Sports settings

[abbypanda]

What setting do you prefer for sports? I've used mostly av in the past, some tv and manual. Sometimes indoors I have a real problem with lighting/ wb. Anyone care to share some specifics of what they've used for specific sports.

[Station15]

Aperture Priority for outdoor events during daytime. The lighting changes as time goes by. Manual for indoor and night sports since the lighting never changes.

[abbypanda]

Thank you. At our gyms where I enjoy taking pics for fun (and some website use for advertising, flyers and such), it has floor to ceiling windows and "daylight" florescent bulbs. The sun shines in to the gym and often times I use AV but it's just not quite perfect at times. Also the mats are maroon, and in the pics it gives off a reddish/ pink tint to the ceiling and the white walls. What can I do for this?

[Daship]

Shoot "RAW" manual, adjust iso to get the right SS and then adjust WB in PP.

[primoz]

All manual for me. Custom white balance, manual settings for time and aperture, since no matter what people say, cameras are still not all that smart that I would want to rely on them for making decisions what is proper light and what not. And it doesn't really matter if it's indoor or outdoor.

[DC Fan]

Originally Posted by abbypanda

What setting do you prefer for sports? I've used mostly av in the past, some tv and manual. Sometimes indoors I have a real problem with lighting/ wb. Anyone care to share some specifics of what they've used for specific sports.

The light is never the same twice indoors. Settings have to be adjusted for every event and every location.

Get a light meter that takes incident readings. Take the incident readings at the location where the action will be happening. Also, take a custom white balance reading at the location where the action will take place.



Focal Length: 50.0mm
Aperture: f/1.8
Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500)
ISO equiv: 1600
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB





Focal Length: 110.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
ISO equiv: 6400
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB


Different gyms, different light, different lenses, different settings. Same technique.

The best way to get exposure and white balance correct for indoor events is to check the amount of illumination using a meter, and then to use the meter's readout to set the camera's aperture, shutter speed and ISO. That's also the case with white balance. Use a white object - handkerchief, piece of paper, a white patch on the floor where the action will happen, a white uniform - to get a custom white balance using the camera.

[JeffreyG]

Amost always M, certainly so indoors.

Set the lens wide open.
Set the shutter speed to what I need to freeze action
Set the ISO to whatever it takes to achieve a correct exposure.

I shoot RAW and just leave the WB on auto. Outdoors Canon does fine, and indoors I have custom presets in Lightroom to set the WB for each of the local gyms.

[abbypanda]

Alright, Thanks for the photos those are very nice and I appreciate you posting them. I do shoot in raw, most of the time I can fix white balance. In regards to the reflection of the mat on the walls and ceilings in my gym, when I try to fix that it distorts the actual color of the mat itself by the time the walls and ceiling are back white. I'll try to find a pic of that but I prob threw it out. I probably need to read up on light room some more and get more training on that. I just bought it a few months ago right before version 4 came out. I also want to learn photoshop more. Thanks for the info on those light meters DC.

[jra]

I always shoot manual for sports either indoors or outdoors.....I can nail the exposure in M far better than the camera does in Av. To use M, you just have to be careful to compensate as the light changes. After a little time, it becomes almost second nature to keep a watchful eye on the lighting and exposure.

[TooManyShots]

Manual...... I don't believe the camera metering system can really deal with bright and colorful and sometimes black/white of the team jerseys. And to throw in various players with various skin complexion and color.

[liam5100]

This....

Originally Posted by TooManyShots

Manual...... I don't believe the camera metering system can really deal with bright and colorful and sometimes black/white of the team jerseys. And to throw in various players with various skin complexion and color.

My trigger finger is my "auto".. few clicks down when the clouds come over head/play goes into shadows, few clicks up when the opposite occurs.. especially with my nemisis.... white uniforms.

[BodyResults]

Indoor I prefer manual. I have been to one gymnastics gym that had less light around 1 apparatus and I had to change manual setting for that area only.

[Black Mesa Images]

Originally Posted by liam5100

This....




My trigger finger is my "auto".. few clicks down when the clouds come over head/play goes into shadows, few clicks up when the opposite occurs.. especially with my nemisis.... white uniforms.

I've had a harder time with orange than white. Since I always shoot RAW, the orange has come out somewhat flat and off color and I have to tweak it to get just the right orange.

To answer the OP's question, I've shot baseball, football and off road racing. All day time, although the last race I shot was overcast.

I shoot pure manual. I don't trust the camera to get the image how I want it.

[Erik Bell]

Originally Posted by DC Fan

Focal Length: 110.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
ISO equiv: 6400
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB

Took me by surprise when I saw this picture. This is a friend of my sons. His name is JaQuan Lyle, hilarious kid. I just looked at the rest of the set on your website, nice. Thanks.

[TooManyShots]

Originally Posted by Black Mesa Images

I've had a harder time with orange than white. Since I always shoot RAW, the orange has come out somewhat flat and off color and I have to tweak it to get just the right orange.

To answer the OP's question, I've shot baseball, football and off road racing. All day time, although the last race I shot was overcast.

I shoot pure manual. I don't trust the camera to get the image how I want it.

Mine is white and red.... White, other than, having the tendency to blow up the highlight, it tends to reflect too much blue. Red, on the other hand, is too hot. In post processing, I tend to reduce the saturation a bit.