Tips for shooting hockey?

[Mark Chafe]

Hello,

I have a question about shooting sports, particularly hockey games.

When I am zoomed in on a player or ice action, the picture looks very colourful and clear. When I zoom out and show centre ice or something, the colour is still there but much less vibrant. The players dark jerseys look almost black instead of dark colours, and blue/red lines look very faint. I have tried with various cameras with the same result. Is there a technique that could help balance this out, or is it just the lights washing out the colours? Any way to correct this in the camera during recording?

Thanks
Mark

[Aaron Mayberry]

Not sure what camera your using...

We shot this on DSLR:

Lake Fenton Winter Classic - GAME ON on Vimeo

I learned you need a wide DOF because they move very very fast and will change directions or stop just as fast.

[Mark Chafe]

Sorry about that, but I'm talking about shooting for live event hockey at a stadium. When i am zoomed in on players, the colours are fine, when zoomed out to show full ice, all the chroma isn't as vibrant. I'm guessing its something to do with the lights or the ice? I am using eng style video cameras (standard def)

[Chris Medico]

It is the ICE that is causing the problem. I had the same issue with photographing a game. The camera was underexposing everything when the shots were wide and there was a lot of white ice in the frame.

You will want to play around with some manual settings to get the best look.

[Warren Kawamoto]

I agree with Chris, sounds like your camera is closing down its iris when you go wide. The solution would be to lock your iris on manual.

[Mark Chafe]

I have iris set to manual with shutter speed turned off. The ice is same brightness but the boards, logos and players, look much more washed out than they really should be I think. I could switch back and forth by turning on a custom scene but that is a lot of bother turning it on and off between wide and tight shots. Just wondering if there was a technique or something that could help.

M

[Chris Medico]

Is if possible for you to post a short clip or stills of the issue?

[Warren Kawamoto]

Mark, what camera are you shooting with? When you say you have shutter "off", does that mean it's on automatic? If yes, that could be your problem too.

[Mark Chafe]

We are using Panasonic AG-HPX370 cameras. The lenses are regular stock lenses. I don't have any footage at the moment to share. The cameras are connected SDI. The picture very good especially on tight shots. Everything is crystal clear and vibrant. When I zoom out wide to show the majority of the play, I almost need to boost the colours in the camera if there is a way, or almost have an external proc amp to adjust. The problem is is when I would zoom back in tight again the colours would be oversaturated. Just wondering if there is a another technique or setting I could try that could help with this or if this would require a better lens.

Thanks
M

[Mark Ahrens]

I shot my first game recently. I used Dynamic Range Stretch function on my AC160a to help with the blown out ice. I don't remember what f-stop i set but was it similar to this? - er, sorry can't figure out how to attach.

[Mark Ahrens]

Okay -Here they are (window was too small, didn't see the upload button on the right.)

[David Stoneburner]

I shot live hockey for many years and your clips look pretty normal to me. You're not going to get the clarity in your wide shots as you do in the close ups. Now I haven't shot any hockey since moving my system to HD, but the theory is the same. It's the ice. The white ice is going to reflect a lot of light. You can try to play with the saturation on that camera, or the RGB levels to get the colors to pop a little more.

[Mark Chafe]

My footage is pretty much the same, only more severe since my wide distance is forced to be much further away. I was thinking the ice would be the issue. I will try the DRS function to see what difference that makes. Also will try adjusting chroma level to see if i get a better match.

Thanks very much
Mark