Good stuff Hani and Alex...in for moar.

 

^ +1 This thread is gold.

 

Alex THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Just like Axel stated, you are correct... and remember the smaller the f-stop the larger the aperture (the relationship is explained in my 1st post)

 

I was just teaching this to a colleague of mine. Although I prefer my Canon, his Nikon showed a graphic representation of the diaphram at different aperature settings... nice feature for a newbie.

 

Which Canon do you have?? Cause most have a depth of field preview...

 

I'll be going to an AHL hockey game next friday. My seats are around 10 to 15 rows up and around center ice. I want to try and snap off so action pics that come out focused and sharp. I'll be using my nikon d5000,18-55 lens and a 55-300 lens,650 speed flash!. My question is what mode should I be shooting in and do I use my flash? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Don't bother with the flash. The arena should be well enough lit, but the flash won't have much effect anywhere but directly in front of you. Good luck with the 55-300mm, usually lenses are limited to 75 or 85mm so you may be constrained to the 18-55mm lens, which can still be ok, although you won't get the close ups your looking for. If you are using a pre set mode, use the 'sports' mode. The ideal mode to use is 'manual' and get there for warmups/ early to set the white balance and get the right settings. You could even use the sports mode settings as a starting point. Whichever mode you choose, you'll want a lower f-stop, to allow light in, but still high enough to not blur out everything but the focus point and a very high shutter speed, to capture sticks flexing mid shot, snow in the air when the players stop/turn and those kind of things. Every lens has a sweet spot, the closer to that, the more crisp the images will turn out.Be sure to bring an extra battery and plenty of memory.

One issue you might run into at 10-15 rows is that the view from you to the ice maybe be right where the glass ends, causing that break in the pictures. Not sure which team your going to see, but the AHL games I've been to have had plenty of seats available to find a better angle.

Good luck and post the pics afterwords.

 

I sure will! Thanks for the advice! Whats easier to adjust or if it matters at all. An over exposed or under exposed picture in man mode using ps5 to edit.

 

Be sure to shoot in RAW if you plan on adjusting exposure afterwards. IMO, overexposed is easier to adjust. With an underexposures photo, not enough light was captured and it's difficult to artificially add light and create the same detail. Overexposure results is brighter dark spots, so you still have the detail captured, in way. Too far either way won't be fixable though. Any spots that are pure white or pure black (no light) are essentially a lost hope. I have a Canon, but I assume nikons have an exposure meter as well. Just try to keep the bar as close to 0 as you can. Error on the + side if you need to, but anymore than a tick or two up and you can start to have problems.

Really, the best way to get the hang of it all is practice, so take lots of pictures and play around with all of the settings as you shoot. Hell, sometimes the mistakes turn out to be the best shots.

 

Thanks again.