Taipei Cup Hockey
Sooner or later, most photographers decide to try their hand at shooting some kind of sport. It might be your kids sporting events or your friends amateur leagues or a professional game that you shoot as a spectator from the stands. Let’s look at a few pointers for getting some better shots.
For most sports there’s going to be a lot of quick movement. Generally speaking, the faster something moves, the harder it’ll be to shoot. A number of different techniques can be applied to increase the likelihood of good results. These include
- Faster shutter speed to freeze action – 1/500, 1/1000 and faster will freeze most movement. You’ll also find it’s easier to stop movement if the subject is headign directly towards you.
- Location – Where you position yourself has an effect on what angles you can shoot. For a pro game where you’re a spectator, you won’t have much choice, but if you’re photographing your kids or friends, try and walk around looking for different angles.
- Anticipation – Knowing what is likely to happen is a big help. If you’re familiar with the sport, you’ll have a much greater chance of success than if it’s new to you. The first time I shot a hockey game was the first time I’d ever seen a hockey game (with the exception of a few seconds on TV news). However something like cricket or basketball, both of which I played when younger, is much easier for me to shoot.
- Access – Closely related to location, access can give you better shots. If you can be in the dugout or on the team bench, you’ll get shots that others won’t. Easy if your friends are in an amateur team, almost impossible if you want to shoot the World Cup.
- Burst Mode – Setting your camera to high-speed mode will allow you to shoot fast sequences of action.
- AI Servo – This drive mode on your camera can be useful in helping you continually track the focus of a moving athlete.
- Long lenses and monopods – Using a long lens allows you to get closer to the action. Couple this with a monopod for stability and you’ll be good to go.
- Shoot wide open – Choosing an aperture such as f2.8 allows you to get the action in focus without needing to worry about any distracting backgrounds.
- Custom white balance – Consider setting a custom white balance, particularly if you’re shooting indoors or under lights. This will help you achieve a consistent color in your shots. Refer to your camera’s manual to learn how to set it for your particular camera.
Next time you shoot sports, give the above a try and your shots will be stronger and more professional looking.
That was the 98th Daily PhotoTip. If this post was useful to you, why don’t you subscribe to my feed, leave a comment and share it with your friends. You can also get access to exclusive content and special offers by subscribing to my newsletter. Sign up today. Thank you.
]]>Week four of the theme competition. Heading into the final stretch now, so don’t forget to make your guesses.
Action from the 2008 National Intercollegiate Athletics Games.
]]>Thursday photo in the theme competition is from the Taipei Cycle Show earlier this year.
Chinese Taipei’s national football team met Taipei City FC, an all-star team comprising the top foreign players from the various Taipei teams, at Zhongshan Soccer Stadium.
Photos by Craig Ferguson and Selina Tseng. ©Craig Ferguson Images 2008
]]>The National Intercollegiate Athletics Games (NIAG) are Taiwan’s university games. Beginning on May 9th and running until the 13th, over 12 000 athletes representing 169 universities and colleges in Taiwan will be competing. As the biggest sporting event in Taiwan prior to the Beijing Olympics, these games will feature members of the Chinese Taipei Olympic team. Here’s a few images shot yesterday at the swimming. I’ll have more throughout the week from other sports.
[piclens-lite-link]
]]>The Tour de Taiwan is a professional cycling race and is the tenth race on the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) 2007-08 Asian tour. UCI is the world governing body for professional cycling with headquarters in Switzerland. The 2008 Tour de Taiwan feaures eight stages, beginning with a 40 lap, 88km criterium around the Love River, Kaohsiung and ending with a 60km criterium in Taipei.
This years tour sees 98 riders representing20 teams from Asia, Europe, Australia and North America taking part. The full list of teams is
- Â Drapac Porsche Development Program Team
- Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
- Giant Asia Racing Team
- Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team
- AISAN Racing Team
- Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team
- Merida Europe Team
- Seoul City Cycling Team
- Malaysian National Team
- Team Type 1
- Team Skil-Shimano
- Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam
- KFS Special Vehicles
- Japan National Team
- Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
- Team Meitan Hompo-GDR
- e-MA Cycling Team
- Taichung County Team
- Kinan CCD Team
- MAO Asia Team
The stage featured some exciting racing, with Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team’s Kam Po Wong (黃金寶) taking out the stage in a time of 1:57:04 at an average speed of 45.102 km/h, with Japanese riders Takashi Miyazawa of Team Meitan Hompo-GDR and Taiji Nishitani of AISAN Racing Team finishing second and third.
The win saw Wong take the blue jersey as Asian winner, as well as the yellow jersey as overall leader. The green jersey for points winner went to John Murphy (USA) of Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis, and the white jersey for local rider was won by Po Hung Wu of the Kinan CCD Team.
Overall Results
1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team        1.57.04 (45.102 km/h)
2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDR
3 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team
4 Mroz Mateusz (Pol) Merida Europe Team
5 Misbah Muhamad Rauf Nur (Mas) Malaysian National Team
6 Kirk O’bee (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
7 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
8 Seon Ho Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team
9 Lofflerstefan (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team
10 Daniele Defranceschi (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
General Classification after Stage One
1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                     1.56.54
2 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis   0.01
3 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.02
4 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                             0.05
5 Emile Abraham TR1 Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.06
6 Lofflerstefan (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team                          0.09
7 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team
8 Mroz Mateusz (Pol) Merida Europe Team                               0.10
9 Misbah Muhamad Rauf Nur (Mas) Malaysian National Team
10 Kirk O’bee (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
Points Classification
1 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis     19 pts
2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15
3 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                          14
4 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                               11
5 Mroz Mateusz (Pol) Merida Europe Team                                  8
6 Emile Abraham TR1 Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6
7 Misbah Muhamad Rauf Nur (Mas) Malaysian National Team                  6
8 Kirk O’bee (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis       5
9 Lofflerstefan (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team                             3
10 Seon Ho Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                            3
Team Classification
1 Merida Europe Team                                               5.51.12
2 Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team
3 The Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
4 Malaysian National Team
5 Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team
6 Drapac Porsche Development Program Team
7 AISAN Racing Team
8 Team Type 1
9 Giant Asia Racing Team
10 Kinan CCD Team
11 Seoul City Cycling Team
12 Team Meitan Hompo-GDR
13 Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
14 Japan National Team
15 e-MA Cycling Team
16 Team Skil-Shimano
17 KFS Special Vehicles
18 Taichung County Team
19 Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam
20 MAO Asia Team
I’ll have updates through the week of more stage results and more photos, so stay tuned. A lot more photos can be seen over on the gallery.
]]>Some more photos from the hockey tournament. For a full report, take a look at the previous post about the 2008 Taipei Cup International Hockey Tournament.
