experimentation, most of my photos came out underexposed like the sample below. Many of the pictures came out with good focus and I was able to repair the exposure problem in Pshop but I was wondering if I can do better with my settings.<br>

The picture I took below had the following settings:<br />Manual Mode -- f2.8 -- 1/400sec. -- ISO 400 -- Exposure bias 0 step -- Focal length 123mm -- metering mode-pattern. I'm pretty much a rookie with this level of equipment. I also tried some shots on Tv mode with f2.8 and 1/500sec and came up with similarly underexposed images.<br>

The image below was only resized. There was no other processing done to the image. Any suggestions for getting the exposure better?</p><div></div>