113 HOCKEY PHOTOGRAPHER

In a previous article I mentioned that my rehab had come along to such an extent that I felt quite comfortable handing my “real” camera again.  It is quite a heavy setup with a pro model Nikon D4s camera body and a long telephoto lens, 600 mm.  I bought a new 135mm lens to get started slowly and I did take it out and use it but didn’t find any particularly great subjects to photograph.

ROGER'S ARENA OUTSIDE
(STOCK PHOTO)

ROGERS ARENA INSIDE
(STOCK PHOTO)

Then an opportunity presented itself to me.  My son Karl texted me to say he got an opportunity to play pickup hockey at Roger’s Arena, where the Vancouver Canucks play.  This is probably a once in a lifetime deal and I suggested I would come and photograph the event for him and his teammates.  Each team was limited to 30 players and 50 spectators and I figured there would be lots, but I got the organizers email and sent him my proposal to photograph the event and make the pics available to his teams.

RING OF HONOUR

BANNER

OLYMPIA (AKA ZAMBONI)

I had him look on Instagram at Canucks games I had shot in the past, but he was very enthusiastic about me coming along.  So, the day before the game I made sure all my batteries were charged and I packed up all the potential gear that I would need.  I even dug into my office closet (no easy feat in itself) and got out my monopod to make for some extra steady shooting.

Finally, the evening in question, Toby stayed at home with Renee and I headed out.  We were given several options for parking including under Roger’s Arena.  I knew it would be expensive, probably as much as $50 but, knowing that area like I do, I figured the truck would be safer there.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the arena and I was directed to a VIP spot and it didn’t cost a cent.  There was someone from security there and he escorted me up to the seating area.

KARL TAKES A WARMUP LAP

I got talking to one of the ushers working and even before I asked permission, he took one look at my gear and directed me down to the first row behind the glass.  In that spot there is an opening in the glass where the official Canucks photographers can take unobstructed shots of the action.  So, I busily got everything set up and awaited the arrival of the two teams.

SEQUENCE SHOT STITCHED TOGETHER IN PHOTOSHOP

I saw one or two players come onto the ice and then saw Karl in his full Canucks uniform.  Here he was dressed like a Canuck player, skating onto the home ice of the Vancouver Canucks.  It was a very proud moment, but I had just a twinge of jealousy, because if I had been healthy, I would have been able to play as well.  Oh well, this was the next best thing and I had my day skating on the former home of the Canucks at the Pacific Coliseum.  Now it was my son’s turn.

FIRST SAVE

SECOND SAVE

FIRST GOAL

I did not need the full 600 mm lens, and instead used the 400 mm zoom.  Coincidentally, as I was shooting the game, I used the lens mostly set on 135 mm.  I could have used the new 135 mm which I had brought with me, but with the extra length I would be able to shoot action at the far end of the ice as well.

GREAT JERSEY

The one goalie came down to my end and he was wearing the absolute most unusual jersey I have ever seen.  It was a red tartan pattern done in the image of a formal jacket, complete with tie.  I had a good laugh about that.  I started taking some shots during warmups, just to get my angles and figure out lighting, etc.  Once I was confident that I still “had it”, I was ready to go.

OTTAWA SENATORS FAN

THE OTHER END OF THE ICE
GREAT GLOVE SAVE

 Over the next two hours the game went on and fortunately most of the action was in my zone, so I was able to get some pretty good shots, even if I do say so myself.  I walked up and down the stairs numerous times to get shots of the far end of the ice.  I could not swing the lens in the hole far enough to accomplish that.  So, it was go up high enough to shoot over the glass.

It was a great time and it was over all too soon.  I was exhausted from packing about 50 pounds of gear around and going up and down those stairs so many times.  But the real work was about to start.  I had to sort through the 700+ shots that I took and narrow it down to the best ones.  I ended up with 250 good ones which is close to a 50% average.  A great ratio to be sure.  Each one of those shots needed to be run through Photoshop to fix the exposure and do some cropping.

STANDING ROOM ONLY CROWD

THE WHOLE GROUP

Finally, three days later I was done and uploaded the whole batch to Dropbox and sent the link to the organizer, so he could pass it along to the players and they could download their favourite shots of their once in a lifetime event.  I did this all for free because I’m not a pro and I’m not interested in making money off these shots.  Once you turn photography into a business, it ceases to be fun.