The Baldwinsville Bees Varsity Boys Ice Hockey season started last week as they hosted the Cicero-North Syracuse Northstars in the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena.  B’ville had an off season in 2010-2011.  They looked much better in this game then last season.  They still need to work on their defense as they gave up two break away goals which kept the game close into the second period.  The Bees then scored four straight goals and never looked back on their way to a 10 to 5 victory.

Click Here for more photos from the Baldwinsville/Cicero-North Syracuse Boys Ice Hockey Game

Baldwinsville Bees Steve Schneid (14) snaps the puck into the net past Cicero-North Syracuse Northstars goaltender Alex Johnston (1) at the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena in Baldwinsville, New York. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/500s, f/3.2, ISO 2500, EV +1.0, 120mm focal length.

As a photographer, I was very excited about the new lighting which was installed in the ice arena since last season.  They still cycle (color casts of red, blue and green flicker on the ice surface.  Too fast for people to see but the camera does) but not as much and the lights are brighter.  Last season, the ISOs of the photos were in the 5000 to 8000 range at 1/500th of a second shutter speeds.  With the new lights, I got from 1600 to 4000 ISOs at the same shutter speed (see photo above). This speeds up my processing time as I can skip using noise reduction software.  The Nikon D700’s sensor handles the noise in this range very well.

Close up of Baldwinsville Bees captain Mike McElwain (17) in a game against the Cicero-North Syracuse Northstars at the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena in Baldwinsville, New York. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/500s, f/2.8, ISO 4000, EV +1.0, 200mm focal length.

Yes, I am going to really enjoy photographing the home games of the B’ville Bess hockey team this season.