What a Weekend!

All I can say is, wow! I have had a mad week. As I wrote before, my main lens for shooting the hockey had to be sent off for repairs, and this left me with a situation when it came to shooting the weekend's games. I couldn't use the kit lens that came with my camera, I've tried before and it's just not good enough. So, I was able to borrow a Nikon D90 from the uni, and shoot on that. It was a bit weird, I'm a Sony user and there are some fundamental differences, but I managed to get my head round it all for the trip to Peterborough on Saturday.

At that point, Phoenix needed a point to take the League, and we all thought it'd be done that night. The atmosphere among the traveling Phoenix support was immense, but alas, it was not to be, we lost 6-2.

It was a pretty subdued journey home, but really, looking back, I'm glad we lost.

Because it set up an amazing end of season clash between Phoenix and the Swindon Wildcats. The Ice Dome was packed, and the atmosphere was electric. I don't think I'll forget looking round as the intro video played and seeing packed blocks, with everyone on their feet, clapping and cheering, something I'd never seen before.

The game was a nervous affair for me, and also for Helena, but Phoenix did us all proud and won the title, with a 5-2 victory. This is where the atmosphere basically went from electric to what can only be described as "all hell breaking loose" both on and off the ice. It's also where I learned that yes, I am getting the hang of this photography business, because in between turning to Helena and shouting "We've done it, we've done it! We've won the League!", I was able to capture some cracking shots of the players celebrating. Some of them are below:

More can be found on my Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45456370@N02/

Now, onto some film news. I've got a target time of 6 minutes for "Plexi" and my 2 other films are taking shape. I got a lot of advice about "Plexi" from my supervisor, who said that once I've transcribed my interviews, I can basically build a script and edit it to that. I'll be having a go at that during the week. I'm also hoping to have cut together a trailer by the end of the week and will hopefully have it online ASAP.

The Future

Two words that at the moment, I'm seeing a lot. I'm in the process of applying for jobs for when I leave university. This also means thinking about accomodation, location etc. I'm going to be honest, it's scaring me somewhat at the moment, there's a worry that I won't get to do what I want, that I'll be stuck in a job I hate, and loads of other things.

But, I'm staying positive, I'm getting my CV in order and applying for work. I'll get there, it might just take time.

So, film-wise "The Other Side of the Plexi" is now into the post production stages, where I'm really having fun working with the footage. I'm also working on the pre production for my other two films.

Photography wise, I'm very sad. Over the weekend I was down in Milton Keynes at a Phoenix game, and after, my 70-300mm lens began making some rather odd grinding noises. At the home All Star game on Sunday, it was really struggling to auto focus, so I shot the whole thing in manual focus mode. I haven't looked at the shots yet but I think some may be a little soft. So, yesterday, my lens was picked up by courier and is going to be repaired.

But it does essentially leave me camera-less for the next few hockey games. This is where being a uni student is good, I can book a stills camera through uni and carry on shooting! Hooray! Although, I'm a Sony girl, and the uni has Nikons, so Friday night will be spent with me trying to figure out how to work the D90.

I also got to relax a little yesterday. Making use of a free day, I headed up to the rink in Altrincham for a skate. I've not been on the ice since summer, it was a quiet session, and all my stress just eased. I also picked up a couple of new skating skills, such as a 2 foot spin and a new way of going from forwards to backwards skating.

So hopefully next time I write, I should have a rough edit of "Plexi" online to show.

Photos, filming and editing

Yep, this blog entry will cover all of them. I'll start with the photos. Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to go to an away game in Sheffield. Another new experience, IceSheffield is the nicest rink I have ever been in. It was purpose built and it shows. Anyway, the game was a weird one, 3 fights across 2 periods. This gave me lots of practice at shooting fights, and the photos can be seen, as always, on my Flickr page.

So, yesterday, I began shooting one of my films for the semester. I tend to get very nervous about shoots, I don't know why, because 99% of the time, everything goes OK. Anyway, I headed up to Altrincham for the game, as usual. What was unusual was a) my mum was driving and b) I had Rich and Marco, my trusty crew with me. So, we got to the rink, and started filming interviews, then went and filmed the game. It was an experience. It's hard to predict what's going to happen during a game, or where people will be, but we filled one memory card and started on the other, so footage shouldn't be in short supply.

Now, I'm capturing it all, and beginning to edit. I love editing, I can just stick a pair of headphones on, and become lost in my own little world. And it's one area where I'm actually not bad. So, I'll update more when all the footage copies over and I've got it into Final Cut, but so far, so good!

Lots of Firsts

Well, as the title says, there have been a lot of firsts since my last blog posts. Where to begin, I wonder?

I'll start with my first trip to a Phoenix away game, in Peterborough. This was great fun, I was in good company, and I got to experience one of those lovely photography moments that, unfortunately, don't happen very often! A fight broke out, directly in front of me, on the ice, I hasten to add! This was fantastic from a photography point of view, as the seat I was occupying was at the back, in line with the staircase going up the block, meaning, no one to stand in front of me and block my view!

The results speak for themselves, and I'm immensely proud of them!

So, after this, I was advised to send some of the shots, including those 2, to a hockey website called British Ice Hockey (www.britishicehockey.co.uk). They've since come back to me, asking me to send 5 to 10 images to them after each game! So that's another success, and again, I'm very proud. Nothing's gone up there yet, but I'm keeping an eye out.

Anyway, I also went to an away game at Telford, and got my first taste of just how awful the lighting in some rinks can be. It was orange! So a lot of post production work has gone into those photos, although they're not online just yet. There was another fight, although this time, I was sat up at the back of the away block with Helena, and everyone stood up, so we didn't see a thing! Ah, the joys of being 5 foot 2!

That was a Saturday game, and we played Telford at the Ice Dome on Sunday, and it was back to business as usual. I got a lot of nice shots, but there's one I'm VERY proud of, and a lot of people seem to like it, so I'll post it here:

Now, onto film news! My individual film idea, has changed! The dance idea just wasn't coming together well in my view, and it would've been a very weak film. So I'm playing to my strengths and doing another documentary, about something I know lots about an am very passionate about: being a hockey fan. Things are going well, I have contributors, I have permission to film on a gameday, and I almost have my crew. I just need a location for my interviews.

The collab is going well, we're hopefully basing something around a park that's local to Holly, so that should be awesome.