Hi folks,

I"m doing my best here to learn what I can as I go along. I've been reading to learn the terminology and understand my camera and the related theories, but the biggest thing i'm doing is to shoot and try different things.

Today, i took a bunch of shots from my team's touch football game. BUT, the pics were somewhat overexposed or bright looking. I'm trying to get samples web ready, but for now, i'll describe the lighting and my camera settings so maybe someone can better direct me

lighting - sunny but cloudy day...intermittent periods of both. I was shooting in the direction of the sun, but not right into it (i know that much as least the sun was still pretty high and hidden behind clouds (we played at 3 PM EST). I had the lens hood on with a UV filter (i thought of using the polarizer, but i thought that was more for reflective surfaces and/or sky shots?). I didn't even think to try it until later.

I tried the camera (Pentax K100D) on various settings such as TV, P and M. I did my best to keep the shutter b/n 125 and 250. Exposure was set to 0.0. I also did my best to lock onto the player before the ball got there. Some shots are great...and some are blurry.

Lens used is my new Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 APO DG Macro. I shot b/n 135 and 300mm.

ISO was set automatically and most pics were taken at 400. Given the good lighting situation, I didn't bother to change it.

I was also positioned along the sideline so I had a good view.

We play our semi-final tomorrow at 1:45 EST so the lighting should be good (supposed to be just as sunny).

I'm in the process of uploading the pics and will add the links when I can.

Any feedback/advice/constructive criticism is completely appreciated.

Cheerios,
Keebler

[vievetrick]

Really hard to judge or help without pictures. I understand your working on them but you will get more help when they are up. From what you said I think maybe the jumping around settings (good intentions I understand) but may have caused more harm then good. It is tough in sunny conditions, well tough shadow wise I mean. Not really an answer for you here but like I mentioned I am sure once we see you will get more help.

Really hard to judge or help without pictures. I understand your working on them but you will get more help when they are up. From what you said I think maybe the jumping around settings (good intentions I understand) but may have caused more harm then good. It is tough in sunny conditions, well tough shadow wise I mean. Not really an answer for you here but like I mentioned I am sure once we see you will get more help.

Hi Vievetrick,

Samples are done

Untitled Web Gallery - Page 4

I tried to make the samples larger, but 400 wide seems to be the largest I can get in Aperture.

Cheers,
Keebler

[Toshi]

Personally, I would play with EV setting and use -0.3 or more. Maybe try to AE on the brighter part of the image if possible if you don't want to tweak the EV setting. Sometimes I like to underexpose a bit as it's easier to fix as opposed to overexposure.

Personally, I would play with EV setting and use -0.3 or more. Maybe try to AE on the brighter part of the image if possible if you don't want to tweak the EV setting. Sometimes I like to underexpose a bit as it's easier to fix as opposed to overexposure.

thanks Toshi. I'll try tomorrow. I should have thought of that, but i guess that's part of the learning process

Cheers,
Keebler

[Arpe]

Couple of things about your pics - you seem to like taking the photos from low down, any reason? To me it introduces more of the off-putting background such as buildings, cars, other people etc. If you're higher up (standing) at least some of that is cut off, it also would help to have less sky in your pics which would help expose the players properly.

I also think you should try to zoom in more so the players fill more of the frame, again this should help expose for the players and not the other stuff around them.

By no meams perfect but as an example here's some of my rugby photos.

Couple of things about your pics - you seem to like taking the photos from low down, any reason? To me it introduces more of the off-putting background such as buildings, cars, other people etc. If you're higher up (standing) at least some of that is cut off, it also would help to have less sky in your pics which would help expose the players properly.

I also think you should try to zoom in more so the players fill more of the frame, again this should help expose for the players and not the other stuff around them.

By no meams perfect but as an example here's some of my rugby photos.

Thanks Arpe. I was trying to get a different perspective from kneeling, but i'm also short It should make a difference though. I'll also try standing on the cooler (hey, we're Canadian so beer is a staple after the game

thanks for taking the time to respond....i appreciate it (cool shot of rugby btw).

Cheers,
Keebler

thanks Toshi. I'll try tomorrow. I should have thought of that, but i guess that's part of the learning process

Cheers,
Keebler

hi toshi,

here are the shots from today's game:

Warlogs Semi Win - Page 1

i did chg the ev to -3 and it did make a diff. thanks for the suggestion.

[AVANT]

Why are the pictures so pixelated looking?

Was your goal just to capture general feel of the game?
Because with a 300mm lens, I think you could have zoomed in on the action a bit more.

[mickeyobe]

Keebler,

If anything your pictures are UNDEREXPOSED not overexposed.
I do not know how you are metering but I suggest you try spot metering.
Frame your subject and take the photo immediately. Do not hold the shutter release half way down for any length of time before you shoot as that will lock the exposure on whatever you may have been sighting before actually taking the picture.

Because your pictures are shot from a low angle you may be including too much sky in your metering, thus resulting in underexposure for anything darker than the sky.

Mickey

Their pixelated due to the settings out of aperture unfortunately. full versions are nice.
no for the general feel. I was actually trying to get some great action shots, but i was chicken with the zoom I had tried framing in tight the day before and didn't get the best shots so i tried to back out a bit (still learning this all

Mickey, definitely the 2nd day for underexposure b/c i set the EV value to .3. Thanks for the suggestion on spot metering. I completely misunderstood locking in before as I thought that helped lock the focus (guess I was wrong there). I'll try your advice next week in the finals.
Good point about the low angle....I'm too short so I may try standing on the beer cooler next game. As long as I don't spill it b/c we don't drink during the game, but if i spilled the after game beers...i'll be running away fast

Cheers and thanks again,
Keebler

[mickeyobe]

Keebler,

You lock both focus and exposure.
Why not set your lens to manual focus and pre focus manually on the selected point.
Alternatively, have you tried letting the camera focus continuously? I am not sure if it will do so quickly enough but I suspect it might.

Mickey

[egordon99]

Why did you shoot this one at f/13? That only gave you 1/125s, way too slow for long focal lengths, yet alone stopping motion in a game of football. Try to stick with 1/500s or faster (preferably faster). You seemed to have a decent amount of light, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem, especially if you bump the ISO up to 800 (if needed). Good luck!

[Lowell Goudge]

In looking at the last photo, definitely you need to be shooting in TV mode with a deliberatley preset (and high) shutter speed, to freeze the action, or better still, full manual exposure, where you do some test shots and decide on the metering using the picture review with histogram.

Thew unfortunate problem you will experience with manual metering is that your lens is not fixed apature, and as a result exposure will change as you zoom. This makes TV the best bet.

Also, given the contrast of sky and background, you may wish to use spot metering and meter on the center of the subject, or use matrix metering, if you are always keeping the ratio of background and horizon constant, and as others have said then adjust the exposure compensation to get what you want..

[egordon99]

Won't be a problem if you keep the aperture to f/5.6 or smaller (larger f-number)

The unfortunate problem you will experience with manual metering is that your lens is not fixed apature, and as a result exposure will change as you zoom. This makes TV the best bet.