Central States 04 Chesterfield vs. Iowa Wild AAA – Game Shots

Hockey season is back and those of you who follow me know I do love my hockey pics! Both of my boys play locally here in St. Louis and you’ll probably see quite a few shots as the season goes on for both of their teams – St. Peters 06 Selects for my 9yo son Will and the Chesterfield Central States 04 team for my 11yo son Wyatt.

Sometimes I shoot hockey for work and sometimes just for fun as a dad. To be honest there is a little stress involved when shooting for fun because there is a little voice inside my head that WANTS to try and get a shot of every kid…and not only a shot but a really, really good shot. I’ve tried that before and it just doesn’t work. I stress out too much…I’m too much of a perfectionist and what happens is I just don’t end up shooting my kids’ games. That’s when I get in trouble from my wife and grandparents! So, what I try to let everyone know on my teams is this (and another dad that shoots said it perfectly) – if I’m shooting for fun, more than likely there’s going to be a heavy dose of just my kid (grandparents and wife are happy!). I also like to follow and shoot where the action is so a few of those might make the cut. Generally, I try to post what I consider sort of cool shots that technically are spot on with . Usually what this means is not everyone is shown per game but over a course of a season, hopefully 😉

So below, here are a few of my favorite shots from last weekend’s Chesterfield CS04 game vs. IA Wild AAA and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter @LuxePhotoSTL

Above: Some people ask me where is the best place to shoot? An ideal perfect scenario for a location generally doesn’t exist. If you can shoot without glass in your way, great! If you can’t, no problem. What you have to consider is shooting through glass your exposure and clarity takes a hit, but you can sort of mask that a bit. Here, there’s a bit of glare reflecting off of the glass that is hitting the camera sensor. Is it technically the perfect shot? Nope. But I love the action in it. From this angle, sort of off to the side of the goal, you tend to get players coming toward the camera (works for soccer also). But, really, the way hockey flows in a game, you’ll get that anywhere you stand. Just find as clean of a glass to shoot through if you don’t have access to shoot unobstructed.

Above: Another great action shot coming toward the camera with some things I really love with sports photography – I like the puck all wonky on the ice as well as the shot of the players on the benches following the action. You’ll see a few shots below where the coolest part of the picture is sort of hidden in the background of people watching the play!

Above: Loving the facial details on both. And action of a player coming right at the camera…so cool looking at how different each player skates. There’s also settings on your camera that help with action coming to and away from your camera so that you can keep them in focus!

Above: Lots of facial detail again and players all in different positions leading balance to the overall shot.

Above: Good example of a shot that I would normally have to cull from the set because of technical issues. These are the shots that kill you cause they are so cool and different but UGH! This is what happens shooting through dirty hockey rink glass. Sometimes the smudges factor in right on the subject and there’s not much EASY stuff you can do to fix it. But I’m shooting for fun, right? So I get to keep it!

Above: Facial expression of opposing player on the left. Puck position on right.

Above: I do love my skating at the camera shots! One of the other dads shooting at this game has some fantastic shots from the bench – which would be the opposite angle – of shooting on the goal. For those kinds of shots, I do prefer from the bench angle just to see the front of the goalie making the save. But my most favorite shot was from this angle that Kevin Shattenkirk of the Blues ended up seeing and actually had me send him a big print copy of it to his place (and he signed one for me to put up in my office as well!).

Above: Lot’s of people outside of hockey don’t realize just how popular the sport is to play with girls! At this level of hockey, they’re all really good. Just as physical. Having just as much fun as the boys. #4 on the team we played here, was all over the ice making plays during our series.
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Above: Shot of my boy Wyatt on defense. In addition to liking it because he’s in it, the reason I have it up here as a favorite is the background with the players on the benches. Sort of the “bigger picture” setting.

Above: Shot of the goalie. The goal. The puck. Check, check and check.

Above: Unassuming shot without a story attached. 10/11yo hockey starts getting more physical and there’s a bit more “chirping” involved. There always seems to be that one player on any team that tends to get the opposing team all worked up. Here, the opposing player went a bit too hard at our goalie and our guys were letting him know.

Above: Quick stops and changes in direction. All makes for great pictures!

Above: My boy Wyatt showcasing the sweaty hockey flow from his helmet.

Above: Another shot in the example of…ARGH! Action up close around the net is super fast and to get the right things in focus is hard…sometimes you’re just unlucky getting the camera to focus on the right thing. I LOVE this shot of our goalie trying to cover up the puck with everyone jockeying for position. Focus point (due to the mode I was in shooting) grabbed the players in front of him which caused him to be slightly out of focus. Normally, I’d have to cut this shot…but not this time.

Above: Faceoffs are great to shoot. Potential energy getting ready to be released at the drop of a puck. And there’s something about a clean shot of a player with the name and number when they are out on the ice. Just looks cool.

Above: Defensive closing with the players on the bench looking on.

Above: I like the way the player is cutting back against the ice looking up for the pass. Benches in the background.