For the first sold out game of the year the Owen Sound Attack took on the London Knights on Hockey Fights Cancer night. With their custom jerseys sponsored by Barry’s Construction, a whole slew of unique fundraising opportunities and a packed Bayshore, this seemed like a good night to show you how I shoot a game from beginning to end.

I can remember the very first time I decided to shoot walk-ins at the Bayshore. I had seen shots of NHL players arriving for games dressed to the nines and I finally asked someone if the Attack players arrived the same way. Turns out, despite parking in the back forty of the Bayshore and dodging potholes and parked cars, the boys arrive dressed like the future pros they are. For Hockey Fights Cancer Night, I arrived at the Bayshore around 4 p.m. which was too late for Elliott Arnett (usually first to arrive) but just early enough to catch Wesley Royston (next earliest) and the rest of the crew. Two players offered me coffee, one offered me a toque, and eventually Sam Buschbeck brought me a Timmy’s.

With walk-ins out of the way, Sam and I headed in for dinner in the media room. I’m not always this early for a game but when I am it’s nice to have the option of dinner. Saturday’s spread was hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and carrots. Enough to power us through overtime and a shootout. No photos for that part.

Next we wandered up to the mezzanine for stretching and sewer ball. I decided to shoot most of this part with a wide angle for a change. When you’ve watched this routine a few times, you start to see little things like the high fives in between drills, some regular sewer ball winners and Mbuyi always, always being the one to haul up the speaker. Here are a few shots I liked from off-ice warm ups.

You’ve got about 20 minutes from off-ice warm up to the players coming out for on-ice warm up. Just enough time to grab some fresh batteries, make sure the stool for your photography hole is in the right spot and have our nightly discussion about who is going where in which period. Then we head to the Attack bench to shoot warmups. Until this year when we got our new photo holes (THANK YOU CITY OF OWEN SOUND and GREG HODDINOTT), that 20 minute warm up on the bench was our only chance to shoot without glass. It’s a great place to get close ups of the players and try new things in a pretty predictable situation. Like the off-ice warm up, there are lots of rituals you get to know for each player, like Carter’s water bottle squirt, Bedkowski and Sykora’s matching stretching and Pierce Mbuyi’s puck balancing. On this night, I’d brought along another new toy, a 6 point star filter for my 85mm lens. See if you can pick up where it was used in these images.

Next, it was time to head down to the tunnel to try out a new spotlight I’d purchased with a purple gel to add some colour to the entrance way in the spirit of the Attack’s Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys. There wasn’t a ton of time to test this out, especially since the lights only go out at player intros. The entire opportunity for this light lasted about 7 minutes and while I got some okay stuff there’s room for improvement. After 4 seasons in the Bayshore, it’s fun to try new things, new angles and new lighting.

After the anthem, it’s game time of course. By this point, Sam and I have worked out a plan for who is shooting from which end for which periods. We are super lucky to have two shooters, so when someone scores at the other end, I know Sam got it up close and I’ll get it as the scorer comes along the bench for high fives.

That’s a wrap on Hockey Fights Cancer night. Narrowed down 1876 photos and submitted final edits to the team on Sunday as well as uploading frames to Greenfly between periods for the team and the league. It’s always fun seeing where stuff ends up.

This year’s photo reports are sponsored by Watson Construction Ltd. Matt Watson has been framing quality homes in Grey Bruce for the past 15 years. Watson Construction specializes in custom residential framing and general contracting, with a focus on delivering reliable service and top-quality craftsmanship. Whether it’s a new build, an addition, or a major renovation, their team is committed to creating homes that stand the test of time. You can contact Matt by phone at 519-377-4924, by email at Mattwwatson@outlook.com or by following them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Watsonconstruction