BigEasy Loc: Palm Beach

Can you give me any Tech.Tips for shooting a Hockey Game..ie: Access, ISO, Shutter speed.. Any useful insight is appreciated..Thanks a lot..!

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Most of your questions will be answered when you know what the arena lighting is like. Some arenas, as you already know, are very bright while others...

Check that lighting. You can set your ISO at 800 and let the camera decide the rest because most good cameras, like my t3i, are very accurate.

Understand then that you will probably still get some blur. but about 800 you will begin to get quite a bit of noise... you may get some noise anyway but probably not enough to bother your outcome.

Anyway, experiment a bit and see what happens. When it comes to building light, as I see it, that's about all you can do.

Good luck and Happy New Year.

larryjphoto Loc: Phoenix

A couple different ways to go.

1. Shoot in Aperture Priority at as low an aperture as your lens will allow. This will give you a narrow DOF and separate your subject from the background. You will need to shoot at at least 1/800th/sec, but faster would be better. To do this you need to raise your ISO. Raise it just high enough to allow the camera to achieve the higher shutter speed.

2. Shoot manual at your lowest aperture, shutter speed at 1/800th, and ISO high enough to get you a decent exposure.

In both cases use auto focus in constant focus mode (AI Servo on Canon cameras).

You will be likely pushing your camera to the edge of it's envelope (or beyond). Good luck!

Fly_Boy Loc: South East Michigan

If you want to practice see if you can find a local rink that has drop in hockey games. I did this when I needed to shoot some action shots for a photography class. The action is nonstop nobody seems to mind where you are, as long as you stay off the ice.
I suggest using custom white balance as rink lighting can be awful. You may want to try a few shots at slower shutter speeds and pan with the players. This will give you a more "artistic" photo than the traditional shot. Continuous shooting will help too.
Good luck and have fun.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Having some information on your camera and lenses available would allow for a better response.

MarkD Loc: NYC

I assume that you're talking about indoor hockey. For that a fast telephoto lens and a camera that does well at high iso's is best, but that gets expensive. With a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or 6.3 try this:

1. set the camera to A
2. set the aperture wide open (the smallest number)
3. set the focus to Continuous
4. set the iso to Auto iso or keep raising the iso until to get a shutter speed of 1/500 sec (1/250 is a minimum).
5. if you can't get 1/250 sec try panning. That's a technique where you follow the moving subject with the camera and shoot while still following the subject. If done right you'll get a sharp subject and a streaking background.