Clean the glass !

Tonight's game was at one of my least favourite rinks...the Nepean Sportsplex Rink 2. This is a relatively dark rink, but today I was presented with an additional challenge. The weather! The rink humidity was really bad and I was greeted with this view as I walked through the door...

A quick look around the glass showed that this was bad on all sides ! Yikes...

Fortunately I usually carry a cloth in my camera bag (which just happens to be a micro fibre skate towel), so while the Zamboni was re-surfacing the ice, I headed for the doors. At most rinks this trick allows you to clean the glass on both sides and that can make a huge difference to the shots, even if the resulting angle is not my favourite.

This made a huge difference (see below) and turned a total bust into a game that I could at least shoot! The door on the left is the one I did not clean, and the one on the right was the one that I did.

So, difficult light (I had to stop down to 1/500th and f2.8 to get anything) and bad humidity but I got the job done. As we got towards the end of the game, the fog descended on the ice...but there was nothing I could do about that, although it did make for some unusual and atmospheric pictures...

I usually give the glass a quick polish before every shoot...but on days like today, that cleaning cloth can really save the day. Sometimes the simplest equipment is the most effective!