The lighting at this field is tough!

wmstumme

The game started a little after 5 PM. The field sits east-west--so the sun sets almost directly behind one of the goals. And that goal has a tree not far behind it, which casts a huge shadow over the front of the goal--where a lot of action occurs. So, you can quickly go from a real nice golden light--to shadow. Here's some of what I got, you can really see the difference in and out of light.

If anyone has any suggestions for the future, I'd really appreciate it. It was my daughter's last home game as a senior, but I have freshman too, so there will be three more years on this field.

Here's some of what I got:

(The light I like...)








(Streaks of lighting--)





(The Shadows I don't like...)

tjk60

Ok,

Gotta love late day light, if controlled well. You did a pretty good job of it (maybe second pic is a little blown on the facial skin). -0.3EV takes care of this.

Streaks: you did very well, kept the exposure so as not to blow out any facial features.

Shadows: Except when you get GREAT golden hour light, shadows are your friend! Lower Dynamic Range helps to see the whole pic w/o blown highlights and buried shadows...

Not sure what camera you shoot with, I shoot with a Nikon D700. In these conditions I depend on Aperture Mode, Auto ISO, and Auto DLighting set to normal.

wmstumme

Tim:

Thanks for the feedback. I'm shooting with a canon 30D. I generally shoot aperature priority--with it set -2/3 EV (just seems if I go at -1/3 EV with this camera it gets blown out too frequently). I shot most with 400 ISO--but went to 800 when the shade really took hold and SS got too slow.

I agree, direct sunlight with harsh shadows are tough, and that an overcast sky or shadows can be more forgiving. However, I just find the color is so much more muted.

bmoreshooter

I think that the evening light actually helped you. The series shot in the beginning look much better than the two at the end. The late day lighting adds a much more dramatic look to your photos. Don't get too bent out of shape over the shadows unless they block out someones face. That happens occasionally but thats why we shoot more than one picture. I think you did a pretty good job.