I have been asked to shoot for the local farm team here, and am curious to hear where the majority of you who shoot in these smaller arenas are delegated to shoot from.
My experience in the home arena is no seating high enough to shoot over the glass. Hence, I was stuck pressing the lens to the glass to eliminate glare, etc., as much as possible. This really limits the field of view and opportunity for key shots.
What methods do you use? If a team shooter, do you maybe get special access to shoot from the team box? That seems unlikely. I imagine a ladder raises legal liabilities.
I shoot from the penalty box and thru the glass with a rubber hood that screws into the filter holder, there are a few different manufacturers, need to shoot straight thru if possible, have fun and good luck
If it is youth hockey....up to high school, I'll shoot from the penalty box, bench, behind the goal (thru the glass). If it is the big boys...like the WBS Penguins...I'll shoot from the areas on the main level of the arena they have set up for media or sometimes the areas down on the floor where there are some holes in the glass. But that is so tight that it is more trouble than it's worth.
With experience shooting in university, junior and NHL buildings, I say get use to shooting thru the glass, shoot straight thru it as much as possible otherwise it causes distortion. And I'd generally assume penalty box and players benches are off limits (will be when you get to higher levels so dont get use to it now).
Find a spot that you like, I often sit on a milk crate against the boards, just over the boards so I can see eyes and not tops of helmets. I behind the net and off to the side when covering offence you get great attacking shots, or a few feet in front of the goal line, or blue line are also good spots. Sometimes all glass spots are taken up so shoot at the top of the lower level. I made a little graphic to show some suggested spots, I hope it's helpful, it's an NHL rink but I think the spots transfer.
+1 for Franks answer. Penalty box for younger guys. If the bench is roomy enough and penalty box is covered with glass, I'll ask the coach for access to the bench with a promise to stay out of the way.
The ladder thing is something I'm going to be doing next season. I have an a-frame ladder that I can use and position myself out of harms way while not leaning on the glass. (I did it with bar stools at the last tournament I did this year!)
When I was working a lot of youth hockey, I used this ladder to shoot over the glass right around the top of the face-off circle. Worked very well. Picked it up at my local big box hardware store for something like $50.
The platform on the top is very convenient for supporting a monopod if you're using one.
