Wide Angled Fun

This past weekend's home game against Slough Jets was my first chance to play with a new toy that I picked up for my camera - a 0.45 wide angle adaptor for my 18-55mm lens! (Nerd moment, I know)

The adaptor gives a wider image when the lens is at its most open, so at 18mm it gives a lovely wide shot with a fish-eye effect around the outside, and it gave me the chance to shoot images like this:



Link to the Flickr image: Stephen Fone

Whilst it's not very practical to shoot with it during the game (I shoot mostly from my seat, so the players would appear about half a mile away), it's a lovely little thing when it comes to getting alternative / interesting / artsy fartsy shots!

This past weekend also gave a chance to myself and Lauren Freeman (fellow Phoenix photographer) to shoot the players as they step onto the ice at the start of the game. Now, as a hockey player myself, I've stepped on the Altrincham ice plenty of times over the years, but for some reason the resurface that the rink staff manage to do before a game is pretty impressive. Mostly the ice at Alty is like skating on corrugated iron, but for the Phoenix they manage to achieve sheet glass. I daresay that skating on it is absolute heaven, but walking on it whilst carrying a camera?....