Toledo Street Hockey

[jjeling]

There are about 200 people involved in the league now. Some of them were taken on a bright sunny day, and others were taken on a darker, rainy day. You will be able to tell. For some reason though, there are always blown highlights, even on underexposed pictures it seems. Whats the deal?

[jjeling]

Last ones for a full understanding of the general problem

[jjeling]

Did I mention I get an exclusive media pass as well? hahaha, Im actually skating around inside with them and my camera. Taking pictures and trying to avoid running into them, avoiding the action, and trying not to get hit with the ball. Maybe if it goes well, I can get a real exclusive deal doing this for the NHL. hahaha On the real, its a lot of fun, and great practice, even if this is how the images are coming out.

[AntZ]

I'm no expert, but have taken 1000's of sport pics in the last year of my boy's soccer team(which is somewhat similar to hockey) and have learned the following;
1. Use shutter priority. 1/1000 or faster and adjust ISO to suit.
2. Photos that catch the ball and faces make the most interesting. So it helps if you can read the game and get in to a position where you have the players running toward you.
3. Experiment with focus points and focus modes. If you are close multiple points work for games like soccer. For cycling where the subject has a fairly predictable trajectory pick the best single point.
4. You can use burst mode, but prepared with lots of memory and to be ruthless during post production. Unless I absolutely need to get a shot, or for fun I prefer to try snap single shots.
5. Good(fast) lenses help like all photography. If you can't get close, so does a big zoom.

I hope that helps, but interested to see we have some sports pros on here...Other than MA that is

[Marko]

Antz has some excellent advice and this is hard hard stuff imo.

I really like the middle and last shot in post 2, and the first shot in post 3. They are like mini stories that are well composed.

I'd also spend time reading the sports section of the local paper or pick up sport mags to get inspiration.

[Mad Aussie]

I think the best angle for JJ is to squeeze into the goal behind the goalie

Nice work considering you are skating around as well!!

[F8&Bthere]

y'know, JJ, seeing these photos after some of your other posts just made me realize I like your photos much better without the creative approach photography watermark. I'm sure it serves a purpose but maybe a bit too big? bold? It's kinda like it's fighting against your subject for attention. Probably just me though, but anyhoo, nice photos! This kind of action, as mentioned above, is not easy to photograph.