Underwater Hockey

My short run covering the NHL playoffs ended last week, when the New Jersey Devils were knocked out of the first round by the New York Rangers. After a few days off, my boss gave me another sports assignment - but this wasn't your usual sport. I was going to photograph recreational underwater hockey - and my editor wanted me in the pool with the players.

I have no experience shooting underwater. So after I bought a swimsuit, I was at a loss as to how to otherwise prepare. One of my Star-Ledger colleagues gave me a 5-minute crash course in using the underwater protective bag for cameras. My boss also suggested I use a staff pool camera (a Canon 20D with a 16-37mm lens), rather than risk waterlogging the new Canon Mark III I just got a few months ago.

Shooting underwater hockey was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening. The players race around the bottom of the pool as they play, and at first, I struggled against my body's natural tendency to float. So I put three 3-pound weights in the pockets of my swimtrunks and an 8-pound weight in a bag that I hung from my neck to weight me down. While the weights helped me get down to where the action was, they made it difficult for me to surface for air. So for an hour, I got in a workout worthy of Greg Louganis, as I pingponged between the bottom of the pool to photograph and then struggled back up to surface for air every 30 or 40 seconds.

It was difficult to see through the view finder, so often I found myself just pointing the camera in the direction of game play and hoping for the best. For my first experience shooting action underwater, I came away with some interesting images.

To learn more about this sport check out - Underwater Society of America and USA Underwater Hockey.