Under expose for bright sunlight?

When shooting events such as sports that occur at their own scheduled time (not golden hour), is it helpful to under expose a bit? I usually set the WB to sunny but still get some hot spots, especially with blond hair athletes.

Here is an example

IMAGE LINK: https://troybracker.sm​ugmug.com …enge/n-LRcDsS/i-tVkJThm/A

Yes, with a modern sensor, it's much easier to deal with challenging light when you under-expose a little, enough to not clip out data in large portions (like those reflections on skin). A modern sensor can raise shadow tones much better and clean. If you clip data into white, it's gone. There's only so much room you have for recovery on a RAW file if you over-expose, it's minimal. But you have a lot more headroom (dynamic range) lifting properly exposed and under-exposed data.

Very best,

When I would shoot sports, I would always set exposure manually... Too much riding on the camera metering for the wrong thing and blowing out the picture.

Ideally, I would shoot some test shots before the event and get my exposure correct for the faces. If an outdoor event where lighting will be changing as the day progresses, I would periodically check my shots for exposure shifting and usually just adjust my ISO accordingly.

FWIW: WB won't typically effect your exposure, that just effects the color. So setting a "Sunny" WB won't prevent the photo from blowing out. And if you're shooting RAW, in-camera WB settings don't really make any difference.

'Underexpose' is relative term...what your REFLECTED LIGHT meter read coming thru the lens is varied based upon the entire photo range of brightnesses in the frame...the meter sees less light with a darker predominant background and it sees more light if the sky fills a significant part of the background... so what is 'proper exposure'?! Let's examine that question further:

1. An incident light meter is not affected by the lightness/darkness of the background area, it measures only the amount of illumination falling onto the scene (unaffected by inherently tonality of what is in the field of view).
   
2. Typically (and a bit simplistically) the incident meter reading in sunlight would generally conform to the Sunny 16 rule of thumb.
   
3. The Sunny 16 Rule of Thumb happens to be a reasonable approximation of the incident meters ignoring the subject/background brightness... since you had chosen ISO 640, Sunny 16 would have suggested 1/640 f/16,
   and then adjusting that combination to your selected aperture f/5.6
   
   

1. 1/640 f/16
   
2. 1/1280 f/11
   
3. 1/2560 f/8
   
4. 1/5120 f/5.6
   

Per Sunny 16 rule of thumb, your 1/2000 shutter speed selection is actually OVERexposing the sun lit scene by about 1.33EV , and that exposure combination was not 'underexposing' the scene at all! It only provided less exposure than your meter might have mistakenly suggested because it was fooled by scene briughtnesses.

I also check for blinkies. Was having a heck of a time with white tennis skirts a few weeks ago; they were blowing out and I felt like everything else was getting dim. The sun was going down so the light was changing quickly.

Wilt wrote in post #19364458
Per Sunny 16 rule of thumb, your 1/2000 shutter speed selection is actually OVERexposing the sun lit scene by about 1.33EV , and that exposure combination was not 'underexposing' the scene at all! It only provided less exposure than your meter might have mistakenly suggested because it was fooled by scene briughtnesses.

I'm sure equipment has gotten a lot better, with each camera generation getting better DR... but I was taught to always set exposure for the face. The athlete/parents/fans aren't going to care how perfectly their white uniform was exposed if you can't see their face.

That being said, the faces from this angle, are actually in the shade and the Sunny 16 Rule wouldn't apply because you need to meter for the shade. Correct?

The example photo was shot in shutter priority mode. ISO and aperture were on auto. With sports, I typically shot JPEG due to the large number of shots to review (usually about 700-800 per meet)

duckster wrote in post #19364466
The example photo was shot in shutter priority mode. ISO and aperture were on auto. With sports, I typically shot JPEG due to the large number of shots to review (usually about 700-800 per meet)

Understood... Next time, try pre-metering for faces, then set your exposure to manual ISO, shutter & aperture.

I like to shoot sports wide open, so my aperture would always be wide open (wide open on the long end if using variable aperture zoom), then the shutter speed I would set high-enough to stop motion (this really depends on the sport), then use ISO to control the exposure of the face. Once you get those dialed in to expose for the faces, all the camera has to worry about is nailing the focus.

Photo from nrowensby's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (899722)

By pre-metering, do you use spot metering?

So let's look at 'proper exposure' vs various levels of underexposure...The Colorchecker card provides typical Caucasian skin brightness and coloration via the second patch in top row, as a reference (since I have no human subjects available to me for this series).

IMAGE LINK: https://app.photobucke​t.com …18-49c0-8456-277950d7402e

1. shot 1 is exposed per spot reading of grey strip in middle of EZBalance target (black, grey, white strips) , using f/5.6 as the chosen reference (to mimic your shot). It used 1/5000 shutter
   
2. shot 2 is 'under'exposed by -0.66EV using f/7.1
   
3. shot 3 is 'under'exposed by -1EV using f/8
   
4. shot 4 is 'under'exposed by -1.33EV using f/9
   
5. shot 5 is 'under'exposed by -1.66EV using f/10
   

nrowensby wrote in post #19364463
I'm sure equipment has gotten a lot better, with each camera generation getting better DR... but I was taught to always set exposure for the face. The athlete/parents/fans aren't going to care how perfectly their white uniform was exposed if you can't see their face.

That being said, the faces from this angle, are actually in the shade and the Sunny 16 Rule wouldn't apply because you need to meter for the shade. Correct?

It is somewhat complicated by the fact that the scene itself is fully sunlit while the face is in shadow, which is a difference of about 4-5EV...f/16 vs. f/5.6, or about 4EV range of illumination brightness. So then comes the question of what YOU the photographer wish to achieve with the shot. But let's first start with an assumption that the athlete skin tone is slightly tanned Caucasian skin or about +0.5EV brighter than the grey card (and palm of hand is +1.0EV brighter) and look at some alternatives:

• If shot per sunlit scene predominant light, the background is well exposed but her face is -3.5EV darker (and 0.5EV brighter than the grey card in the same shadow)...the face is a bit too dark!
  
• If shot per shadow lighting on face, the background is overexposed by +3EV and her face is +0.5EV brighter than grey card photographed in the same shadow...the background is blown out!
  
• If shot at a 'compromise' setting like +1.5EV from meter-indicated light, her shadowed face would be represented at its apparent relative brightness to the sunlit scene, the sunlit scene is still overly bright but nevertheless retaining detail so the view has an idea of the scene.
  

duckster wrote in post #19364472
By pre-metering, do you use spot metering?

I haven't used an R6, but I assume it works very similarly to Canon DSLRs (and cameras in general, really, lol)

First, set camera to M
Set aperture value to max (or max long-end on variable aperture zoom)
Set shutter speed where you want it in order to stop motion (typically 1/500+)
Set ISO to AUTO
Change metering to SPOT, Single Point
Aim that point at athlete's face where you're going to be taking the pics (facing you, on the track)
Lock exposure (*)
Look at camera's determined ISO, then change ISO to that value manually

Now you have everything locked in place to properly expose the athlete's face and stop the motion so you don't have to worry about the camera missing the facial exposure because it didn't want to blow out a pair of white socks (for example).

If the sun starts to go down and the faces start dimming, just bump your ISO up, if the faces start to overexpose, drop your ISO.

Thanks for all the information. Very interesting and helpful for me!

nrowensby wrote in post #19364482
I haven't used an R6, but I assume it works very similarly to Canon DSLRs (and cameras in general, really, lol)

First, set camera to M
Set aperture value to max (or max long-end on variable aperture zoom)
Set shutter speed where you want it in order to stop motion (typically 1/500+)
Set ISO to AUTO
Change metering to SPOT, Single Point
Aim that point at athlete's face where you're going to be taking the pics (facing you, on the track)
Lock exposure (*)
Look at camera's determined ISO, then change ISO to that value manually

Now you have everything locked in place to properly expose the athlete's face and stop the motion so you don't have to worry about the camera missing the facial exposure because it didn't want to blow out a pair of white socks (for example).

If the sun starts to go down and the faces start dimming, just bump your ISO up, if the faces start to overexpose, drop your ISO.

OP has to keep in mind that the face is typically BRIGHTER than mid-tone, whereas the meter reading wants to put the targeted area at the midtone...darker than a face should ordinarily be! I would suggest to dial in +0.66EV more exposure (brighter shot) if targeting a face (unless shooting a non-white athlete)

If you're shooting a lot of sports in bright, overhead sun, you might think about getting a good incident meter. As the athletes change direction, and they do a lot, the overall, reflected light will stay the same, but the way the light falls on the subject will change as the angles change.

An incident meter measures falling light. As a photographer, you can stand in the same light as your subject and measure the light falling at the angle it's falling on your subject from your vantage point. Faces are often on the shady side of the head, so you meter for that shade. You can clean up other stuff in post if you have to, but you want a good face.

Something else you have control over is where you stand. Find a place where your subject will be kind of evenly lit. Put the front of the runner in full sun or full shade and meter for that. Clean backgrounds are vital in harsh light. Track meets are awful for that, but be aware and try your best.