Lighting a Hockey Team on the Ice

[PaulCoady]

I am to photograph a boys hockey team on the ice shortly. They want a team photo before one of their practices.

I am have studio lights but I can't put on the ice for children's saftey issues (i.e. they skate over the power cord). I don't have battery power lights.

Are most photographers using their on camera flash. What about on camera flashes on slaves in umbrellas ? Your comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

[GeorgePoulias]

You can lay rubber mats over the cables and use grounded power sources, and just keep the dam kids away with the help of the coaches. Depending on your lens a hand held flash will work.

[Rob_Ganzeveld]

We shoot hundreds of hockey teams a year and never had a problem with setting up strobes on the ice. As the previous poster said "Have the coaches control the team and keep them away from the cord.". Minor hockey in my area is very strict about players being on the ice with no helmets anyway (they are only allowed to skate slowly to photo area) so the parents and coaches are more than willing to help with this issue.
On camera flash will work if you are in a bind but a couple of strobes bounced into umbrellas is the way to go. I also try to setup a couple of rimlights or background lights behind the team to separate them from the background.

Rob

[Joe_McCary]

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I am to photograph a boys hockey team on the ice shortly.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have done some limited hockey teams. One major concern is NOT to shoot square to the glass. You need to set the team at a slight angle so you don't get a highllight back at you.

Most small rinks have really poor light, so you will need a tripod and some extra flash. I shoot digital ISO 400 at f8 and drag the shutter to get some rink lights in the background. If you can arrange the team so you get some of the center ice logo that might be a plus.

Recent Hocky Team

[Neil_Copeland]

Paul,

I've been a T&I shooter for 30 years and learned long ago that power cords can be a real pain at times. I would recommend you look at Lumedyne lights (www.lumedyne.com) for power and versatility using battery power. You can also find these units used at places like KEH Cameras (www.keh.com) from time to time, and they have a lot of configurations you can use (including power cords if you want).

Another consideration for lighting might be Alien Bees. These are made by the same folks that make White Lightning and are really catching on in some areas due to their lower prices and versatility. They are basically studio monolights (three different power levels available, I believe), and they have introduced a battery system (Vagabond) that allows you to hook up the Alien Bees to battery, so you might find these more suitable for dual purposes.

I have both kinds of lights (but not the Vagabond battery for the Bees yet), and have used the Lumys for many years in quite a lot of shoots. Very tough and reliable portable power.

Neil

[NorbertBissinger]

Neil is absolutely right. Lumidyne is a good choice.

See this site from Neil Turner and also click on "Technique" to learn a bit of lighting.

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You could use the new Nikon flashes in slave mode or the Canon 540ties in slave mode some one holding them for you. Take a look what can be done.

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