How to take photos of an ice hockey game

[AmandaK]

Hiya, I'm pretty new to photography and am going to watch my other half play an ice hockey game soon. I was wondering if you could advise me on the settings I should use on my camera - I have a Canon 500D. Thank you in advance!

[cagg1120]

For a general idea of how to approach action photography, I wrote a blog post in the past: Photography Tip World: Your Guide to Interesting Action Photography. The main thing to observe with camera settings is ISO (controls the camera sensitivity to light), aperture (controls how much space there is to let light in), and exposure speed (how long the exposure takes. Long exposures should be used if there is low light, and short exposures when there's lots of light). If you feel uncomfortable playing with these settings on your own I would stick with automatic mode (based on the conditions, it automates all of the settings for you). If you want a little more control than auto, try program mode (or p). Manual is only if you feel comfortable changing all the settings yourself. Basically, the trick is experimenting, seeing, and manipulating the results. For focal length (or the amount of zoom on the image), you have to decide whether you like close-ups or wider shots, and respond accordingly. This is just a general idea of things to observe, but if you want something very specific, we need more details on what you want and where your photographing.

Best,
Chase Guttman
Photography Tip World