11 year old hockey game

You are about two stops under exposing. Keep everything the same but move the shutter speed to 1/800 or 1/1000 and reevaluate.

I think a 70-200 2.8 would make a big difference to shooting any indoor sport versus an aperture as low as 5.6. Besides, in hockey you need to add +EV to make the ice white (at least +1 EV). On the plus side, you can definitely drop your speed down to about 1/640.

It would also help to get down to ice level. Pictures from the stands will always look like pictures from the stands, no matter how good your equipment.

I use Nikon 85mm F1.8 and shot through the glass. 70-200 is a nice lens, but you would mostly get the numbers on the back







instead of faces.
85mm is not that pricey and focuses dead accurate and fast.

Downside – you have to have the rink with clear glass.

For 11 y.o Shutter speed 1/400 is sufficient.

Thanks for the advice. Somewhat better but. Ice is still too dark and the darks are too dark.

Are you shooting manual? Not sure why the camera underexposes when you've got room to move still.

Set it to Shutter priority, set shutter to 1/800 and let the camera control ISO and Aperture. Also, since you're shooting Ice (e.g. a white surface), you might want to add 2/3 positive exposure compensation.

Lenses...the faster the better. Dont have to fork out $$$$ for a 70-200, try the 85 1.8 first, which is over 1 stop faster for 1/3 the cost and see how you go

Is there a reason for shooting at f/10?

Nikon d7100 is the excellent camera for low light shooting. Seems like you have enough light at the rink for decent pictures.

F10 is way to slow.
Try what previous poster suggested. You can low shutter speed to 1/400 for peewee level. At the practice you can probably shoot from the players bench.

Basically there are two major approaches for hockey.

1. Set aperture and shutter speed EV+2/3 of 1.0 and let camera pick ISO
2. Completely manual. Light at the rink is pretty leveled. I usually go to the goalie, because he does not move to much and taking test pictures based in goalie face. If face looks exposed well - here is my exposure set up.

3. If you have trouble with WB - you can try to bounce it off the ice.

d7100 and 85 F1.8 my favorite set up. Most of the rinks in our area have a protective netting all over and shooting from the bleachers is out, and I don't like it anyway.
Do search in this forum for Donald Chen. He posts really good hockey pictures and some good advices also.

Few more hundred pictures an you will figure it out - no school needed
Good luck.

It seems the OP is new to DSLR and has no clue of what he/she should be setting. As mentioned you don't have a very good lens for this sport, but you should be getting pretty decent pictures. If I am wrong by saying you are new to DSLR, I apologize. But your shutter speed is too high to get the amount of light needed for these shots. You need to chose manual as suggested or shutter priority for shooting these types of shots. The classes are a good thing for you for later when you start seeing what is needed to shoot sports, but in the meantime try the suggestions offered by the previous posters for settings and see how you get by for now! They have offered the best advice for you until you start getting the feel for this. No harm intended by this posting! Good Luck shooting in the meantime! And don't be afraid to post as you have been because this is where you will get help in getting this sorted out.

Note: The D-7100 is a very good camera for shooting sports! ;-)

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Glenn
I'm kinda partial to video, but I'm hangin!

Dear OP,

I think it would really help if you asked questions, as opposed to you going out and either repeating the same mistakes or making different ones, after you read the responses. It would be more beneficial to everyone (mostly you) if you provide us with more information on settings, your thought process, or your level of knowledge about photography.

With respect to White Balance, I leave it to Auto because I shoot RAW and I can easily correct in processing. But if I really wanted to be accurate, I would bring a grey card and shoot a pic of the grey card under the lights. I would use that as reference for WB for all subsequent shots in that rink. There's a little more to it and it involves software use but I don't know if I'm just complicating things.

I think you should work on exposure and focusing before you worry about WB. Sounds like you need a stronger foundation on the relationship between ISO, Shutter, Aperture, and metering.

I found that when I moved from my D7000 to the D600 it made a big difference. I use the 70-200 VR2 2.8 but have my eye on the 85 1.8 or even the 1.4. I set it to manual (2.8 and 1/640 shutter). My kid is 9 and 1/500 is not fast enough. Auto ISO and I shoot mostly behind the glass. Will typically increase exposure +1 when I import the photo's to my computer and just in PP. I also shoot in RAW.

Taking pics at you local hockey rink is rather difficult and will vary from rink to rink. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies...It seems I'm trying to shoot one of the hardest sports to shoot and is rethinking this whole photography thing. But, I'm not giving up. I keep searching the web, reading, youtube, etc. I will get this eventually.

Ray Chen said:

You are about two stops under exposing. Keep everything the same but move the shutter speed to 1/800 or 1/1000 and reevaluate.

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Vegas is new to the whole DSLR photographic world and has some trouble with the new vernacular. Vegas, take Ray's advice and change the shutter speed to 1/800. Make sure that your White Balance is set to AUTO. There is no white balance called 6400. 6400 refers to how sensitive the camera is to light. If your camera has an exposure compensation adjustment, (look in you manual) you need to add a bit (+.3 or+.6) to compensate for the highly reflective ice. Oh, you have a lens that changes the amount of light it lets in based on the much zoom you are using. This complicates things a bit. I'm leaning toward Auto ISO setting. Does the D7100 have this (look in the manual). Keep reading and most of all...take pics in all places at all times. Look at the results and keep posting.

Hockey:

[ATTACH]media_2802250[/ATTACH] vegas757 said:

Thanks for all the replies...It seems I'm trying to shoot one of the hardest sports to shoot and is rethinking this whole photography thing. But, I'm not giving up. I keep searching the web, reading, youtube, etc. I will get this eventually.

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Keep reading and trying and before playoffs you'll get it

Shot on manual with much better results. However, still a long ways to go...especially with focusing and getting sharp images.

Exposure is better. Now you just need to get closer to your subject. A LOT closer.

You are pretty much got an idea of the correct exposure.
You have to get closer. Hockey (as many other sports) is all about emotions.
You want to see faces or at least body language.
Try to shoot from the other positions.
From the bleachers you mostly cover far side of neutral zone, and nothing much really happens there. Shooting from the palyes bench would let you shoot close ups and the goalie.
Shooting from behind the net, you can get more action and faces.



You want your boy face, not his jersey number