Hockeymania

Scottwdw

Scottwdw

Member
Dennis (ddindy) and Dave (ExploringWDW) were my guests as the Syracuse Crunch hosted the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Crunch's 1,500th game in franchise history. ; I set them up in good shooting locations down by the ice during the first two periods and had them shoot from the mezzanine the last period.

Dennis also got to shoot the following night. ; I gave him a specific task he seemed to enjoy.

I will let them post their own photos from the experience. ; Here are some of mine from the game. ; All using the Nikon D7100 and 70-200VR I lens. ; I had very good results with AF-C focus mode using the Dynamic 51 (d51) setting. I went old school and had the camera in manual mode at 1/800s and f/4. ; Auto ISO and EV ranging from +0.3 to +1.3 depending on location.

Hamilton Bulldogs (and former Crunch) goalie Dustin Tokarski (34) blocks a shot by Syracuse Crunch J. T. Wyman (15) with his mask. Dustin was traded to the Bulldogs from the Crunch back in January (reason why he still is using a Tampa Bay Lightning themed mask). ; This was the first time the Bulldogs played in Syracuse since. ; He went on to shutout the Crunch by a score of 1-0.
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Syracuse Crunch defencemen Dmitry Korobov (44) blocks a shot by a Hamilton Bulldogs player in front of Crunch goalie Riku Helenius (31).
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Syracuse Crunch goalie Riku Helenius (31) makes a save against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
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Syracuse Crunch goalie Riku Helenius (31) making a save on a shot by Hamilton Bulldogs Steve Quailer (13).
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Great shots! ; Looking forward to Dennis and Dave's shots. ; Sounds like a great time!


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First off, a big thanks to Scott for setting Dennis and myself up with media passes for the Crunch game. Not only was admission free, but we could shoot from most anywhere we wanted.

I'll start off with a couple photos of Scott performing his duties as the official Syracuse Crunch Photographer.

Local school kids perform the Canadian and US National Anthems:




Ceremonial Puck Drop:


And the part of his job that is oh so tough:
 
And as a token of my appreciation for Scott getting us into this game, I will be sure to post all Pepsi marketing material...

 
Nice work Dave. ; Love the shots of the photographer, I think I've seen him somewhere.....


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I'd also like to add my thanks to Scott and his wife. ; Not only did I have a great time shooting the game, but they let me use their spare bedroom for two nights.

I'm still wading through my photos. ; Shooting hockey is tougher than it looks, especially when you're a fan and keep wanting to watch the game!

Here is Syracuse center Vlad Namestnikov losing the puck to Hamilton Bulldogs defenseman Greg Pateryn. It looks a little fuzzy due to shooting through the glass at a sharp angle.


Offense vs. defense

The second night was the annual Pucks For Paws fundraiser, where people could bring their dogs with them. ; Scott gave me two assignments: ; (1) follow the Zoom Tan Ice Girls around for the first two periods and get photos of them in action and (b) get photos of some of the dogs enjoying the festivities. ; I was lucky enough to cover both assignments in one shot.


Pucks for Paws
 
Nice action shot there Dennis. Agreed that shooting hockey is very difficult. I struggle to decide between trying to catch a developing play that tells a bit of a story or focus on getting closeups of expressions and action like your shot above. Would make it easier to choose a lens. Or I could use your method and go with two bodies and two different lenses...
 
The problem with having two cameras is, by the time you decide to switch, the action has moved on. ; Next time I need to concentrate on using one or the other during an attack. ; But of course you know I'll have the wrong one in my hands at the critical time. :)

On the plus side, my dual-camera BlackRapid strap worked great.
 
Thanks for the nice butt shot, Dave! ; Might share that one on Google+ with your permission.

Dennis, you're welcome anytime. ; Have you tried adding contrast to the through the glass shots? ; I find it helps to punch up the players. ; And speaking of punches...

Syracuse Crunch Jean-Francois Jacques (22) lands a right hook in a fight with Albany Devils Jay Leach (2) in retaliation for a hit on a Crunch player.
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Syracuse Crunch Vladislav Namestnikov (18) gets checked into the boards by Albany Devils David Wohlberg (25).
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Syracuse Crunch Philip-Michael Devos (88) gets a shot on net past an Albany Devils defender.
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Syracuse Crunch Brett Connolly (28) leaning into a shot with Albany Devils Alexander Urbom (6) defending.
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"ddindy" said:
The problem with having two cameras is, by the time you decide to switch, the action has moved on. ; Next time I need to concentrate on using one or the other during an attack. ; But of course you know I'll have the wrong one in my hands at the critical time. :)

On the plus side, my dual-camera BlackRapid strap worked great.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. I can see how switching mid play would cause you to miss the action. Maybe the best option would be to switch while play is stopped. Focus on optimizing shots for the setup you have in your hands at the moment. Then switch when convenient.

You did look pretty boss with that dual camera setup. ; 8)
 
"Scottwdw" said:
Thanks for the nice butt shot, Dave! ; Might share that one on Google+ with your permission.
Click to expand...

I was working with the angle you set me up with Scott. I made the best of it. ; ;D Feel free to share anything you like.
 
"ExploringWDW" said:
I was working with the angle you set me up with Scott. I made the best of it. ; ;D Feel free to share anything you like.
Click to expand...

I know...I do like it and will be sharing it. ; Thanks!
 
Scott, your shots have gotten much better from when you starting doing them - and they were good to begin with. ; Congrats!
 
Great stuff guys! ; Scott, it is awesome to see some of the up and coming (as well some dudes that wont ever make it) Devils. ; The shot of Jay Leach is awesome, I think I see some of the sweat in the air behind his head!
 
"Tim" said:
Scott, your shots have gotten much better from when you starting doing them - and they were good to begin with. ; Congrats!
Click to expand...

Thank you, Tim. ; Is it very satisfying to hear that. The Crunch don't push me as they are happy with anything. ; I try to improve every game. ; Try new things. ; Who knows, maybe I will get called up to Tampa someday. ; :D They just brought up the Crunch's head coach and they already have 6 of our best players, too.
 
"jbwolffiv" said:
Great stuff guys! ; Scott, it is awesome to see some of the up and coming (as well some dudes that wont ever make it) Devils. ; The shot of Jay Leach is awesome, I think I see some of the sweat in the air behind his head!
Click to expand...

John, once I get this album done, I'll send you links to all the Albany games to look through. ; We have played them a lot the last couple of months. ; Won't see them again unless it's in the playoffs.
 
Scott, I increased the contrast on that shot and re-posted it. ; There's a big reflection in the middle of the shot that I can't get rid of without a lot of work in PSE. ; I did see an improvement in other shots; I'll post them in the future. ; Thanks for the tip.

Here are a couple more from the weekend. ; Shooting from up in the nosebleed seats (which aren't very high in Syracuse) gave me a pretty good view of the whole rink. ; Here's what happens when Hamilton Bulldogs center Michael Bournival rushes the net and can't quite stop in time.


Goal mouth pileup


Syracuse Crunch goalie Riku Helenius makes a pad save during a game against the Albany Devils. ; This was shot through the one hole in the glass. ; It's just barely big enough to poke a 70-200 lens through.


Pad save
 
Syracuse Defenseman Matt Taormina retrieves the puck while being chased down by Hamilton's Zack Stortini, who leads his team with 203 penalty minutes as of the start of this game. If I was Matt, I would be looking over my shoulder too...



Later in the game, Zack showed us how he earns his dubious title...





Anyone got any input on these? Specifically, the first one: It looks a bit blown out but the "blinkies" in Lightroom really don't show a significant amount lost. I like the look and it almost makes me want to push the exposure a bit on the other two.
 
They look good to me. ; Matt Taormina, a former Devils farm hand, had a cup of coffee with them and I always liked his play.
 
Since we're all doing fight photos, here's the fight that occurred just minutes before the one in Dave's shots. ; High-speed continuous shutter release for the win!

Eric Neilson of Syracuse lands a right cross on Kyle Hagel of Hamilton.


Ooof!


After the game, the two goalies shared a hug. ; I'll leave it to Scott to fill you in on the story behind this.


I love you, man
 
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