Baseball - Too much light in all the wrong places ...

[garykohs]

I shot a scrimmage on Saturday and struggled with the shadows of the strong 11 am sun. I knew it was going to be a problem so I experimented with + exposure compensation. Of course that produced blown highlights. I know there's no magic bullet but I'm searching for ideas. Polarizing filter?

I was using center weighted metering on my Canon 7D - Tv at 1/1,000. I started at ISO 200 and experimented with 250, 400 and then "A" as the clouds appeared.

I was shooting Raw so I recovered as best as possible in LR3.

Pics:
ISO 200, f4.5, +5/3 (and lots of fill light in PP)


ISO 200, f5.6, +2/3 comp


ISO 200, f5.6, +2/3 comp


ISO 250, f5, 0 comp (focus tracking the baserunner)


ISO 250, f8, 0 comp


ISO 250, f5, +2/3 comp


ISO 400, f5.6, 0 comp


ISO 400, f6.3, +1/3


ISO 250, f5, +1/3 (safe, by the way!)


ISO 640, f5, +1/3

[ldelacruz]

Gary,
What lens setup were you using?

[garykohs]

Canon 100-400L lens. I'm not sure what you mean by "setup." I was shooting hand held. Is that what you mean?

[ldelacruz]

I couldn't tell if you were using a 70-200 with TC's or the 100-400.

[Matt_G]

The "magic bullet" is to expose for the faces and recover highlights in post as needed. It is MUCH better to clip the highlights and get good shadow detail and adjust from there rather than than the other way. Also, I wouldnt use Tv for much of anything unless I was going for a panning shot. Av would be my choice for sports if not Manual.

[ldelacruz]

With your lens I would always set it to the lowest aperture and shoot in manual. Learn to pick your spots and go in with a shot in mind and expose for it. You only need a shutter of 1250 to 2000 so keep your ISO as low as you can. You should expose not your camera!

[garykohs]

Thanks, Matt and Lonnie,

I always shoot basketball in manual - well, almost always. But shooting baseball where the light is so variable from one moment to the next, not to mention one point on the field to the next, I don't know how I can do that.

I was shooting baseball Friday night with Tv at 1/1,000 and ISO on automatic with my Canon 70-300 and, after the lights came on, the ISO was 1,000 at the plate and 3,200 in center field. I'm not sure how you shoot in manual under those conditions.

Lonnie, I understand what you're saying about exposing with a shot in mind. And that's great for trying to get a prize shot. But I'm trying to "shoot the game" and get pictures of all the kids for a sports website (specifically, here, for KleinOakBaseball.com). Of course I can try a mix between those two goals.

[Matt_G]

But your covering one team right? They wont bat and play outfield at the same time.

When I cover both teams at the same time I sometimes us Av. Never Tv, although the shutter speed is important its not the setting Im most concerned at staying fixed. Auto ISO I understand but not Tv.

However in most situations I still use Manual for covering the field and the batter. The difference is usally 1 stop or less so that is simply a few clicks on the dial and its constant so I know what to change to.

[ldelacruz]

Nothing wrong with your approach but on most occassions I won't shoot every play of the game. I try to break it up into offense or defense then split it up from there. Like Matt said I meter the areas of the field and adjust my shutter on the fly during action to get close. To me AV or TV is too unpredictable. Your doing good so find what works for you and perfect it!

[garykohs]

Matt,

But when my team is batting they are also running bases. Well, sometimes! And when they're fielding they are all over the ... field.

[AndrewCCM]

Lots of sports shooters shoot JPG only. I am just the opposite. I shoot raw and as mentioned above... Get your exposure right for the faces and deal with highlights in post. I find that raw gives me a lot of room to bring back highlights. There are times where I'll pick an in between exposure and deal in post. I have found that if the highlights are way too blown (and too dominant in the pic), I'll shoot with the faces under exposed by up to a stop and bring those up in post. As long as shooting lower ISOs (which you should be in bright sun), bringing up exposure in areas is pretty easy and without too much detriment to noise levels. This gives you a bit more latitude with the ability to bring down highlights and up the shadows...

Having said that, it would be a pain to do that on all the images....so you have to decide how much post you want to be dealing with. Exposing for skin (and jerseys) is generally the fastest approach.

Shooting outdoors in bright sun, I often shoot manual or AV. In AV, I will often add +1/3 to +2/3 EV... Auto ISO is definitely usable in ever changing environments...(clouds that move in and out...shadows to bright sun, etc...)

Anyway.. Good luck!

Andrew

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by garykohs

Matt,

But when my team is batting they are also running bases. Well, sometimes! And when they're fielding they are all over the ... field.

It takes practice and preparation but It is not as hard as you think.