Night football metering

[timmyquest]

The ability to chose my metering mode is new to me and i'd like to get a hang of it ASAP...like, before tonights game.

I'm thinking that partial metering or even spot metering would be best for this...thoughts?

1D
550EX
70-200 F/2.8

[gmen]

Is there grass??

Use any metering mode you fancy. Fill the frame with just grass. Take the reading. This will give a solid base reading.

Set you camera manually based on this reading to give you the best compromise of fast shutter speed, wide aperture and lowest possible ASA.

Take a test pic and tweak the exposure slightly if the histogram shows any issues.

Good luck.

[defordphoto]

And shoot RAW.

[timmyquest]

Originally Posted by gmen

Is there grass??

Use any metering mode you fancy. Fill the frame with just grass. Take the reading. This will give a solid base reading.

Set you camera manually based on this reading to give you the best compromise of fast shutter speed, wide aperture and lowest possible ASA.

Take a test pic and tweak the exposure slightly if the histogram shows any issues.

Good luck.

The only thing is that less light is needed when they are 10 feet in front of me vs when they are 30 feet away from me.
Correct?

[defordphoto]

Depends on their uniforms. It's always trial and error and you just have to go there a little early, during practice, to get setup. Once you do it a few times, then you'll get better at guessing your base settings and then tweaking from there.

[scottbergerphoto]

Whether or not a single meter reading in the grass will be sufficient depends on whether or not the lighting is uniform across the field. If it is, then the reading for a neutral (middle grey) tone at one spot will be fine at another. If the lighting is not uniform, then you will have to take a reading for each area with different lighting. Before the game starts, take readings across the field to see how much variation there is. If it varies alot, you would be better off in Tv, and Partial or Spot metering.
Distance to the subject is not an issue unless you are using flash. Then you are limited by the flashes Guide Number.
Distance = GN / f stop at Iso 100. (Iso 200 multiply by 1.4, Iso 400 multiply by 2)
Regards,
Scott

[blinking8s]

grass rocks...as long as your lighting is the same, it works quite well to meter there grass close to you and keep those settings...ive never done it for sports under the big white lights though...

[kawter2]

Originally Posted by blinking8s

grass rocks...

Hey Hey Hey now. What you do in your spare time, keep that to your spare time

[timmyquest]

Last friday i was in manual mode for a good 10 mins.

I got it to expose right on some of the players (during warmups) about 30 yards away, i then turned to a player 10 yards away and he was way over exposed.

There is no way one could change their flash settings that quickly to get properly exposed shots given the changes in distances. ETTL works fine

[kawter2]

Originally Posted by timmyquest

Last friday i was in manual mode for a good 10 mins.

I got it to expose right on some of the players (during warmups) about 30 yards away, i then turned to a player 10 yards away and he was way over exposed.

There is no way one could change their flash settings that quickly to get properly exposed shots given the changes in distances. ETTL works fine

Yea with those lights, you are going to have to go with a priority and let the camera meter.


Maybee you could meter the grass just to the side of a subject (in practice etc.) set your manual with your prefered aperture. then meter the subject using AF point-linked spot metering with your manual settings using your expected focal poing (the face or nose etc).

Check how much the meter is saying your exposure is off.

EG
-2|||-1|||V|||+1|||+2
........^....................

If your metering says that (as in the example above) your meter is going to underexpose by 1 stop, then when you are in AV adjust your exposure down by 1 stop.


That should stay consistant through out the game iregardless to where the players are on the field. It should just be compensating for the reflectivity of the uniforms

[timmyquest]

shooting with the flash set to ETTL and manual mode on my camera is the only way i can get results

1/250 f/2.8 @ ISO 800

Two games with the camera nad i think it's safe to say i've got the thing figured out.

[kawter2]

Originally Posted by timmyquest

shooting with the flash set to ETTL and manual mode on my camera is the only way i can get results

1/250 f/2.8 @ ISO 800

Two games with the camera nad i think it's safe to say i've got the thing figured out.

I apologize, I thought you were saying that it was still overexposing. Glad you found something that works!!


also, how you liking that 1d

[timmyquest]

[quote="kawter2"]

Originally Posted by timmyquest

shooting with the flash set to ETTL and manual mode on my camera is the only way i can get results

1/250 f/2.8 @ ISO 800

Two games with the camera nad i think it's safe to say i've got the thing figured out.

I apologize, I thought you were saying that it was still overexposing. Glad you found something that works!!




I love it!

I do miss the 6mp, and the noise levels of the 20D tempt me to have buyers remourse...but in the end, the thing is amazing. I love it.

I honestly think this next friday will be the first real game that i'll understand the camera 100% so i'm expecting to get some good cameras.