Metering Question ??

Birty

Birty

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James
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I am taking photos at my son's Ice Hockey game today and use manual all the time but something I have been thinking about is metering.

I use Evaluative metering at the min and am wondering if to use Spot metering (or at least to try it ?) Am I right in thinking that the Spot metering will expose the very centre of the shot correctly whereas the Evaluative does some clever calculation exposing the whole shot ??

If in fact the above is correct, would it be better for me as I am taking photos of VERY fast ice hockey players sometimes in a black kit against either the bright white Ice or white boards ?

Sorry but that one question turned into a few :shrug:
 
Spot Metering will expose for just the very centre or spot area of the view finder.

Evaluative Metering can measure the whole area and then try to calculate the correct exposure values.

If it was me I would spot meter for a mid-tone area of the arena, then fire a couple of test shots just to check you have the right settings when happy dial in the manual setting and leave.

If our shooting RAW then you can always compensate a little more when post processing.
 
Thanks for that Nick :thumbs:

Thats got me thinking now, is Spot quicker than Evaluative or is there no difference ??
 
I've never shot ice hockey, but assuming even lighting across the floor I'd shoot with manual exposure and, once I had the exposure just as I required, forget about metering for the whole game. How you arrive at that "correct" exposure is up to you. Use any metering mode you like, fire off a test shot or two and fine tune until the histogram and blinkies confirm that you have good exposure where whites look properly white, but not blown out. As a starting point try spot metering off the ice at +2 stops and tweak from there.

The last thing I'd want is to use an autoexposure mode and have the exposure bouncing all over the place according to changing brightness of the metered area. If you want to stick in an autoexposure mode then I think you'll get more reliable results with evaluative metering than trying to place the spot meter very accurately on players shooting all over the place.

I don't know what lens you have, but based on my experience of shooting indoor basketball at one venue I needed 6400 ISO just to get 1/250 at f/2.8. Some venues are brighter, and the white ice might help lift levels a bit, but you may need to be prepared for some exposure challenges with the 30D. Shutter speed is a priority. Better a noisy image than a blurry one, so do what you can to keep shutter speeds up. That said, going above 1600 ISO with the 30D is probably going to be self defeating, so go to 1600 ISO and if you need to underexpose to get the required shutter speeds (I'd guess 1/500 as an ideal minimum) then shoot a little dark and sort things out in post. Better you have control over any digital push of the image data later on, at your convenience, than leaving the camera to apply that push internally and losing you a stop of highlight headroom.

If 1600 ISO leaves you severely underexposed then consider dropping the shutter speed a little. With good timing, panning and a little luck you might get away with speeds slower than 1/500, but expect the keeper rate to drop.

Lastly, if it was me I'd shoot raw, as I always, always do. It gives more options for dealing with any problems in post.
 
Biggest problem I have with ice hockey is setting the white balance for the lights.
 
Thanks Tim,

My lens is a (not so great - but all I can afford at the mo) Sigma 70-300mm DG Macro Lens and what I have been usually shooting at is iso 3200 which does leave my images a bit noisy.

I have added one of the ones I took last week (bit scared about actually posting this pics up here as there so many amazing pics on here - please take into account, I have only got my 1st DSLR 7 months ago :help:)

But if anyone has any info to possibly help me improve, I'd really appreciate it :thumbs:


IMG_8987 by Birty70, on Flickr
 
Birty said:
Thats got me thinking now, is Spot quicker than Evaluative or is there no difference ??
Click to expand...

Subjective is the best answer for that plus depends on how familiar you are with your camera.

As for you ice hockey picture I would say it is good however I would be tempted to try a little bit of a slower shutter speed to get some movement of the play, he looks a little static, but that is just me (to many pictures of static motor sport cars :) ).

Course the issue there is you'd miss the puck.

Its all just a case of experimenting, posting images on here and asking for feed back :)
 
Looks pretty decent, all things considered. It might look better with a 1D4 and 200/2 :), but with the kit you've got I think you should be pleased with that.

I see you were in manual exposure for this :thumbs:, and given you were maxed out on ISO and aperture, and had nothing to spare in shutter speed it's not like you have too many options available. I suggest you carry on as you are. :)
 
Good advice from Tim. My experience is that venues are poorly lit, and the light varies across the ice. Very hard to meter with big subject brightness changes. Dodgy colour too. Bit of a nightmare really.

But you'll be okay if you push the ISO, custom WB (or fix in post) and spot meter off the ice. Set the exposure as Tim suggests, then take a few spot readings. You'll probably find the biggest variation between the middle and ends, though the ice helps to spread the light around. Compare the spot reading against your known correct exposure, and note the shift in the viewfinder. Say it's +1.3 (the ice is actually not very white!).

Then as the action moves around, take a spot reading off the ice, adjust to +1.3, and you'll be correct at all times. You might get away with just two basic settings, one for the middle and a bit more exposure for the slighly darker ends.
 
I found ice hockey relatively easy to get the exposure..same as any indoor sport really.

OP says he is shooting in manual.. so it really doesnt matter what metering system.. because he wont be using metering if in manual will he? presumably he means to setup at the start?

Well lets face it you only have 3 settings to play with and you already know two of them... Your lens will be wide open so thats aperture sorted.. Your ISO will be pushed to the max.. sorry but thats a given due to lightign and the fast shutter speed your trying to aquire..

So your aperture and iso are already set.. you only have one more setting and thats the shutter.. start at 400.. take a test shot and then +/- the shutter until the pic looks right..

Real simple :)
 
Yes ice hockey does move fast and you can have slight change of light at each end.. but you do generaly know when the play is going from one end to another and you can quickly adjust your shutter +/- if you already know whats req at each end... takes practice but doable... I have shot at what must be the most poorly lit and have many games under my belt.. I can assure you with practice its simple enough :)
 
Thanks for all the advice guys - really appreciate it again :thumbs:

I will keep practising and will post some up, when I think I am getting close :)
 
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