Claudine {&} Craig ~Engaged~

St Thomas Hockey

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Hockey Photography

Fast. The single word that describes everything that makes up hockey photography. Fast lens, fast shutter speed, high speed iso, all to capture fast players, making fast plays, in the blink of an eye. Slow reaction time, use a slow lens, and slow shutter, and you'll miss it all in a blurry haze. Being in the right spot at the right time can make or break your photos, but making the best out of available spots can separate your from the pack. I like to be at ice level, even if it means shooting through nasty arena glass. I want my photos to look like I'm on the ice.

With hockey I find it sometimes effective to compose the shot while anticipating the action and let the shots come to me instead of tracking the play. This works well for plays close to the net, and takes away the need to track the subject where the potential for missing the peak moment of impact can occur. What's the peak moment of impact? It's the curve in a players stick just as the puck is being released, the water bottle flying off the back of the net as a goal is scored, snow flying in the air as the players crash a goalies crease, or a crushing open ice body check. These types of photos when captured at their pinnacle moment have a tremendous amount of impact.
At the same time, tracking the play and producing a sharp and focused image while panning your camera with the action can be quite satisfying.

As I write this, I'm currently working with stutommies.com, a non-profit website dedicated to the St Thomas Tommies in Fredericton NB.Why do I do it? It's simple. I love the game of hockey and I'm a photographer. From the days of beating a snowy path in -20 degree celsius weather just to find a scrap of ice, to sitting in the stands at the bell centre watching Sidney Crosby, I have had an on going passion for the game for as long as I can remember. Taking my photography from the wedding chapel and to the ice was an easy choice. I basically said one day, "I want to photograph hockey, I want to one day shoot for the pros", and that's what I did, well not shoot for the pros (yet) Sounds funny, and simple but that's how it happened. It's easy to have a desire to do something, following through with it is different, if you want something you need to go after it. I'm going after it. After shooting my first St Thomas tommies game, one of my photos was picked up stutommies.com, thanks to a twitter post I made, and I've been attending the games and have had my images published since. I've also had the opportunity to gain access to the national champions UNB VReds games, thanks to a connection in the industry, something I'm extremely grateful for. CIS nationals are being held in Fredericton this year, where I plan to be shooting rink side.

It's been an amazing experience, I've seen a lot of hockey over the last few months, it's keeping me sharp for the upcoming wedding season, and i'm really loving every minute of it.

St Thomas Tommies vs UNB VReds

for a full article on the game go to stutommies.com

2012 Weddings

Hey everyone! Well it's been ages since I actually had time to sit down an write. Just by looking at the blog you'll see I'm always making photo updates from different jobs I shoot, but it's been way too long since I offered some written content. So lets get right to it. I want to talk about my 2012 weddings, hockey photography, what and who has inspired me and mention some of the new gear I've been fortunate enough to upgrade to over the last few months.

All of the amazing couples I've got to meet has been an awesome experience in it's self. I learn so much from working with you guys, it keeps blowing my mind. I love it! 2012 is a big year for DylanBuell Photography, with more weddings than ever booked, it's going to be a crazy season. I have a few new features I've added to my wedding packages such as a Photobooth, and the ability to showcase wedding photos from a couple's day at the reception on a large screen monitor. The photobooth is full of opportunity for the wedding party and guests to get a little crazy, and creative! I'm bringing studio lighting, fun props, and onsite printing into the mix. This is basically an upgrade to add that something extra, and really fun to your wedding day. Ask about adding a photobooth to your wedding photography.

So in 2012 and moving forward on thing that I will start doing, and should have been doing since I started,  is displaying 40 or 50 photos from the wedding day at the reception. I'm taking a page out of  Louis Torres's book of forweddingphotographers.com. Every wedding photographer should listen to his podcast. Weather you need a kick in the rear to get moving, inspiration, business insight, he's awesome. One of the things I've taken away from it is showing off my photos at the reception. This will do a few things. The bride and groom will get to see themselves in beautiful photos faster than ever. Instant gratification.Thoes 40 or 50 photos will be burnt to a disk and handed to the bride and groom at the end of the night! I can't see how this won't go over well. The other advantage to this, and is more business directed, is all of the friends of the couples who will also see my photos and start thinking about their wedding photography and having Dylan Buell capture it!. As I said, I don't know why I haven't been doing this forever. In 2012 it's FREE for all of my couples!

One more thing that's going to be dramatically changed in 2012 is the amount of time it takes to edit, and deliver my couples wedding photos. It's been 30 days, sometimes more as per my contracts in the past. This year I'm dedicated to reducing this time significantly moving forward and cut to turn around time to less than half of what it was. It'll keep us all happy, and you'll get to see your complete collection of wedding photos much faster then before.

I'll touch on other topics over the next little while. I'm shooting another game of University hockey tonight with my new tamron 70-200 2.8, I'm beyond excited to get out there and start shooting with this nice piece of gear, optically it is reviewed to be right up there with the canon 70-200 2.8 L but for 1/3 of the price. Photos will be posted tonight around 11pm atlantic time.

 Thank you to everyone who visits my blog, it just recently passed 10,000 views, thats so appreciated, and without you guys this wouldn't exist. You all ROCK!!  -DB

If you or a friend is getting married and you're interested in having me capture the wedding day click here and contact me with the wedding date :)

St Thomas Lady Tommies vs UPEI

for a full write up on the game go to stutommies.com

St Thomas Tommies vs Dalhousie Tigers

Go to stutommies.com for a full article on the game.

Emily {&} Eric ~ Engagement