Settings and advice for shooting iceshow

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Settings and advice for shooting iceshow

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Citadine

Meltdown

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Joined: Jul '12
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Hi,

I've been reading this forum for a while and finally decided to register since I have a question.

Does anyone have any advice on camerasettings on the D7000 for shooting an IceShow?
Naturally it involves fast movement and is set in a semi-dark environment.

At the moment I only have two lenses since I am pretty new to this :)

Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
NIKKOR AF-S DX 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Planning to get the Nikkor AF-S DX 35/1,8 G aswell for $50 from a friend that switched to Canon....

Any ideas and tips would be great!

Thanks!

-Patrik

Posted 10 months ago #
sevencrossing

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Do some practice shots in a venue with similar lighting at various ISO values

You need the highest ISO you will accept and that is a personal thing

If you can get close enough the 50mm f1.4 should give better results to the 18 -300

IMHO noise is more acceptable than subject movement , so crank up the ISO and shoot at f 1.4

Posted 10 months ago #
Gareth

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see if you can go to the rink, or any rink if you cant get to that one and see if you will be happy with the 50mm.

i doubt very much that you'll be able to shoot at 5.6.

you will need to sit where all of the skaters will pass through a lit zone that you can shoot. preferably with an uncluttered background.

Posted 10 months ago #
msmoto

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I will +1 both above, with one caveat... occasionally the spot lights are very bright and will give adequate lighting to shoot at fairly high shutter speeds, and at f/5.6. My suggestion, take the long lens to the show, on the first action if possible, using the spot metering, shoot some and see what you get. It may be possible to use this. One word of caution is the performance of the 18-300 at 300mm and f/5.6 may not be stellar, however, it is adequate for snapshots. The problem of course is switching from the 18-300 to the 50mm if desired for shots which include more overall scenes with less hot spotlights.

In the final analysis, just like virtually everyone of us finds out, we will struggle with news venues by trial and error no matter what precautions we take. Plan on shooting at a high FPS so as to capture the action in its best position.

Posted 10 months ago #
ericbowles

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Joined: Jun '09
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The thing that can be tough is changing backgrounds. If you are shooting down on the show, your background is going to be the ice. I'd probably add +1 stop of exposure comp as a starting point but you might need more.

If you are at "skater level", it is more challenging since the background lighting may be dark. You'll need to see what exposure works with a bit more trial and error.

I find that mixed backgrounds are most problematic. My guess is Manual exposure mode will be useful to lock in your correct subject exposure if the backgrounds are changing.

At some point during the show, there will probably be some low light situations. Be sure to change your exposure and dial in minus exposure compensation if the scene is dark.

Posted 10 months ago #
proudgeek

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I've shot college and youth hockey a few times. A couple of things to consider:

Don't use Auto White Balance. Try experimenting with different color temperatures. I found that about 3,500K worked best, but yours will be different depending on the lighting.

The ice will act like a huge reflector. I found that I needed to over expose by 2/3 to a full stop in order to ensure the ice didn't come out looking gray. Think shooting a snow-covered field.

I shot with a D90 and didn't feel comfortable pushing the ISO above 1600. The D7000 may perform better.

Agreed on the 50 f/1.4. Shoot it wide open if you can. You're going to need all the light you can to keep ISO and shutter speeds at acceptable levels. I used a 70-200 f/2.8 also wide open.

Posted 10 months ago #
ben_v3

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Joined: Jul '12
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I shot a hockey game last night with the D7000 and the 70-200. What an awesome lens. Although on a DX body its actually a little too long when your at center ice. I was getting great shots at f/2.8, ISO 1000 and shutter speeds around 1/500+. I shot RAW and left the WB in auto. Ill fine tune it in Lightroom. Looking quickly at some of the images I would take Proudgeek's advice and over expose just a bit.

Posted 10 months ago #
shawnino

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So a variation on a theme: I'm going to a hockey game tomorrow night, and somebody I know "wants some pictures". I'm not going as a tog; I'm going as a spectator. I'm going to be nine rows up, on the blue line. I'm not really thrilled at the prospect of carrying my camera to a hockey game as I can only assume it will cut down on my consumption of food and refreshment, but never mind. I'm stuck doing this. I want to take some decent pictures, or at least deliver more than this person deserves.

Under the circumstances, I can only take one lens. D90 (crop sensor). Realistic options include:
55-300 kit lens (may struggle handheld with high lighting, ice surface?)
85mm f/1.4D (too wide or am I OK?)
135mm f/2 (my favourite lens, but since this is my hammer, everything looks like a nail)
200mm micro f/4 (works great outdoors for rugby as a regular lens--can it transition?)

Suggestions?

Setting suggestions also greatly appreciated. I want to spend most of my time enjoying the hockey, not taking test shots and chimping my results.

Thanks.

Posted 10 months ago #
msmoto

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Joined: Mar '10
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Oh, my...D90....ISO 1600-3200? I would shoot wide open and see what shutter speed can be used at ISO 1600. With white ice I would give at least +1ev and see what you get. May need more with the D90. Oh, 135mm f/2...yes, was just out shooting flowers with an extension tube...very sharp lens. And on D90, like an f/2 200. I would shoot a lot of shots at 4 FPS. Maybe try JPEG if it will give you more shots in the burst. Also, try to shoot when the players are moving right to left or visa versa, as the autofocus of the D90 135mm may not be able to keep up with the extremely rapid movement forward and back. But , shoot about 300 shots and get three to five....

The "glass" shield you are shooting through will kind of mess things up, but you will most likely get something. Let us see them on PAD. And, tape the lens hood in place....

Posted 10 months ago #
shawnino

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Ah, crap. I'd forgotten about the glass. I'd hope I'm high enough that I won't need to contend with that on top of the rest. "I guess we'll see."

There's something else I haven't mastered, posting to PAD *sigh*

I'm not always this cranky. OK, I am :) I'm always cranky! Thanks for your kind advice msmoto... I appreciate it. I had been thinking about ISO. I had been guessing 400, since there has to enough lights for the players to see what they're doing. I get the sinking suspicion I'm in for a rude awakening.

Posted 10 months ago #
msmoto

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The only way any of us ever learned this stuff was to try it... and as I noted....300 exposures.... wide open with the 135mm, ISO at least 800 for some and 1600 as necessary... with the hockey players I would be trying for 1/250th sec maybe even 1/500. Now, you may catch some with 1/125th. Also, manual focus may be required as the glass can mess up some autofocus systems, especially if dirty. But... shoot it....shoot a lot. If you get absolutely nothing, well, you have learned a lot of things that do not work. Do not forget the +1ev.

See the instructions on the main page for posting to PAD...or here, I have copied it for you:

To post photos from flickr, please upload to flickr an image of at least 2000px or full size if you like. Then, from your photostream, click the photo and you will see at the upper left a "Share" tab. Click this, select "Medium 800" as your size for the HTML code, copy this HTML code and then paste it into your post on Photo-A-Day.

Posted 10 months ago #
shawnino

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Thanks msmoto.

I'm not much for social media. Flickr, Facespace, etc. I have yet to sign up in an effort to really put the "twit" into "twitter". I will go and look at the instructions. Maybe there's a non-Flickr way.

Off to the game in a few hours...

Posted 10 months ago #
proudgeek

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A couple of things to note:
If you're on the blue line, you'll likely be behind the benches, so less glass to worry about. Hopefully you're high enough that you're above the glass behind the bench.

Use the 135 f/2.0 and shoot it wide open. Maybe shoot with shutter priority with a variable ISO and cap it out at 1600 and see what you get.

Shoot +1 EV.

Shoot players moving right to left (or visa versa). Fewer AF features as msmoto said, but you'll also reduce the dof issues that come with shooting wide open.

Posted 10 months ago #
msmoto

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@shawnino I use Flickr only as a photo posting tool. Rarely do I respond to comments or go looking at others photos. But, I shoot a lot of photos as a service to groups and these are posted on Flickr in most cases.

It is very easy to sign up and costs nothing unless you want to really post a lot...which I do. (Currently about 850 photos) Also, on Flickr one can see their photos in a very large format which is the real test for whether it is sharp or not.

I think the Flickr home is http://www.flickr.com

Posted 10 months ago #

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Settings and advice for shooting iceshow

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