I shot my first hockey game this past Saturday and had a lot of fun. I used my 1Ds Mark II and 70-200 2.8 for all of these. I will be shooting several more games before the season is over, hopefully I will get better. Any comments / critiques are greatly appreciated.
Well done, especially for your first try at hockey. In terms of composition, you did very well -- face, puck, action, good cropping. Thumbs up!
In terms exposure -- I'm think you're pushing it too much your post processing. I'm currently on a un-calibrated monitor (known to be dark) and the whites look a bit forced to me (very, very bright), especially in #2. The white jersey on the chasing skater almost blends into the ice. In general, the ice is more of a "dirty" white, than a really, really bright white. The bright white can be usually found on the jerseys...
For example, take a look at the ice color in #2 and the ice in #4. In #4, you can see the cuts and the tracings in the ice made by the skates, but in #2, it's just all one smooth color without any detail.
Awesome shots, composition is really great, I will also hop on april tse's boat in regards to the exposure - it also may be my lcd monitor, but it looks very bright to me. Picture #4 I think I stared at for 5 minutes...there is something about that shot that is so awesome - Well Done!
Thanks for the comments everyone, and yes I do agree the exposure is a bit off. I had a hard time with the ice and white jerseys but it is all a learning process.
I will be at another game this Sunday so I will have another chance to practice. I think I enjoyed shooting hockey more than any sport so far, a lot of action in a confined area with good lighting, I could get used to this :-).
