Nighttime footy advice

floodlights is easy :)

Manual yes then Max out your iso and aperture... see what shutter speed your left with.. thats it seriously :)
 
Yep, shoot in manual as white or dark shirts will screw up your exposure. Try not to go below 1/500th and obviously set your ISO to suit. Don't worry about going up to 3200 or even 6400. If you have exposed properly they will clean up fine, especially if you are using Lightroom 3.

Personally I zap up the noise reduction sliders and then sharpen but also use the "masking" slider to avoid the sharpening looking too silly and ensuring it just sharpens the main edges. Hold down the ALT key on a PC as you slide the masking slider to see what it's doing. Genius!
 
Cheers for the replies guys.

Andy that is sound advice re Lightroom 3, i'm always worried about pushing the noise reduction sliders too far.

Tony I have a 135L f2 for my second body so hopefully corners and the licke shouldn't be a problem. Not sure what the 300 2.8 will be like.

Helen what shutter speeds are you getting with those settings?

Must say I'm really looking forward to it. Least there won't be any pesky clouds:lol: ...Only thing is its bloody cold tonight, so i'm expecting the first use of my winter, thermal, waterproof system:thumbs:
 
Shutter speeds are between 1/500 - 1/250 @ 6400.

Just look for the type of shot conditions let you take. With rugby, when it slips to 1/250, then I look for static shots, there's no point following someone legging it down the wing, coz it's just going to be a blur.
 
If your SS drops below 1/400th then try to shoot subjects running directly towards you which minimises motion blur massivly.
 
Gary Coyle said:
If your SS drops below 1/400th then try to shoot subjects running directly towards you which minimises motion blur massivly.
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Good tip that Gary:thumbs:

depending on my SS I might take up my preferred position of shooting behind the goal line near the corner flag. The last few games I've shot on the sidelines, and tend to get players running across me a lot more.
 
just remembered.....What do I do regarding White Balance. I'm trying to shoot JPEGS so don't want to be relying on the RAW file.

Do I need to photograph a white sheet o f paper and making a custom white balance, or will I get away with auto white balance and correcting it in Lightroom 3? Any advice will be greatly appreciated as the game kicks off at 7.45:D
 
I hardly ever set up a white balance. The camera gets it right pretty much every time. If it's a bit off I can correct the whole lot with a couple of keystrokes in Lightroom.

For a football pitch, especially with dim lights, the white balance where you are with your piece of paper is likely to be well off the colour temp on the pitch where the lights are pointing.

Cant do any harm though I suppose, but dont forget to switch it back again to Auto after you've finished or you'll get an unwelcome surprise with the next set of shots you take.
 
I ahve never used anything other than auto WB at a floodlit footy match and always use JPG .... I have set WB and will be doing for an indoor job this sunday... but not for night matches


would have to be a big bit of paper on center circle wiht a 400mm :)
 
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My white balance is always off when I use auto, even with the 1D. It's kinda habit now. The 50D was/is really bad.

For a football pitch, especially with dim lights, the white balance where you are with your piece of paper is likely to be well off the colour temp on the pitch where the lights are pointing.
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That's a good point *** :-)
 
It's interesting that you guys use different methods for your WB.

How do you photograph a piece of paper with a 300mm? Do you put it on the floor or get someone to hold it for you.

Think I might shooti RAW and JPEG, this way I can see how the AWB gets on with the JPEGS and if its way off I can revert to the RAW files to get it more accurate.
 
Personally i wouldnt rule out moving targets when below 250th etc..

Dont sport togs use low shutter speeds all the time when panning and such?

I did my first floodlight game a few weeks ago with a 400d and tamron 55-200. I was getting
between 60th-200th shutter speed, hand held and managed to get 12 shots that i was happy with. Thats not alot of photos, but with what i had, getting any at all should of been impossible. So i think with what you've got, you shouldnt have any problems at all, and i think its good practice any way, after that night 1/500 felt like lightning speed :lol:

As for the white paper, i dont think the paper needs to be in focus, so just hand hold it i guess.

Ade
 
redmonkee said:
just remembered.....What do I do regarding White Balance. I'm trying to shoot JPEGS so don't want to be relying on the RAW file.

Do I need to photograph a white sheet o f paper and making a custom white balance, or will I get away with auto white balance and correcting it in Lightroom 3? Any advice will be greatly appreciated as the game kicks off at 7.45:D
Click to expand...

On poorly lit fields where the light coverage varies use AWB or the only pics which will be right will be those shot in the area of the pitch you shot your "white" sheet
 
Adey said:
By varies, i assume you mean in light temperature not light strength?
Or does white balance change when there is less of the same light source?
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Depends on the lighting used, some of the smaller grounds cant afford decent "white" lights
 
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