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Photography Question 

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polorizer - Filters


 
 
Would a polorizer or filter be better for this type of shots... on ice arena with lots of white background?

Thanks in advance,
Henry


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November 26, 2001

 

Jon Close 		  If you had lots of glare from the lights reflecting off the ice, then the polarizer would help. But in the picture you submitted I think the problem is underexposure.

Your camera meter is calibrated for light reflected from "18% gray". The meter gets fooled when most of the scene is predominantly lighter (like yours with ice and white jerseys) or darker than that. In a situation such as this you have to (a) spot meter off something close to 18% gray (maybe a player's face), or (b) recognize the abundant white and add 1 or 2 stops of exposure.


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November 27, 2001

 

Piper Lehman 		  My two cents: Get closer! You have a lot of room here to zoom in and still get your shot. I may be way wrong on this, but I think by zooming in, you will also get a more appropriate reading from your camera's meter (because it will most likely be metering off the faces of the team). Another thing: it looks to me like there is a lot of "blue" light in this arena (which is common), and the majority of harsh light is shining down on the players from above. You might consider a little fill flash or a reflector, though I would think the ice would act as a good reflector once you've taken about 3 steps forward or zoomed in a bit.


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November 30, 2001

 

Piper Lehman 		  And another thing! Ha. Actually, I only wanted to ask about the second photographer here. The team is definitely looking at photog #1 to your right. This looks odd to me. Reminds me of cue card readers on TV. Also, I wonder if you haven't tried a color cast tweak in PhotoShop to try and whiten the gray tones. Might be just the ticket.


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November 30, 2001

 

Joe 		  I myself always use fill flash. I also don't use built in camera meters. I use a hand held meter and get great results. I use Fugi 160 film. For indoor pictures I aim for 60 at f5.6, or 30 at f8 if I use a tripod. But the cost of this extra equipment depends on how serious you are about taking pictures. I hope this helps.
Just my two cents worth.
Joe


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December 06, 2001

 
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