Just like the athletes heading to the Olympics, us photographers have to warm up as well. I need to make sure that I am both physically and mentally ready for the challenge. I have been keeping in shape for all the walking and stair climbing that will be coming up in Milan, but more importantly, I need to be proficient at photographing hockey, since that will be my primary sport at the Games.
As many of you know, I did not photograph the last Winter Olympics in Beijing because of the pandemic (scrapping the trip just 3 days before I was supposed to go). Even though I have been playing ice hockey almost every week for the past 25 years, I have not photographed the sport in quite a while. The sport may not have changed much, but the camera equipment has changed a TON in the last eight years!
Before heading to Milan, I knew that I needed to put the newer mirrorless cameras to the test. I needed to see how the subject tracking did with athletes wearing helmets and visors, and also how well the focus systems performed when shooting through plexiglass. Remember, unlike when photographing NHL hockey where they have holes in the glass for us, at the Olympics we shoot through the plexiglass.
I started testing the equipment (Canon R1 with the Canon RF 70-200 Z lens) and getting myself used to photographing hockey with the guys I skate with every week. It was a fun time capturing images for my friends and also gave me a chance to warm up on us slower and older guys. :)
I started shooting from the bench with no glass in front of me.
The lighting at the rink is pretty good, but not as good as what I will have at the Olympics. I did have to remember to adjust the exposure compensation (up at least 1/3 stop) to make sure my exposures were correct. I also had to practice capturing the peak of action, which takes some practice for sure.
Keeping the puck in the frame is really important.
I shot everything at f/2.8 and kept my ISO set to 3200 to get a fast shutter speed for all the action.
I tried different angles to remind myself which ones look best in photos.
I then moved to the side of the rink and started shooting through the plexiglass. This was pretty tough because the plexiglass at this rink is REALLY dirty from all the puck marks. It was tough shooting from this location, but it did allow me to get shots closer to the net.
The one thing I forgot about was, how cold it is in the rink when not suiting up and playing! Assuming that the rink in Milan will be colder than NHL rinks here in the US, I will be wearing a heavier jacket and using
photography gloves!
We all have a good time at our skate, and it was a good reminder to me that capturing reaction is as important as capturing the action.
This is Eric and his son Wilson who I have been playing with for years. I took this father / son shot of them. Also good practice, as I will be doing team photos on the ice in Milan.
And then it was time to photograph much faster action at the NHL level. Thanks to my contacts at the San Jose Sharks, I was granted media passes to a couple of games.
The first game I covered was the Sharks vs Vegas Knights and this is me shooting through the plexiglass. (Photo credit to Frank Baskovich)
The first image I took was the iconic entrance of the San Jose Sharks through the sharks head. Because of the lights being turned down in the arena, I had to crank my ISO to 6400 to get a sharp picture of Macklin Celebrini (the team's new 19 year old superstar) coming onto the ice.
I started shooting fairly wide with the 70-200mm Z lens. I should mention that I am using the newer
Canon RF 70-200 Z lens because it has internal zoom. This means that the lens does not change in length as I zoom in and out. This is critical when shooting up against the boards, because I don't want my lens slammed against the glass if the athletes are going to be crashing in the other direction. I have seen a photographer break his nose and other bones in his face from that scenario. I have also replaced the standard Canon lens hood with a
rubber hood. This gives me an additional inch or so of cushion.
Once I got warmed up, I started tracking the fast action better and shooting tighter. The light was much brighter in this NHL arena, so I was able to shoot all the images at ISO 800. Much cleaner than the higher ISO shots from the practice rink where we play!
Catching key moments is really important, so it felt good to capture frames like this.
I like sitting in the corner of the rink so that I have a good vantage point of the players skating up ice (with reflections in the glass like this)...
...and I also have a good view of the goal crease.
This photo was taken from more of a side position, but at least 15 feet further up the ice.
Towards the end of the game, I decided to shoot from a high position. I went back to the press room and switched lenses to the
Canon RF 100-300mm lens to get some photos from a different perspective.
I like this vantage point (at the top of the lower bowl), but it does not bring you, the viewer, into the action as much as the lower position.
On Friday night, I made my second trip back to the SAP Arena to cover the Sharks against the New York Rangers. This time I positioned myself on the side where the home team was shooting twice (which is what I typically do for USA hockey team at the Olympics).
The Sharks came out on fire and scored three times in the first period, with Macklin Celebrini netting two of those goals. This was his first one of the night.
After the goal was scored I quickly turned to get fan reaction. Something I sometimes forget to do.
I love capturing all the guys fighting for position in front of the net.
As I mentioned, Macklin got two goals.
This was the celebration after his second goal...
One of the more challenging things about shooting through plexiglass, is trying to determine how much of an angle I can take before the glass distorts the image past the level of an acceptable photo. This was me testing that out, and for this photo it was fine. When I turned any more than this, or tried to capture images all the way at the other side of the rink, the photos were unusable.
I love the way that the puck is perfectly centered on this shot, right in between on the players. I should also mention that I was shooting the
Canon R1 at a burst rate of 30 frames a second to grab moments like you are seeing here.
During the second period, I stayed on the same side of the rink to capture the defensive action. As I have mentioned before, getting the puck in the frame is really important (most of the time).
This puck is not in this shot, but I loved the crash of these two Rangers after one of them was checked by one of the San Jose Sharks.
This shot shows the puck behind the goalie, but it was deflected away from the back of the net.
This shows a really good save by the goalie, with the puck being blocked by his stick.
Here is a photo of me shooting during the third period (Photo credit: Dean Tait)
There was not nearly as much offense in the third period, but I grabbed a couple more frames like this one.
As the game came to an end, I stayed just long enough to grab this photo of the mascot, SJ Sharkie, coming out with the banner. Then I ran back to the press room to switch my camera gear.
I grabbed my
Canon R5 MKII with the
Canon RF 24-70mm lens and ran back to the locker room entrance, waiting for them to let us into the room. I took some photos of the interviews, of course with the press spending the most time with Celebrini.
After the interview was over, Macklin and I had a chance to talk for a little bit. As you may have heard, he is the youngest player to ever play for Team Canada (at 19 years old) and he is beyond thrilled with this honor. Having never been to the Olympics, I told him a little of what to expect. Even though I will be photographing (and pulling for) Team USA, I plan on capturing images of Macklin, for him and his family. Regardless of who wins, it should be amazing!
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