Sports jersey exposure

[Zander Albertson]

When I shoot sports, I use the center AF point, which works fine as far as AF goes, but in order to compose my photo properly, the AF point ends up somewhere on the athlete's chest. The problem here is that I shoot players with black jerseys, therefore exposing for the black and overexposing the face.

Is the fix to this simply dialing in -1/3 or -2/3 exposure comp.? Or something else?

Thanks,
Zander

[Mazu]

That should help. Do you fill the frame with the athlete? What metering mode do you use? Also I think a black jersey could cause problems with the af, no problems there?

[Pete]

Manual exposure will help a great deal here. Especially when the players on different teams have light and dark tops.

Take a meter reading from something uniform (maybe the pitch, or a grey card if you have one, or better yet, a light meter) and check the exposure in your histogram.

Then put your camera in manual mode and use those settings (making sure that you have a shutter speed that's acceptable).

That way you'll get a consistant exposure for whoever you're shooting.

Re-take the sample meter reading at various points in the day (it shouldn't change more than a stop or so unless it's getting late or cloudy).

Take some time to read through -=Gmen's Sports Q&A Session=- (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=116971) for some great tips.

[Mike]

What Pete says - I always shoot in Manual for sports, and everything else for that matter! I sometimes take a meter reading from my hand but most of the time I'll chimp the first few shots, get the exposure right and then keep chimping every few shots or so to make sure the exposure is correct.

If you have not used manual before don't be afraid of it. Once you get the hang of it (and it won't take long) you'll get a better level of consistency in your shots.

[Pete]

What Pete says - I always shoot in Manual for sports, and everything else for that matter! I sometimes take a meter reading from my hand but most of the time I'll chimp the first few shots, get the exposure right and then keep chimping every few shots or so to make sure the exposure is correct.

If you have not used manual before don't be afraid of it. Once you get the hang of it (and it won't take long) you'll get a better level of consistency in your shots.

Mike, just for my interest and to add to the thread, how do you deal with cases where there's clouds running across the sky? Do you chimp & adjust, or get a feel for how much light is lost and automatically increase the expose by a stop or so?

[tzalman]

I'd advise separating focusing and metering by putting focussing on the * button in older cameras or AF-On in the newer models, especially if changing light forces you to Tv.

[Mike]

I watch the needle!! When I get my exposure right I check where the exposure needle is in the viewfinder and if the light changes dramatically due to clouds I will adjust shutter/aperture/iso to get the needle back to roughly where it was...and then chimp!

I've only been using this method for the last 6-9 months or so as I used to be an Av shooter, but now I'm a manual convert and enjoying it!

[PhotosGuy]

I watch the needle!! When I get my exposure right I check where the exposure needle is in the viewfinder and if the light changes dramatically due to clouds I will adjust shutter/aperture/iso to get the needle back to roughly where it was...and then chimp! It's easier for me to watch the light & change the ISO without looking in the viewfinder. (Doesn't mean that you can't look at the needle the first few times to get a feel for how much you need to change.) Details somewhere in this thread:
Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

[Zander Albertson]

Yes, I've been using evauluative metering in Av mode. My jerseys are all black with white trim and letters.

I think I will try manual for a while and see how it works.

[dave kadolph]

My home team has the Black and White jersey's also

I shoot Evaluative and AV in good light--manual in poor but relatively constant lighting.

I set the display to thumbnail and histogram with highlight alert enabled and use EC from there if I start to blow out the whites.