speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I would not use any continuous light source at all, as that will be very annoying and interfering. I would us flash instead! As for you mentioning, flash can not keep up with the action, I can shoot mine at 12fps and it keep's up with that, how much faster do you want to shoot?

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

Ok that gives me a much better idea of what you are looking to do. I will apologize again in advance if you already know what I am about to say. I am going to assume you have never done this type of shot before and maybe you can learn something from the mistakes I have made I have shot all levels of hockey all the way up to D1 NCAA Hockey East in some of the best lit rinks and most of the worst so I know what you are up against. First, a suggestion about shooting games, you don't need to go that high with ISO to freeze the puck. Dont worry about freezing the puck, motion blur of the puck is important to adding action to a shot. When you freeze it it looks unnatural almost as if you placed it in the shot with photoshop. You want to freeze the players faces and bodies motion blur in the feet and hands can often add the element of speed to an image. Goalies dont usually move as fast as as skaters when I shoot goalies during a game I can usually drop the shutter speed down to about 500. Thats enough to freeze the goalie but will give motion blur to the skaters around him which can give the viewer a sense of the speed of the game around the goalie and what a goalie deals with.
As for your shoot, your friend is going to love it! You can be very comfortable using speed lights I would recommend using 3. You wont use all 3 on every shot some you will use 1 some 2. I appoligize if you already know all of this but you want to do alot of prep work before hand. Watch videos on using speedlights and how to place them for different effects. I would then practice taking shots off ice using different set ups so you are comfortable when you get on the ice. Even though you have 2 hours that is a very long time for not only holding your subjects attention(he will get tired and so wont you) but for you too. You will get cold as I am sure you know. Thick rubber soles are stongly suggested as is something to kneel on. The ice will sap the warmth out of your body quickly. I usually can shoot 6-8 players in multiple poses and action shots on a 50 minute sheet with time to spare.
The next thing you will want to do is look at a ton of goalie shots before hand, pick ones that you want to recreate and go over them with the goalie well in advance. Remember he is an amateur too and not an expert in posing so you want to get him on the same page as you before hand so He knows what to do. The more prepared you are in advance the easier it will go for you on the ice.
Once you get on the ice you will have to tweak and adjust everything but if you are prepared you will know exactly how to make your adjustments to get what you want.
I am assuming you will have a shooter or two on the ice with you to shoot on the goalie. If they are HS players have them gear up fully also and take some pics of them. Here is why. Pucks flying and camera gear is not a good mix. Go over with them that they have to be aware of where you are and your gear because you have no protection and your gear is expensive. If they feel part of the shoot by having their pics taken they will be more into it and more aware of you and the gear.(its the way teenage boys are) Show the shooters the shots also and they will get more into it feeling more like your assistant than just shooters.
This is a simple one but I mess this one up alot. Clear the pucks out of your shots, the last think you want to have to do is photoshop alot of pucks out of a shot, make sure the only puck in the shot is the one for that shot. Let the shooters clear their shots for you after they shoot
I usually shoot from my knees in these type of shoots. The upward angles is more dramatic and makes the players look bigger. Its a perspective that gives that "larger than life" feel to the shots.
If your goalie has a painted mask get some good photos highlighting the mask, Goalies are proud of their masks

Lastly have fun doing it and make sure the players are having fun too you will get better shots that way.

Here is a shot that I typically take of goalies. They love this one and it is taken in my living room with 1 speedlight off camera. Its an idea you can play with off ice

Evgenye Loc: St. Louis, MO

Thank you so much for all your information, ideas and assistance. I will try and put all of these great ideas and experience you have shared to use for my first attempt. ...

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

"To my knowledge, strobe/flash/speedlight will not cycle quickly enough to allow me to take continuous action shots." ---- You mean that 3 or 4 seconds would not be enough for you but on continuous mode - you could shoot more shots per second if you were able to get closer (pre game); then during the game just take single action shots. Or, you could buy yourself a nice speedlite flash that would let you do the job-----shop around then decide the best deal. I hope you realize your goal!!

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

Oh yes, I didn't take into consideration that the flash is a "no-no" - so just have your best lens ready for the shots--which lens is up to you. The lenses are good enough so you will not need extra light -- and your camera is more than enough to do the job, just shoot a lot of photos. You can and will succeed! I think there will be enough lights?

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

jcboy3

Continuous shooting with a speedlight is a surefire way to burn out your flash. You need a strobe. And a lot of them, so you can keep the power down for quicker recycling.

You need stage lights; these you can rent.