Team photos and practice for the women of USA Hockey

This morning (which seems like a week ago), I photographed the women of USA hockey at their rink. They were having the team picture, and I was shooting behind-the-scenes shots for them. After the team picture, they had a practice. I had access to the bench to shoot some photos of them practicing, not having to deal with shooting through plexiglass. Here are some of the photos from the session.

Here is a photo of the women checking out the seating chart. This was posted on the locker room door.

Before the large group shot, the girls were grouped by their colleges and pro teams in one of the locker rooms.

This was us preparing for the team photo. The team members and coaches were being directed by a couple of the marketing people at USA Hockey. The cords that you see on the ice were running to two strobe lights. The strobes were set up by a photographer who was doing all the team photos.

This is my group shot, using only a Canon 600 EX-RT flash on my Canon 1DX.

While the other photographer was shooting more photos of the team, I quickly moved to shoot them at a different angle. I really wanted to do this same shot with all of them looking at an angle towards me, but before I could suggest it, they disbanded.

The coaching staff asked me to shoot an image of them. Since I am shooting for the team, I gladly did this for them.

This is Pierre McGuire, the hockey announcer for NBC who will be working 28 hockey games during this Olympics. That is a heavy load. Pierre is a really nice guy. The funny thing is, like me, he does hockey at the Winter Olympics and water polo at the Summer Olympics. We see each other every two years.

Then it was time for the girls to skate...

For those of you who question the skill level of these women, just wait! They are incredibly fast and skilled.

Coaching break...

The women scrimmaged for a while, which made for some fun photos.

This is Amanda Kessel who is the sister of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Phil Kessel. He made the men's Olympic hockey team, so they will both be in Sochi together. That is a great story. Oh...and she also happens to be one of the best woman hockey players in the world.

More coaching...

I love catching those moments when people don't know that I am shooting their photo.

OK, it is time for me to sign off and get out to the press center before I miss the midnight bus back to my "hotel room" (where we still do not have Internet). And tomorrow is a big day, because it is the Opening Ceremonies!

And...the good news is, unlike other Olympics, where I had to wait to see if I would get one of the much coveted tickets to the opening, I already have mine! (For those who might be wondering...there are certain events at the Olympics which are called "High Impact Events". These are the events where almost all the photographers want to go, but there are not enough shooting locations. This year they are, opening and closing ceremonies, the USA vs. Russia hockey game, the gold medal hockey game, figure skating...

Good night or good morning everyone. :)