LONDON, UK – Pro Hockey News brings you NIHL action every week, but blocks of text would be nothing without pictures to bring them to life.
A selection of favourite images taken by our photographers, selected by themselves!
PHN spoke to some of our regular contributors to find out a little bit more about their passion for the game, while highlighting their favourite pictures they’ve taken across the piece. Joining us for the discussion are a mix of official and unofficial hockey photographers who volunteer their time to regularly shoot NIHL games.
Answering the questions are Kevin Slyfield, whose home rink is Bracknell, Rick Webb who shoots at Streatham and Kat Medcroft who takes her pics in Swindon. Also at the photography table are Steve Sutherland who snaps at Chelmsford, Paul Foster based in Oxford and Lucy McGill who stands behind the lens in Milton Keynes.
The first question is an obvious one. Why did you pick up a camera and choose to stand in a freezing cold ice rink?
Medcroft: A friend knew I was into hockey at Swindon and also photography so being a recreational hockey player he asked if I could take some pics at his next game in order for him to see if there were things he could work on i.e. his skating technique and stick handling. I was watching hockey for two years before that and I love the sport as a whole. I think just because of the spontaneity of it. A team can go from being 4-0 down to winning 6-4, anything can happen and it is full of action you never know what you might capture.
Slyfield: My son started playing for Bracknell U12s eight years ago, I wanted to document the games, not just for him but also the other kids on the team, watching them all grow up together now he is playing in the U20s. Back in 2012 I got involved with the Bracknell Hornets and became their official photographer and have been here now for seven years. Three years ago the Bracknell Bees asked if I would also be their official photographer, so as a result I now have over thirty thousand hockey photos online! I’m also part of the PHN’s Photojournalist team with BSOG. This sport is one big family and there are so many great and friendly people from players to supporters involved.
Foster: I got back into photography after a long, long break when my son asked for a camera for Christmas. It reignited my passion and I started off shooting landscape and street photography, then motorsport all with him, and finally hockey when the regular Oxford City Stars snapper stopped. It was also realistically the only way I could continue to be involved with the sport after a motorcycle accident. The appeal is simple, it’s the greatest sport in the world!
Just look at the kids faces, this is why this is my favourite image, they could be wearing a stars shirt one day! – Paul Foster
McGill: Well the sheer speed of the sport compared to anything else played on two legs is the awesome thing. That, and the encouragement I got from local photographer Mel Dickens when I started out in MK. I like my sports to be fast but that also makes them hard to capture and that’s what makes them a challenge, but a challenge worth pursuing. I love photographing pretty much anything and everything but for something that really holds the concentration and makes you forget everything else, it has to be ice hockey every time.
Sutherland: I’ve always had a love of photography ever since I was about 11 years old and I got a Disk camera for Christmas (hands up all the other old farts who remember them!). I took it everywhere, snapped everything. When I first got into ice hockey watching Manchester Storm at the then MEN Arena, I took my SLR camera with me and started snapping a few shots at the games there. But shooting from the stands of a big concert venue with very basic kit proved ‘challenging’ and I soon gave up. When I moved to Suffolk, my SLR upgraded to digital and with better lenses, I thought I’d have a go at taking photos at Chelmsford Chieftains games, since I could stand by the plexi and get up close to the action. And it was the action shots that got the most feedback, players battling it out in front of me; a puck leaving a stick bound for the net; a goalie’s outstretched arm as he twists and turns to make that save.
Webb: I started taking hockey snaps at Streatham a season or so just before the old rink was pulled down. I skated at Streatham as a kid from kinda 16 through to 19 years old pretty much 3 or 5 times a week, so it was a big part of my youth, so when I heard it was being demolished I wanted to get involved to help save the rink and help build the club up over the move to Brixton and in the new rink. My motivation really is just to keep the profile of ice hockey “out there“, I guess also to keep plugging away with some media coverage and keep the exposure going. If I can take a snap that makes the player feel good, and he says to himself… hey that’s me out there looking good …and he plays better next week , then I consider I’ve done my job.
What’s the most amusing/unusual feedback or requests you’ve had from players?
Medcroft: I’ve had a fair few comments along the lines of ‘I know it’s vain but I love looking at your pics of me’. I think the most amusing request from a player was being asked if I could Photoshop some teeth in next time I catch one of him smiling.
Webb: I don’t get too many odd requests from players to be honest. I’ve had a couple ask to try and catch their stick flexing as they shoot the puck. I think Mel (fellow photographer at Streatham) was trying to get me to skate round with his camera phone on a gyroscopic gimbal mount one training session, but as I haven’t skated for a while I will maybe wait and see on that one!
This is the infamous Sean Scarbrough scores a goal in mid air shot at Chelmsford, right place and the right time – Rick Webb
Slyfield: The most regular and probably amusing request are from the players as they go on the ice when they shout “Get a good shot of me, I want a new profile pic for Facebook”.
Foster: Haven’t had any, well apart from trying to make Mr Oxford #77 (Darren Elliott) look like he’s moving quickly and he did once ask me to make sure I got his good side, which is probably a trick question.
McGill: Ha-ha not sure I can think of any amusing stuff from the players themselves as feedback but it’s always fun when you catch a gurn or a player flying through the air to sit back and watch feedback on their expressions, and some of the social media comments can be hilarious
Sutherland: I’ve not really had anything in the way of feedback from players really. Lots of Facebook likes from them, some players more than others. But nothing else really.
Is there a particular Holy Grail type pic that you love to try and capture?
Medcroft: I like to try and capture the emotions of the players, whether it be the anger in a fight, a celebration after a goal or the smiles and relief of winning some of the bigger games.
Slyfield: The image I would like to shoot is from inside the net, setting a camera up so you get the back of the net minder as the puck is shot in, it’s been done before but it’s often a great image from a unique angle.
This image for me is my favourite, it’s Bees v Pirates 2017 “Face Off “
The puck being dropped right between the sticks ready for battle, love the leading lines of the sticks, also the vibrant colours of the shirts – Kev Slyfield
Foster: No, not really, I personally like photographing the goalies but try to capture the whole game, action, crowd and celebration.
McGill: Three types really. Firstly any goal with the puck flying into or visibly hitting the back of the net. Tricky ones to get if you’re at the wrong end of the rink but I occasionally get lucky. The second – the celebration shot just because they’re so much fun especially if it’s your team scoring and celebrating! The third – has to be the wonderful expressions that hockey players pull that are so caption-worthy.
Webb: I usually like to take action shots preferably of the players, heads-up watching where they`re going and controlling the puck ideally, showing off their skills. I like to be able make eye contact if possible as I tend to think looking at a player’s back makes for a less interesting shot. Sometimes a big body check or maybe a goal with the fans celebrating in the background also works.
Sutherland: No, I can’t say that there is. I just try and snap the best, most interesting shots that I can. Something different from what the official photographers can get from their position in the penalty box.
What is the most frustrating thing about taking hockey pics in the NIHL?
Foster: Someone’s always in the way of a good shot! And the lighting is still poor in most rinks.
McGill: The state of the plexi depending on what rink you’re at and the sight lines.
Slyfield: Frustrating things about photographing ice hockey has to be poor lighting (our rink) and the older UK rinks. Shooting through plexi-glass which is always dirty isn’t ideal, also the officials getting in the way at times lol.
This is one of my favourites because I received so much feedback from it when I posted it on social media, much of which compared it to the iconic photo of Bobby Orr flying gracefully through the air,this gave me a big confidence boost – Steve Sutherland
Webb: Not being able to afford better kit. I’d like a new camera body really, I’m kinda pushing the limits of the capabilities of my current camera body, and it struggles in bad light. Other frustrations are poor lighting at rinks and badly scratched plexi glass, especially Gillingham, which is why I mostly try to shoot from over the glass at home games. Oh and did I mention poor lighting at ice rinks!
Medcroft: The most frustrating thing about photographing hockey has got to be the amount of pictures you can take before you get the ones you really want. The games are so fast and as a fairly new photographer I’m still getting used to getting the camera to focus quickly and getting the sharpest photos possible.
Sutherland: Not being able to be everywhere at once. So frustrating when something good happens and it’s just out of reach of my camera. Oh, and dirty plexi too.
What advice would you give anyone starting out in hockey photography?
Foster: This advice is the same for any type of photography, get to know the subject you’re shooting, it makes it a lot easier to predict and be ready for the shot you want rather than just spraying and praying!, anticipate rather than react, just like playing I guess.
Slyfield: Advice to anyone starting out would be spend your money on a good fast lens 70-200mm F2.8. Shoot in Raw not jpg, it gives more info for you post processing. Biggest one… Keep your eyes on the puck at all times!
McGill: Have fun and just keep on doing it – the more you do, the better your shots will get. Experiment with your settings on manual. Be prepared to stand behind the goal and have players shooting at your head on the other side of the plexi to get that shot but whatever you do don’t jump when it hits the glass!
Although it isn’t the best of quality, it shows the emotion of the player when he scored his first goal for the team. It created an expression of how he felt and you can see how much the goal meant to him just in this one picture – Kat Medcroft
Medcroft: Being fairly new to hockey photography myself I would advise anyone starting out not to get too downhearted if the first few times you give it a go they don’t come out as you want them to. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of patience. Take as many photos as you want because you can always delete the ones you don’t need later, it’s better to have too many than not enough. The biggest thing is try not to be too hard on yourself because after speaking to a few players about my photos quite often they will say it’s not the quality of the pic they are looking at more just the photo itself and don’t compare your pictures to others, some people have been doing it professionally for years and you can get there, but at your own pace.
Sutherland: Spend some money and get the best equipment you can afford. A compact point and shoot camera just isn’t going to cut it. You need an SLR, or at least something you can control the shutter speed with, you need the shutter to fire at least 1/800th of a second! Your camera also needs to be really good at handling low light too. If not, then your photos are going to come out grainy and not looking all that great. And you’ll also need to invest in a fast lens too. Spend as much or more on a lens as you’re going to spend on the camera. It doesn’t matter how great or expensive your camera is, if you put a mediocre lens on the front you’re getting mediocre photos at the other end. And the better the photos, the better the reaction. You never know what can happen if you get yourself noticed. From my hockey photography, I got bookings to photograph the Killa Hurtz Roller Derby teams hosting days two years running, and another Chieftains fan booked me as their wedding photographer. My last piece of advice would just to be keep snapping. The more photos you take, the more you’ll improve as a sports photographer.
Webb: Advice to someone who wants to start? The obvious answer you`d probably expect is “don’t“ lol. However it’s fun and rewarding, as long as money is not your motivation, there isn’t any, but that’s not why we do it eh? Glass, good glass is where it`s at, read that as also “expensive”, bodies are consumables but you will always keep good lenses. These days a decent laptop and some good editing software are essentials. Also external hard drive storage space. If you’ve never photographed hockey, go watch a few games first. Try to understand the game and read the play, try to anticipate where the action is going to be. If you`re reacting all the time you’ve probably already missed the shot. Be prepared to spend many, many hours uploading /downloading and editing tens if not hundreds of thousands of images. But hockey is family, and you will be rewarded with a great network of new friends.
One of my faves from last season’s Ross Bowers 600 match the celebration shot after he scored I just love the raw emotion and huge grin on Jamie Line’s face as he comes in for the huddle afterwards – Lucy McGill.
We’d like to thank all hockey photographers for their dedication bringing to life the beautiful game!
Contact the author: carrsy2@gmail.com
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