#3 Hole Save

It is tough not be excited about hockey this time of year.  It is this week in 1980, 40 years ago if my math is correct, that the USA Men's hockey team beat the best team, amateur or pro, in the world.  A group of college kids beat the Red Army.  In 9 of 10 games, it would be the other way around - but on on February 22, 1980 that 1 in 10 happened.  There are three events that I remember where I was and who I was with.  This is one of them.  Thank you YouTube.
So the Pens win over the weekend and are looking like they are playoff bound.  I'm getting to the point where I can say 'my' Firebirds, and my Firebirds are looking good as well.  So I'm in the hockey mood these days.  (I've been working on some aircraft photos taken last spring in an effort to have warm thoughts about this year's tour, but not over this week.)
So in the hockey mood, I took the D780 out for its first night out.  Lucky to have any good results at all, I was playing with the menu a lot.  But only on the DLSR side, not the mirrorless side.  Still working on the mirrorless stuff.
One of the things I need to see work is that the new camera would write to both cards.  So I set it to write RAW files to one and JPG files to the other card.  (Spoiler Alert, both slots work.)  And I have a JPG file to work with as well, for comparative purposes.
The #3 hole save.

Straight from the camera.

My take.

Goalie #3 Hole Save

NIKON D780 Ver.01.00/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

300 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2200 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode

One of the advantages I've been using as a crutch when shooting with the D500 is the focal length there is a optical 'trick' that gives an allusion of a larger lens.  Not so here.  300 mm is 300 mm here.  But it was enough.
Saturday was Tropical night.  Dig those outfits.

Another Hockey Night - and what I learned.

For Saturday night's game between Flint and the Guelph Storm, there were items to check off for the hockey photography project.
First, was to get a front row seat.  Not behind the net.  I was able to get a seat a few feet away from the home penalty box.  The good news is I was across from the Flint team bench and I got to see a lot of the bench action.  And I was pretty much at eye level as the subjects.  Great perspective for many shots.  On the not so good side, I had way too much lens for the location.  I was using the 70-300.  If I had the same seats again, the 18-200 would be it.  (Building the case for a 70-200 2.8.)  Rookie mistake, but since I seem to have the wrong lens all the time, I still did OK.  I have practice.  
As with any seat in an arena, there are good and bad elements.  The good - great eye level action.  Fast.  The not so good, parts of the ice that are not visible.  In the end, all three seat locations I chose had great points.  And some draw backs.
But only in the front row can you see this.

Up Against the Glass

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

In real life, this happens so fast - and is fun.  For photography, this was fun.  The reflections of the fan jerseys are very cool.  The scratches in the Plexiglas almost look like autograph.  Very interesting.  Just doesn't look the same from the second row back.  I think everyone should have a front row seat once in their life.
Another goal for the night was to set the speed (1/800 sec), the aperture (f/5.6) and let the ISO float.  Let the ISO roam everywhere.  As long is it was under 6500.  In the previous nights out, I tried to keep the ISO at 1000 or 800.  I'd make up the difference in software.  And that worked OK, but it was work.  As I did research (YouTube) on photographing hockey all said I had to free up the ISO - much higher than 1000.  And all said the D500 could handle it.  Goal set.
The ISO story.  And this is embarrassing, because I thought in the even light of the arena all setting should be even.  And that is totally incorrect.  For the night, the ISO wandered from 1100 to 6400 (Auto Limit).  Most images were in the area of 1800 to 2800.  But the good news is, even the shots at 6400 came out well and didn't need much work.  Moral of the story.  Let the camera do the work.
One of the other items to play with the JPG functionality.  I set the D500 for Standard.  Overall I was pleased with the outcome.  It was about 80% of what I'd do.  The biggest shortfall was leveling.  When you're following fast action around with a few pounds on the front of your face, I've found leveling is the first thing to take a hit.  Auto focus is lightning fast, auto leveling not so much.  If at all.
Even shooting JPGs, I'd still make a few edits.  But if I had to deliver a number of shots, with decent lighting I'd consider going the JPG route.  Consider.
So most of the shots are from the front row.  I've gotten into the practice of watching the third period from above the seats.  That gets me above the Plexiglas and I had plenty of lens.  Shots are good, but the angles are a bit off.  They'll fix up OK.

I like this shot because of the crown movement in one direction.  There is one player basically going right, but looking behind.

Going Left

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

142 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3600 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Some of the shots I like feature extreme angles.  Like making a quick change of direction.  Reminds me of the skiing days.  Also, in all the Flint shots, the bench for a background is never bad.  Everyone is watching the game.

Cut Right

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This is a fun sequence.  I could see the shooter winding up for the slapper, and this is the end shot, just before he was prone on the ice.  If only the puck were in the shot.

Shot Follow Through

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

202 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I had two favorite shots from the night.  This is one.  Spoiler alert, the puck is in the glove.  But this was great to watch develop.  Call the cops, this guy was robbed.
The other favorite, unfortunately, will not make the blog.  It was from the first row, a breakaway by Guelph to the Flint goal.  I had it the whole way.  Until the photo access hole in the Plexiglas got in the way.  AAAHHHGGG.  Wooda, Coulda, Shoulda.
But this will go in the screen saver collection.  Top of the crease, text book.

Glove Save

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

187 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I bet this is the longest two minutes in sports.  NCAABB might give it a run, but here you are alone.  Unless your teammates decide to keep you company, but that is usually frowned upon.  I was waiting for this to happen.  I have four shots in the series, but this one seems to have the most character.  I like the footwork.  This two minutes didn't cost a goal, coming out too fast.  Not the walk of shame speed.

Did My Time

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

240 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Usually at some point of any game, more than the puck ends up in the net.  This was very close to the end of the game, and Guelph was not holding back.  The track into the net left by the skate can be seen.  Accident investigation.  Best fun photo of the evening.

Wrong Thing in the Net

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

A very good evening.  Great game.  Good photos.

Hockey Mini Style

In the continuing journey that is indoor arena photography, last night's efforts had a few goals which I will get into in other posts.  
One of the joys of going to hockey games, from the not so pro leagues to the NHL is the time between periods is never dull.  It's not pierogi races, but close enough.
Last night's game featured a five minute game between one of the younger age league games.  I didn't catch the ages or the teams but it was fun to watch.  All the elements of the game were there.  Passing. Hitting.  Scoring.  
From my seat, I was directly across from one goal.  Unfortunately taking photos of the other net didn't fare too well.  The Plexiglas pretty much took out the angle.
But what I have is what I have here.

A pro-hockey sized goal is four feet tall.  All you need to know here.  I like this shot because you can see the eyes of the goalie looking this way.

Mini-Goalie Eyes

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6 ISO 2200 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Once the mini game was started, this guy, or gal, was all business.  Most of the action was in the other end.

Mini-Goalie

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6 ISO 2000 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

All you need to know about hockey checking is right here.  Would be nice to see the puck somewhere.  I was focused on the center action and didn't notice the check on the left.  I like anything with feet off the ground (ice).

Mini-Check

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

123 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6 ISO 1250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Here is the beginning of a superstar career.  Trying to take the puck between two defenders.  And he or she will learn and succeed.

Mini-Gathering

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6 ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Very entertaining five minutes.

Another Night at the Rink

Back to the Flint Arena for another try at some hockey action photography.  This time my seat was in the third row, right behind the home goal.  This had some benefits and some challenges.
My plan was to take some shots from my seat for the first two periods.  That would allow a change of ice for the teams.  For the third period, I'd go back above the sets and to center ice.  Shots with no obstructions.
In the end, these were different shots.  And that is what I'm going for.
First the funny stuff.  No photograph ever improves because you put an obstacle between the camera and the subject.  Filters or Plexiglas.  I've ready read from some posters on the UHH that low level rink shots are tough because of the Plexiglas that surrounds the rink for protection of the fan, or to keep the puck in play.  The Plexiglas will scratch and scar.  Maybe the light will bend?  I didn't even think of a possible distortion aspect.

Now that was one issue.  Here is the other.  The panels are only so wide and depending on where your seat is they can be close together.  Holding each pane is a non-clear support.

Still, the angles of the game from here were just too good to give up.  One of the things I had to work on was to capture a good auto focus target through all this.  Fortunately I could easily tell when the AF caught the wrong target, such as a blemish on the Plexiglas.    And just as fortunate I could lose the AF lock and reacquire within a few seconds.  And the AF would also keep lock while passing over the false targets.  This is not to say that were not a few misses, all I said is I had the chance to work on it.
All the shots were at ISO 800 and 1/1000 sec.  I've been experimenting with the Anti-Vibration turned off when shooting over 1/600 but not this time out.  I may not have needed it for the photograph, but I needed it for my eyesight through the viewer.  The shots out of the camera were on the dark side, but not by much. Fixable,  but I will say the pictures on the blog are darker than what I have at home.  Not sure what happened there.
I did a lot of this for the night, I would play a guessing game - guess where the action would be.  Focus on the goalie for example, and hit the shutter when I thought something was going to happen.  I tried not to take 'portrait' shots, but looking for more action shots.  And the definition of action is a bit on the loose side.  A puck in the shot added value.  A defender or two close by would help as well.

This shot was one I was thinking about.  Lots of stop action.  Ice snow flying.  The blemishes on the Plexiglas do get lost in the shot, thankfully.  And if the linesman standing on the line were not there, this would be pretty good.

Stop on a Dime

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

123 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This was sort of a fun shot.  Some action, puck rolling.  What allowed this to be a keeper is all four players are total, that is they have heads and feet.  I do not mind with some referee being a percentage, this case headless.  But the players need to be total.

One through Two

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Well most of the players are whole, but there are a lot of them so there are exceptions to the rules.  The puck is there.  Not too many Flint players though.

Net Front Congestion

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

From eye level, this is the type of shot I wanted to get.  As an unexpected surprise, not only is the primary subject moving between two defenders and the puck is in play, but the bench for both teams is awesome.  Everyone is looking at the play.  No one is yawning.

To the Net

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

142 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This was taken along the same view line.  The bench isn't showing the same amount of excitement.  But the defenseman on the left is just about to hit the ice.  That has to be worth something.

Cross Net Pass

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

135 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

When I think of the night's hockey shots this is the one.   Problem is, it is too close.  As we can see, the closer the shot, the more the defects show up in the shots.  If I was going to do anything more with this picture, I'd try to remove some of the blemishes.  Might involve a bit of time.  Although I don't have a total defenseman, I do have his stick is a not normal position.  In fact, this would be evidence of hooking or even a penalty shot.  No penalty called.  #NotSurprised  It was fun watching this sequence unfold through the viewfinder.

Alone in Front

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

127 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

By this time I had moved out of my seat behind the goal, so this was taken at an elevated position.  Nice, clear, no spots.  This was a clear breakaway and the shot.  And actually the interesting thing is the puck is a bit off the ice.  I'm looking too close to these shots.

Between the Dots

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This is the second favorite shot from the night.  All the requisite elements are present.  Puck, players, snow ice and a (almost) goal.  Just wide.  But who is counting.  It's a good shot.  Both hockey and photo.  And truth in photography, I had to remove a defense stick from the right of the image.  Artistic license.

Tap In

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

247 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Good night at the rink.  I may have to go more often.  

A Night at the Rink - Flint Firebirds

In a hockey sense, it's been a great week.  Last Monday night I was in Pittsburgh to take in a Pen's game against the Ottawa Senators at the PPG arena.  Last night, it was the Flint Firebirds going against the London Knights in Flint.
The Pen's are NHL.  I watch most every Pen's game via the NHL on line app.  The Flint Firebirds are OHL, Ontario Hockey League.  The Firebirds play in an arena that can accommodate just over 4k people, plus a few extra SRO if necessary.  The Flint rink is 15 feet shy of a NHL size rink, and just as wide.  There are rinks in the league that are the NHL size.
The OHL is a league of twenty teams, mostly for ages 16 to 21.  Seventeen teams are Canadian, three teams are south of the northern border.  I thought last night's game was fun to watch.  The players can play.  
That was from the hockey fan in me.  Now the photographer take.
Back to an indoor arena.  Crappy light (no offense, pretty good for watching, not so good for photography.), high ISO and speed.  Stuff I live for.
I only shot about 300 images.  For ISO I stayed mostly at 800.  I did a few at 1000 and 640.  For speed I used 1/1000 of a second.  I could live with 1/800 sec, but not 1/640 sec.  I was also at f/5.6 for all shots, as open as the lens would go.  There were very few DOF issues, I was far from the action.  Most of this I learned from shooting the indoor horse photographs.
On the D500, it works.  On the D7200, to keep 1/1000 sec, I'd probably have to bump up the ISO to 1000 or slightly higher.
For frame speed, I used 7 FPS.  Shooting only 300 for the night would indicate I had much better control of the shutter.  Yes, I did miss a few shots by not keeping the sequence going.  I will learn from this.
As far as the missed shots for the night, there were a few.  I seem to have a consistent issue with trying to get the shot so tight that I 'miss' the top of the head of the subject.  The action is fast.  It's a learning thing.  The other 'misses' were focus issues, but not what you would think.  My seat was center ice for most shots.  At some point during the game, I moved to one end of the ice, behind the goalie to get another perspective.  Good idea, bad move.  There is protective netting that sort of gets in the way of the auto-focus.  In hind sight, I could have altered the AF settings to play around and the might be the next project.  But what I did try was turning off the AF, and going manual.  Action is way too fast for that.  The best way to get those shots would be front row seating, just past the goals.  And hope the Plexiglas in front isn't too scarred up.  Again, another reason to go to another game.  In a different seat.
Other techniques used that I learned elsewhere.  The action was fast enough I couldn't follow the puck through the viewfinder.  So I would watch the goalie - and press the trigger when I expected something to happen.  That is taken from air shows following one subject (jet) until you think something is going to happen (crossing opposing jet).  Sometimes it worked.  The other technique was to shoot with both eyes open.  I have the right eye in the viewfinder, but if I can keep the left eye open I can still see a bigger picture.  After a while, it is not that difficult to see a larger environment.

And to the game:
Within the first few minutes of the game start, there was a group photo meeting behind the London goal.  The team introductions could have been at that point, everyone but the Flint goalie was there.  Refs as well.

Post Scuffle

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

262 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6. ISO 1000

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

In most of the shots, I tried to crop out the fans in the seats as much as possible.

Net Front Traffic

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

It always amazes me how goalies can track the puck with all that is going on front of them.  This just happened to line up with my seat.

Locked In

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

For as much as I tried, I have very few shots with shots.  It was usually because I didn't keep the shutter button pressed long enough.  I'll go with rookie mistake on this one.  Room for improvement.  The puck can be seen in this shot however, just to the right of the goalie's mask on on the shoulder.  Yep, I planned it that way.

High Blocked Shot

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

232 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

Again back to the goalies.  A position not for the faint of heart.

Traffic

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

262 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

Yep I followed the puck all night and planned this shot.  But when you think about it, the puck has to be somewhere.

Busy Front

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

247 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

Of all my shots for the night, my favorite is not actually a hockey shot.  It involves players, but the puck is long gone from these two.  There is a lot going on with this shot.  First, I would like to get a shot of the Flint player on the giving side of this disagreement, not the receiver but you have to take what you can get.  Next, it is a lousy place to take a hit, the bench door is slightly ajar.  Lots of times this scenario does not end well.  Next, two of the bench players with completely different looks.  #28 has the grimace and #74 has the another day at the office look.  And the non-player just turning away.  And yep, both feet are off the ice.  Just great.

Flint Firebird Hit

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

277 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6. ISO 800

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, DX

It was a fun night.  Happy you can take a camera in for this.