Jasper Tournament – Rumble in the Rockies
Here are some pics from last weekends Jasper tournament. This was our first tournament of 2013-14 and our first using our all mac setup. Everything worked smoothly and it’s always fun going to Jasper. The lighting in their arena is a bit tricky but I think we did ok with it. Enjoy.
Stony Plain Minor Hockey Photos
This is the second year in a row that we’ve done the Stony Plain minor hockey team photos and once again we had fun doing it. There were challenges this time (as there always is on every shoot), but I think things turned out good. The wall behind the players had a big distracting mural on it so we got to use our new backdrop and stands and our new lights as well. If you go to our twitter you can see some photos of the whole setup @slapshotsphoto
Team photos only come once a year but most every sport gets them and they are a lot like doing school photos so it’s a good thing to get into. Once you create systems for doing it you can easily apply them to different things. Anyway, if you are thinking about getting into it send us any questions you might have.
Pics from the Archives
Here are some photos that we were too busy to put on the site in the middle of a hectic season. We were doing some cleaning and inventory and came across them. Enjoy!
Hockey Articles
One way to get a press pass and be able to photograph some really high level hockey is to write hockey articles. If you write for a website you might not be able to get NHL press credentials depending on the website and the city you write in but you can get a press pass for CHL or other junior or college hockey. As you can see from the site I’ve taken a lot of WHL photos and that was mainly through writing for THW.com. If you want to check out the site and read a couple of articles that I wrote go to http://insidehockey.com/author/dustin-twin and http://thehockeywriters.com/author/dtwin/
Aside from going to the games for free you can also make a bit of money for the articles and can do things with the pictures as well. Not to mention that if you are in the photography business it looks good to have some pics that most people can’t or don’t get. Here are a couple that I used with my articles, enjoy!
Lacrosse
So we’ve started to take lacrosse pics in the last couple years and next to hockey it seems to be the best sport business-wise and the shots are great as well. There is a lot of action and yet it’s not as fast as hockey so it makes it a little easier to capture. The fact that you’re not in a cold arena isn’t bad either. Check out some pics from a lacrosse tournament in St. Albert.
Oil Kings – Warriors Game 5
I lost a memory card so I only have a few pics from the game. This Thursday the WHL finals start and I will get some pics of Portland and, of course, Edmonton.
2012 Atom D Provincials
Congratulations to the Cremona Cowboys who won the Provincials this weekend. It was a great tournament with lots of awesome teams. Mayerthorpe did a great job of hosting. We are looking forward to going back there real soon. Good times.
Calahoo Minor Hockey
We did two tournaments in Calahoo, Alberta this year and at least one the year before. It is a great arena and a great hockey town. The parents and staff at the arena are all very nice and helpful and the fries and gravy is awesome. A lot of people talk to me about ‘politics’ in their towns among coaches and parents and I have seen it a few times in places as well but Calahoo is one of the places where I didn’t notice anything like that and everyone was working together good. Anyway, we had fun and would definitely go back and so this feature minor hockey gallery is dedicated to all the awesome players from Calahoo as well as their families.
Red Deer Rebels VS Lethbridge Hurricanes
This was the last Rebels game I caught this year. The team had been through a lot of injuries and tough times this year. Watching them down the stretch they didn’t have enough to put together a string of wins but they were always competitive and won enough games to keep their dedicated fans having something to cheer for.
I got my main lens back after being hit by a puck by a Red Deer player at an Oil Kings game so I took a lot of pictures. I’m pretty sure it was Charles Inglis on a dump-in but on the plus side Charles had a great season in Red Deer after some people writing him off as a discipline case. Anyway, I basically had two home teams this year, the Oil Kings and the Rebels. The Oil Kings are looking like a team that’s going to have some success in the playoffs while Red Deer has played their final game of the 11-12 season.
Anyway, enjoy the pics and check back for playoff pics from Edmonton.
Oil Kings VS Warriors
OK, so my main lens got hit by a puck shot by someone on the Red Deer Rebels, I shall find out who eventually… Anyway, I’ve been shooting with my backup so these photos and the last couple games are not with the optimal equipment, but they are still decent. I got my lens back now though! So on Friday I’m at the Rebels game and will be in Edmonton for the playoffs. Stay tuned and enjoy the pics… (more…)
Red Deer Rebels vs Calgary Hitmen, March 6
First off this was a good physical fast-paced game. Starting to see full-on playoff hockey in the WHL. I did a story on Calgary defenseman Jaynen Rissling who pretty much all scouts have getting drafted this year. Here is that profile http://thehockeywriters.com/jaynen-rissling-the-next-ones-nhl-2012-draft-prospect-profile-big-defenseman-with-big-upside/
And here are some Pics from the game. Enjoy. (more…)
Red Deer Rebels vs Calgary Hitmen
Here are some pics from Saturday’s game. The article I wrote can be read at http://insidehockey.com/calgary-cruises-tough-times-for-rebels enjoy. (more…)
Oil Kings vs Red Deer
Here are some shots from last night game. I will update with a link to the article once it’s up. (more…)
Taking Minor Hockey Photos
Since starting our budding empire of photography, without really being categorized or having a niche, one thing has been clear. In Canada, hockey is big business. For example, some of the top pros make 8-9 million dollars a season, and on top of that they get multimillion dollar endorsement deals. So whip your kids into shape young is the point. OK, maybe not. The real point is that even at the lowest level of hockey, the starting point, there is money to be made as a photographer. If you can get invited to photograph minor hockey tournaments you can make 1000$-2000$ a weekend, no sweat. OK, some sweat since there is some equipment involved, and stairs, and arenas, but it’s still a good gig. We are talking about the first few years of hockey here. For two reasons, one, everyone wants pictures when the game is cute and the kids are cute and they haven’t yet crashed the car or skipped school. Two, they are not yet moving at breakneck speeds and shooting slap-shots that could take out a camera, or worse, a photographer. The subjects are a lot more co-operative.
January 28-29 Mayerthorpe Initiation tournament
We had a great time in Mayerthorpe, the brand new arena they have there is having the finishing touches put on the upstairs so we were in a bit of a tight space but for a small town arena it really is a nice building. The lighting is great, the ice is great, and the food at the concession is awesome. They made a traditional Ukranian supper one night with perogies and all!
There are very few one-rink arenas in small towns that are as nice as Mayerthorpe as far as photography goes. The benches are nice and long so you aren’t in the way. The lighting is clean and even as mentioned before. We are planning on going back there for the Atom provincials so that should be cool. Enjoy the photos. (more…)
SlapShots Photography 