Histograms for hockey

thezoomer · September 17, 2009

Hello everyone!!

I'm new here and it's a pleasure to be here! I have a question regarding histograms for ice hockey. I've done much research and found that photogs who shoot hockey regularly say the histogram should be to the far right. In my own experience I have tried or thought I got it right but I really am unsure of what a really good histogram looks like, being a novice. I do know with all the challenges that ice hockey brings i.e. bad lighting, shooting thru plexiglass, fencing, netting, and the speed of the sport, there probably is not a perfect example, but I would like to see or for someone to explain to me who is has a really good grasp.

Thanks for any info!!

aktse · September 17, 2009

I saw your comment on my thread, but I haven't had the chance to take screen capture of histograms for you. Plus, i'm working on back up computers right now due to a HD crash :cry

welcome to dgrin

thezoomer wrote:

I've done much research and found that photogs who shoot hockey regularly say the histogram should be to the far right.

First question -- do you understand the concept of histograms and what it's trying to tell you?

For most photos, photographers generally aim for a histogram that's not clipped to the left/right or on top.

For hockey, the histograms are generally pushed to the right side because of the large amount of "white" in the photo due to the ice for a proper exposure. This concept also applies when shooting in the snow.

I really suggest you post some photos....

aktse · September 18, 2009

Histogram really depends on many things, but in general, photographers aim for a balanced histogram because they want full range of colors in the photos.

Some linkies:
From Luminous-landscapes
from basic digital photography
photoxels
Wikipedia

It's just a graphical way to represent the tonal brightness of the image with the horizontal axis representing the values from dark to light and with the intensity (amount) of each value shown on the vertical axis.

For hockey, when there is a lot of ice in the image, it will be pushed towards the right side of the histogram which is why you should exposure compensate if you're shooting in any of the semi-automatic modes due to the metering.

I skipped lunch again yesterday and I got these frames during 20 minutes at the Sharks practice (nothing really great). Most of these are newbies that did not make it to the pre-season game. These images are SOC (shot jpg) and I took screen captures for you of ACR.

In general, I was rushed, did not nail the exposure perfectly in camera and am clipping a bit; however, I'm in the ballpark and can in post if I really wanted to

I basically ran in, set at CWB, started shooting and just used the previous exposure settings at the other rink in this complex.

1. White on White -- Lots of ice with a player in white: histogram will be pushed to the right

2. Another piece of glass with ice but more dark things in the images.

3. Skater in Black without any ice in the image taken through a really older, dirty, grey piece of glass

In general, the light was *excellent* because all of them were turned on and I had some clean pieces of glass. Usually, the rink turns of 1/2 of the lights when the adult or kid leagues are on the ice. Even SOC, these images acceptable to me; they're like general SOC images -- good, but lacking pop.

What could I have done different? I would have re-CWB more, increased the shutter speed for most of my images and decreased them for a few others. However, general photography experience (and 15,000+ shots in this specific rink alone) told me that I was in the exposure balllpark. It was good enough...

The historgram really depends on what you're shooting....

jdryan3 · September 20, 2009

aktse is right about hockey being like snow. The histogram shows the 'exposure' of the image, with the histogram usually being more accurate than the little itty bitty picture on the back of the camera. As said, understanding what the histogram is telling you is very important. All it really is a graphical representation of the image's elements, reduced to quantity. A statistical plotting of data points.

If you shot in 'auto' mode, the histogram would be nice and centered - and the image coming out of the camera would be muddy, kinda grey and underexposed. The reason is your camera is trying to create an exposure where the majority of the image is a mid-tone 18% grey, with the dark stuff at the left of side of the histogram curve, and the lighter stuff to the right 18% grey. Most things you shoot like faces, grass, etc are actually in that mid-tone range, so auto-mode usually gets it close to correct.

But snow is white (not counting the stuff on the freeway and where dogs roam). So when the camera tries to push the majority of the image in the center for 'proper mid-tone' exposure purpose, it turns your snow/ice grey. So you need to push back. White is to the right, so you have to manually set your camera so the histogram aligns that bubble of all that white stuff to the right, and not in the center. But that does not mean you have a giant spike on the far right - that is blowing out the image, meaning there is no data.

The reason you need to get most of this done correctly in camera is because if all the white is a mid-tone, your mid-tones are now black and your blacks are non-existent. Just shooting and doing expsosure compensation one or two stops gets your whites right, but everything else is pixelated and a mess.

There are other issues shooting hockey indoors: the ice is white-r, not really white. The lights cycle thru all sorts of colors, tinting things yellow, blue, pink. As bright as an indoor arena seems, it isn't really for photographic purposes. So you need fast glass to capture non-blurred images. And of course, the less than scratchless glass we shoot thru. Or the action occuring at the other end. :cry

Besides what you will find here at Dgrin on shooting tips, this is a great site: http://www.sportsshooter.com/

thezoomer · September 21, 2009

Thanks jdryan3 and aktse for your info and explanations! I think I'm clear on what this histogram thing is used for and what it should look like, approximately. Shooting hockey certainly is not an exact science and I want to know and be able to use all the tools available to me to aid me in my photgraphy. Thanks again!!

Histograms for hockey

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