Your Guide to Improving Your Hockey Photography
That might be my Canadian bias speaking, but I don’t care. It’s the best.
Where else can you experience all the thrills of players thunderously checking each other over the boards and shooting frozen bits of rubber at ankle-breaking speeds, all while having knives strapped to their feet?
Seriously, it’s the best.
Then, while all this is going on, you’re standing in the corner with a camera and wondering how to translate everything unfolding before your eyes onto the LCD screen.
Welcome, my friend, to the exciting world of hockey photography.
So how do I take better hockey pictures?
To get hockey pictures you can be proud of, you need to understand the constraints you are working with.
Photography is about light, and you generally don’t have much light to work with. Combine that with the fact that the players are whizzing past at breakneck speeds and you have some truly challenging work conditions.
By understanding your limitations and setting up your camera to deal with them (whether you have a iPhone or a top-of-the-line DSLR), you can take pictures that will make people say “Wow!”
You will also take hundreds of pictures that will be blurry, boring and completely worthy of being deleted. So there’s that to look forward to as well.
And remember: Practice makes perfect!
About the Author
Hi, my name is Frank Myrland and I'm a photographer based near Orangeville, Ontario. While I am active in most types of photography, I mostly enjoy sports, events, family and commercial photography.
I like to learn by doing — and also to share my own experiences for the benefit of others, whether they are just getting into photography or if they are well on their way to mastering their style and craft.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions at all at [email protected]
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I am shooting my first high school hockey game tonight. Thanks for the tips!
What camera do you recommend? What camera was used for the above pics?
The pictures in this article were taken with either a Canon 7D (my older camera) or a Canon 5D Mark 3 (my current camera).
Thumbs up!
I completely agree with what you wrote so far, looking forward to the next part!