Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Photographing beer league ice hockey


I thought playing ice hockey was humbling -- until, last night, I tried to photograph my friends' upper division game at the Pasadena rink.

Check out the results here. One of the better shots is above and it's not that good.


Yeah, I know. I suck!

I've spent some time reading up on photographing ice hockey today and here are a few things I've learned:

•It may be a good idea to rent a fast telephoto lens. I used my Nikon 70 to 200 mm 4-5.6 telephoto. Too slow. Way too slow. My Nikon 5100 DSLR is perfectly good -- but these cameras are only as good as the lens you put on them.

•At the least I should ditch the lens (or rented a good one) because the autofocus is busted -- and ice hockey is a big-time test of autofocus because of the speed and poor lighting.

•Don't use shutter speeds of less than 1/1,000 second. I was shooting on 1/250th to 1/400th and that was generally no good. I don't think shooting through the glass helped -- may be best to hang out near the bench and be careful you don't bonked with a puck or stick.

Here is a good post on shooting ice hockey. Basic tips: fast lens, high shutter speed, high ISO and find a clean spot in the glass. I'm looking forward to trying again -- God knows the sport is photogenic enough.

--S.H.

Dog eats from Pasadena Cup


After seven seasons of trying, my team finally won a division title at the Pasadena rink. The division 4 Pasadena Cup, it turns out, is bigger than your average salad bowl.

This is my dog T-Bear enjoying breakfast from the Cup the morning after we won it. I downed my beer from it the preceding evening but I'd drink from it anywhere, anytime.

The Cup has since moved on to another teammate who I pray is heaping other indignities upon it.

--S.H.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Drive-thru

Drive-thru by JulieAndSteve
Drive-thru, a photo by JulieAndSteve on Flickr.

Fueling up for early Sunday a.m. pickup. This is high-performance food, right?

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Bailey!

Bailey! by JulieAndSteve
Bailey!, a photo by JulieAndSteve on Flickr.

Of course, my second-best pic of the Los Angeles Kings parade is of the mascot, albeit he is a good mascot.

Dustin Brown and the Stanley Cup!

It looks so shiny and beautiful. I want to touch it. I mean the Cup, not Brown -- nothing against Brown, mind you.

L.A. Kings parade -- Drew Doughty and Dustin Penner

Penner definitely should not have shaved. He should have built a cabin in the mountains and become the next Grizzly Adams.

Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings parade

Best shot I got at the parade today in downtown L.A. That's Justin Williams at right, Brad Richardson holding the orange phone and Slava Voynov (#26).