Hockey night tonight
Quad City goalie David McKee stops Tulsa forward Michel Beausoleil on a breakaway in the first period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
I’ve been a hockey fan for a long time and my family has even had season tickets for the Washington Capitals for about a decade. Somehow, my photography never caught up with my fandom, so this Tulsa Oilers game was actually the first hockey game I’d ever shot.
I knew it would be a challenge because the sport is so fast paced and technical conditions are often miserable in arenas. Luckily, half the battle was won as the BOK Center is an excellently lit venue. I was getting exposures of 1/1000s at f/4 at ISO 1600. As far as arena lighting goes, that can hardly be beat. However, that’s about the end of the positives. The BOK Center has no holes drilled in the plexiglass side boards which means if you want to shoot from ice level you have to shoot through the glass. Two panels of glass. Two panels of half-inch thick glass that distort and blur just about everything that’s taken except when the lens is placed perfect perpendicular to the glass surface.
Here is an example of an otherwise in focus, properly exposed shot, rendered unusable simply because it was taken at a slightly off-center angle through the glass.
Tulsa forward Gary Steffes skates with the puck through the neutral zone in the first period against Quad City at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
With all of those frustrations, I ultimately decided to shoot from the concourse level for the second and third periods. I much preferred this position as it gives a view of the entire rink and is much easier to follow the puck. Before the game, I decided to be ambitious and set up an overhead remote in the catwalk focused on the goal Tulsa would attack twice. Obviously I’ve never done a hockey remote before but it was essentially the same as an overhead for basketball. Two magic arms (one on the lens, one on the camera), safety cables and zip ties. For the remote I had a Canon MkIIn with a 70-200 which at 160mm and f/4 was a nice focal length and decent depth of field. Like most arenas, there was no direct overhead position in the catwalk, which is why the framing is slightly offset. The second remote shot is from the same play as the first image in this post.
Quad City goalie David McKee makes a save on a shot by Tulsa forward Dylan Clarke in the first period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
Quad City goalie David McKee stops Tulsa forward Michel Beausoleil on a breakaway in the first period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
Tulsa forward Dylan Clark works the puck behind the crease against Quad City winger Obi Aduba in the first period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
Tulsa forward Gary Steffes scores a goal in the second period, his second of the game, against Quad City at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011. The Oilers won 6-2.
Tulsa defenseman Luke Lucyk is leveled by Quad City winger Brandon Marino in the second period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
Tulsa forward Gary Steffes, right, celebrates with Michel Beausoleil and David Solway after Steffes' third goal of the game in the third period against Quad City at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011.
Tulsa forward Dylan Clark and Quad City winger Jason Kostadine are restrained by linesmen James Sanders and Chuck Schamel during the third period at the BOK Center on Nov. 12, 2011. The Oilers won 6-2.