shooting wakeboarding

hello, I catch myself all the time coming to this wonderful site and reading all the helpful info. Now I need some advice and this is my first time posting. We were out on the boat this weekend watching my son wakeboard. I was taking pics and some of them would be bright and good and some would be dark I shoot with a Canon 40D, lense is a 70-300 with IS. I was shooting in AV mode, WB-sunny, ISO-800. It was a on and off cloudy day. I mostly noticed it in a sequence shots which you can see. please I will take any advice. thanks thanks...

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What was your metering mode? Spot, evaluative etc...?

I think i was in evaluative..is there a better mode for action sports like wakeboarding and baseball????

Spot metering or center weight might help.

With evaluative the camera is metering for all the water and its reflection. I usually fix this by adjusting +2/3 EC when covering swimming. Try using EC and check your histogram until you get it dialed in.... or learn M

Definitely as suggested above, if you are shooting something like this with a bright BG and the face in shadow, dial in +2/3 or even (sometimes) +1 EC to help.
EDIT: Haha, forgot to say you could just shoot manual and not worry.

shoot manual

I have ran into similar situations, I continue to use evaluative metering most of the time. I have tried Center weighted as well. For the most part, I keep the wakeboarder in the center.

If the boat is driving toward the sun, it can really light up your subject making for much better shots. You won't have to be as good of a photographer. I know you don't always have a lot of choice in where the boat goes, but I am always happier with my early morning set, late evening set, and boat driving toward the sun.

Have Fun,
kv

thanks everyone for the great info...

shoot manual

Shooting manual on a boat that is constantly changing its orientation to the sun is very difficult to do. I find with wake boarding adding +EC as suggested helps because the camera exposes for the white spray and water and the positive EC overcomes this.

Bill S wrote in post #5843926
Shooting manual on a boat that is constantly changing its orientation to the sun is very difficult to do.

Ditto - or the boat ducks under a cloud for a 20 seconds and you blow the perfect carve.

I like to alter between AV and TV. Sometimes you need the f2.8 to blur that noisy BG if you're close to shore.

they look soft and under exposed.

It would be helpful to have the exif information intact to see what exactly the camera is doing on each shot to figure out what is happening in the sequence. What do the next shots in the sequence look like, underexposed like the second or does the exposure pop back to the first shot? Also would like to understand why you would be shooting ISO 800?

For what it is worth, I shoot a ton of wakeboard and waterski stuff as I am in that industry. I always shoot AV and depending on the day will increase the exposure compensation as Bill has mentioned above. I also always use evaluative metering as a starting point, very rarely will I go to manual unless I am in a stationary position to the sun (i.e. in a different boat than the rider is being pulled from). On the water (as any where) your histogram is your best friend to see if you are getting correct exposure. Post some more information on the shots and someone may be able to give you a better reason for the issue.

Here is an old one of Josh Sanders using the methods mentioned above but without any EV compensation.