I'd like to see the surround brought up just a little, especially the organ.
You'd have to do it in PP as the lights are nicely exposed already.
Good eye!

First one needs a caption, "No kameras here!"

It doesn't have to run!
Just sit inside and soak it up. ;)

First, Indi, you can't go wrong with Tiffen.
The numbers 2 or 3 refer to the density of the neutral density filter. 3 darkens the image more that 2. Which you need is your judgement call.

I'm curious as to whether the 'big boys' feel that a ND filter will enhance a fog photo.

Good Luck and keep on plugging!

Her eyes dance!

Granddaughter Ashley

Oh, yes, there's more!

I'm pretty sure flash will not be allowed. Check beforehand.

An audio tape recorder will help in note-taking.

When you get home, examine all your shots while commenting internally on each set of exif data and your notes.

All of this work will generalize to other action shooting under low lights. The effort will be well rewarded.

Again, good luck! .. . . patrick

Some shooting suggestions . . . .

Try to shoot straight on with the subject coming straight at you. That will slow the apparent action down.
Avoid shooting with the subject moving across your viewfinder (unless you are looking for subject motion action effect).

Great effect: try a slow exposure setting and pan the camera with the subject as it moves across your viewfinder. The subject will be relatively sharp and the background will be motion blurred. (Yes, the arms and legs may be flailing about but that's what they do in action, isn't it?) Great for action!

Prefocus on a spot, put mirror up, and shoot as subject moves across that spot. The ultimate here is to set the entire mode to manual. That will release the shutter effectively the instant you press the release. The camera will not have to pause to compute all those variables.

Boost the ISO as high as you can get it watching the magnified review LCD image to examine noise.

Don't try to do your test shots just before the shoot.
Go on a previous night and spend the <entire> night taking test shots.
Practice the action shots.
Try various camera settings. Examine the histogram after every shot.
Record your setting variations and their results.
If the rink light is fairly constant, try going to manual exposure but keep the focus on auto (Unless you prefocus on a spot).

Good luck! . . . . patrick

I hope it wasn't the early B-17 where the ball turret gunner could not escape.

. . . . patrick (20year man)

I first saw this as photo-journalism reporting how far we have pushed the envelope of profligate waste.

I can, however, also view it as great art. How?

For anything to qualify as art for me, it must communicate something <and> must involve me emotionally. <Great> art should change my life forever.

For me, this item evokes a similar emotional response as did "The Scream".

. . . . patrick

One thing to check on these long reach lenses is at what point do they automatically close down to the minimum aperture?

I checked one 70-300mm job rated at f3.5-5.6.
It closed down to f5.6 at just under 100mm.

Maybe not a decision-making factor but significant.

. . . . patrick

Rats! Sorry about the duplicate!

Beware!
It's a favorite trick played on tourists, especially in Italy.
They take your camera, get you all lined up at a safe distance, then take off with your camera.
The camera is handed off to an affiliate around the corner who either ducks into a doorway or takes off on a bicycle -- with your camera.

At that point, it is his picture!

"Never criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
That way you are a mile away from him
and you've got his shoes!

. . . . patrick

Beware!
It's a favorite trick played on tourists, especially in Italy.
They get you lined up at a distance, then take off with your camera.
The camera is handed off to an affiliate around the corner who either ducks into a doorway or is off on a bicycle -- with your camera.

At that point, it's his picture.

"Never criticize someone until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
That way, you're a mile away from him.
And you've got his shoes!
. . . . patrick

No, it's photo-journalism.
You're supposed to be appalled at the volume of nonsense that is chewing up the bandwidth.
. . . . patrick

Something like this for starters

Bob, Elements 10 (maybe earlier) can process .jpg images in RAW. Set your preferencesl. I don't know where as I use PS CS5 but others have you stated on this site that you can set your preferences to load .jpg images into Camera RAW. It's a one-time setting in PS, hopefully also in Elements 10.

Good luck! . . . . patrick