best metering mode for 7D?

Hey, I'm still unsure what the best metering mode would be for shooting gymnastics? I'm normally using "florescent light" mode for white balance; aperture mode to keep shallow depth of field; and I keep the metering at "evaluative."
Just unsure if that's the best way of metering these indoor shots???
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Mike

Manual exposure. The light indoors is not changing.

In most gyms, I use spot metering. I use the athletes face to get my meter reading and go all manual. AV will mislead you indoors a lot of the times.

+1 on what tmalone893 said.

You need to get a gray card. make sure to get one that is suitable for both exposure and white balance. Use that with manual exposure and a custom white balance.

If you are shooting in a gym that gets darker towards the ends then use the gray card in the brightest section and in the darkest section. Make a note of the correct exposure for each condition and just change one setting between the two areas. With a little practice and planning you should be able to switch between the two settings without missing anything. If you find that you are shooting a lot in an area that is somewhere in the middle and cannot get over there with a gray card to take a third meter reading then you can always make an educated guess between your other two settings.

Also, be aware that even with a custom white balance you can still have color issues with some lighting when using a fast shutter speed. A good idea for this is to take a non-action shot using a 1/60 shutter speed so that when you are trying to correct the colors on the computer you will have a good reference for how the colors are supposed to look

tmalone893 wrote in post #11987767
In most gyms, I use spot metering. I use the athletes face to get my meter reading and go all manual. AV will mislead you indoors a lot of the times.

Does that make all athletes have the same skin color? Seems quite odd to me...

Manual for me.

Dave

tracknut wrote in post #11987842
Does that make all athletes have the same skin color? Seems quite odd to me...

Manual for me.

Dave

This just gets you a correct shutter, aperture setting. A custom white balance will be needed for skin color. And as KRB has stated, in some gyms you will catch the light cycle and get more of a magenta color. Nothing is perfect in High School and Middle School gyms but these two suggestions will help out tremendously.

Full manual mode for me with a grey card. Sometimes I also try to get pictures of white objects around the different areas I'm shooting so I can possibly leverage them for better balance in PP.

tmalone893 wrote in post #11994824
This just gets you a correct shutter, aperture setting.

Well, it would do that if all athletes were 18% gray colored. That was my question, not about white balance. Seems to me that spot metering on something you knew was 18% gray would work, but is that truly the color of all gymnasts skin?

Dave

The color of the athlete's skin has no bearing on using a grey card to get proper exposure. If they all had green skin and you used a grey card to set exposure, then they would all still be properly exposed but with whatever color came from your current white balance.

Fligi7 wrote in post #11995528
The color of the athlete's skin has no bearing on using a grey card to get proper exposure. If they all had green skin and you used a grey card to set exposure, then they would all still be properly exposed but with whatever color came from your current white balance.

That's true. I'm not sure who you're responding to though, or whether you were just making a statement

Dave

Oh, just a general statement as I thought there was some confusion on it. I could have misinterpreted, though.

Here is a link to some settings you can use this shooter is dead on most of the time you can give them a try,
http://www.sportsshoot​er.com …ge_display.html​?tid=34832