Sports Photography: How to Score Big with Hockey Photography
The hockey season is in full swing making it the perfect opportunity for expanding your photography portfolio. Generally speaking, hockey photography is similar to many indoor sports, but every sport has its peculiarities. Let’s take a look at what they are so nothing takes you by surprise next time you’re at the hockey rink.
Before you get started with hockey photography, it’s a good idea to know what you need to arrange in advance, what equipment to bring, and what locations have the best angles in the stadium. In the second part of this article, you’ll learn about the specific photography equipment you need for hockey photography.
It all starts with accreditation
For most professional sports games, you first need to get accreditation. You need to apply for accreditation well in advance, usually by contacting the team’s press officer. In your application, include the reason you’re applying for accreditation. I recommend sending a link to your social media profile or photography website so the press officer can see your work.
Once you have your accreditation, secure a photography vest. 99% of sporting events won’t let you in without one. Also, find out how to obtain access to the stadium.
With your vest and accreditation in hand, explore the facilities and locate the press or media center. This is a place to take breaks, do some work, or get refreshments.
Basic camera settings
Hockey is a fast-paced sport and the right camera settings are crucial. Using the exposure triangle as a guideline, I recommend a shutter speed of 1/1000s or less, an f-number of f/3.2 or f/3.5, and Auto ISO.
In general, a fast shutter speed is good for fast-paced sports. It allows you to freeze the movement of the players.
As you know, the surface of the ice is pure white, but the camera usually exposes to a dull gray. To keep the surface of the ice white, I recommend setting the exposure to positive values.
For focusing, I use continuous focus mode with subject tracking and the highest possible frame rate.
Shooting location is key
The places available for photographers vary from stadium to stadium and each club has its own rules. Generally speaking, the higher the hockey league, the more restrictions. I have three favorite places for hockey photography that are available at most stadiums. This excludes any special camera placement, like on the structure over the goal with a remote shutter.
The first shooting location and my absolute favorite is next to the boards by the bench. From here, you can get interesting close-ups of players and coaches on the bench. You can many photos filled with emotion, like celebrating goals, team huddles, etc.
If you have space, you can set a longer shutter speed and try taking some shots using the panning technique. The idea is to focus on one player and try to keep them in focus in the same position in the viewfinder at all times, while the rest of the players are out of focus. This results in a very interesting effect.
Keep your eyes on the game. Hockey sticks can go flying and you can even be hit by the puck.
Sports photographers always need to be alert to avoid any possible accidents.
Not all photographers can get between the benches in every hockey rink, especially because the space is very small. There may also be plexiglass panels, which can worsen the contrast and details of any photos taken there.
The second shooting location is in the corner along the boards. Sometimes there are even chairs set up so you don’t get in the way of the spectators. This is usually where you can get a lot of face-offs and fights for the puck, but it’s also a nice place to get good pictures of the goalies. I mainly use this location during power plays, when it becomes the main stage for the duration of the power play.
I use an anti-reflection lens hood, which you can read more about in the article about hockey photography camera equipment. In NHL games, the plexiglass panels have a camera opening. It’s a closable window for the lens so the photographer doesn’t get glare.
You don’t have to worry about fights with hockey sticks, the puck, or players. But you may encounter an angry fan who throws a cup of beer at you. This most likely occurs in the fan zone, but it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for.
The last popular shooting location is the elevated area among the spectators. This is where you can take photos from overhead and can use a wide-angle lens to take a photo of the entire rink and the stands, or close-ups of fans celebrating.
If you’re lucky, you can take some photos from the locker room of the winning team. But this is usually reserved for the official team photographer.
Editing hockey photos in ZPS X
Hockey is a game full of face-offs and fights, and if you want to get interesting pictures, you need to be ready with your finger on the shutter button at all times.
The flip side of having so much to shoot, can be the high volume of photos you end up with. You can easily come home with thousands of images that you have to go through. You can use the Manager module to help you select the best. The Manager module gives you close-ups of the face with the help of AI so you can quickly see whether a photo is sharp or not.
I recommend using star ratings for labeling your photos, which you add using the numeric keypad 1-5.
Before you start editing, I recommend setting a white background in Zoner Photo Studio X. The reason is simple—you want the surface of the ice to be as white as possible. A different background color may distort your perception of white. As a result, the color of the ice surface may be more gray or yellow.
Everyone has their own distinctive style and uses different tools when editing. I’d like to briefly focus on adjustments to the photos’ brightness, especially the brightness of the ice. I mention it because it’s not easy to find the right exposure settings so that you don’t get dull grey images. For this reason, I always focus on adjustments to the image’s brightness.
There are multiple sliders and options in ZPS X for adjusting brightness. You can either increase the overall brightness of the photo by increasing Exposure, or you can adjust the White point slider to stretch the Histogram to the desired values.
Zoner Photo Studio X also offers useful Dynamic Range adjustments, using the Lights and Whites sliders, which I use often because they only minimally affect the dark areas of the photo.
The last option is Tone Curve adjustments. At first glance, the Tone Curve may seem complicated and unclear. But if you play around with it for a while, you can find that editing with curves is actually quite simple. The ability to add additional points to the curve and change their position gives you more editing options. The tools you decide to use are up to you. I myself often use a combination of multiple tools.
I like to use a lot of vignetting in my photo editing, but not for photos of the ice rink. I add vignetting to close-ups of players, jerseys, fans, etc.
In closing
The right preparation, shooting locations, and ability to react quickly to the dynamics of the game are essential for capturing memorable moments. Different places on the ice offer a unique perspective—whether it’s emotional close-ups at the bench, thrilling action in the corners, or dramatic long shots from higher up in the stadium.
Zoner Photo Studio X is a great tool for editing hockey photography. It can help you fine-tune your photos’ exposure and contrast. If you want to learn more about choosing the right photo equipment for hockey photography, be sure to check out the second part of this article.
