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I am looking to get some pictures of a mogul competition next weekend. Yesterday I was checking out the slope where the competition is. The area where I will likely be able to set up to shoot in the shade. The event will be in the center of the slope in the sun. If I am setup in the shade and aiming into an area that is in sunlight, how will the camera(canon40d) meter that? Rather, should the camera compensate accordingly, or will I need to make changes on my won. I will be shooting in Tv mode.
Metering will be based on the mode you use to set up, say, center-weighted versus spot metering. Former is easier to use (more like "full auto mode", while with others, especially spot metering, it is all up to you. Recently, I was able to get planet mercury in a picture against late afternoon sun while the planet was lost in glare to the naked eye, and this was using spot metering.
Your camera meter will only measure the light coming through the lens. The fact that you're in the shade and the subject is in the sun should have no bearing - except to prevent lens glare. One big mistake that is made when shooting into bright snow is that your meter/camera will tend to want to make that snow a mid-tone, when actually you want it a bright white. So you need to compensate for that somehow. I've seen so many snow shots that are a bluish-gray mess.
This is a matter of setting correct white balance, correct?
Nope! You need over expose the snow between 1 and 2 stops over what the camera meters. I don't know what camera you're using, but the best way of doing this is to take a test shot and check the histogram or watching for "blinky" over-exposure indicators on the LCD, and repeat. Keep increasing exposure using EC (exposure compensation) for example until the snow starts to blow-out, then back off a 1/3 stop and you should be good to go. It always amazes me how much EC+ is needed to properly expose snow. Otherwise, your pictures will be too dark as was previously indicated.
Nope! You need over expose the snow between 1 and 2 stops over what the camera meters. I don't know what camera you're using, but the best way of doing this is to take a test shot and check the histogram or watching for "blinky" over-exposure indicators on the LCD, and repeat. Keep increasing exposure using EC (exposure compensation) for example until the snow starts to blow-out, then back off a 1/3 stop and you should be good to go. It always amazes me how much EC+ is needed to properly expose snow. Otherwise, your pictures will be too dark as was previously indicated.
Because the snow is bright, the camera will underexpose the shots? Basically I want to go -1/3 EC stop from where I see the blinkies?
kdog, please explain slowly. I'm interested in hearing this. Brill, moguls are skiers right? And you are planning to take photos of them as they descend, am I correct? Is this the reason why you are using shutter priority (Tv)? What speed are you planning to use? Kdog, if the speed is fast enough, the aperture gets larger right? If he is trying to meter (without the skier yet), should he assume a speed while he's playing with EC? I'm confused...should he try to expose something stationary which is set against the snow (like a stationery skier?) to get the right exposure?
bibit, correct, moguls is form of freestyle skiing. These will be action shots. Will probably be looking for shutter speed around 1/1000 and shooting in burst mode. I will be using a canon40d with 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens.
Let me illustrate:
This was a distant shot with my p/s from last years competition. I was on this slope last Saturday checking out positions. I'll likely be getting some shots from the top and bottom of the slope and would like to try and get some from the middle as well. It will depend on if the sides are open to public access. If they are, I can get to the sides, but will likely have to shoot from along the treeline to stay out of the way of other skier. Getting right by the roped off area would be great if they will let me get that close.
I assume that you will be taking action shots. Right? Set your Canon 40D as follows:
-AI Servo
-Center focus
-Av
-Lens at f/4 or f/2.8 (you didn't say what lens you are using)
-Burst mode for multi-shots
-ISO? Under sunlight, maybe 200, or you can set it to Auto. In fact try both ISO settings and see how a few practice photos look like.
Position yourself so the skiers will be moving slightly toward your camera, place the center Focus point on the skier's chest (or helmet if possible) and hold the shutter button half way down so that the camera can track and keep focus of the moving subject. It will be up to you after depressing the shutter button half-way to press it all the way to take a few shots. Keep a few memory cards with you, because the 40D will take over 6 shots per second.
By all means, go out there and take a few practice shots ahead of time. This will save you a lot of problems. I set my 40D as mentioned above for taking these actions shots, and used 100 ISO because it was so clear out, and also because I was using a f/2.8 Canon lens, which allowed for fast shutter speeds to freeze movement. I could have used Tv, but on a cloudy day instead.
Wings flapping
Gliding (moving across my field of view)
Because the snow is bright, the camera will underexpose the shots? Basically I want to go -1/3 EC stop from where I see the blinkies?
I have a canon 40d.
Yes, that's right. I use a 40D as well. Even better than the blinkies is to use the histogram. If you have any pixels at all on the far right of the histogram, then you have blowouts. For extra credit, use the RBG histogram and check all three RGB graphs. Sometimes you can have a single color blowing out, that won't trigger the blinkies. That's the secret to getting really good sunsets for example; it's really easy to blow out the red channel, and lose color. However, that's probably not as important for a ski race.
Anyway, I wouldn't shoot TV. Shoot AV instead so that you can pick a nice aperture like F8 or F10 where your lens will be sharpest and so you'll have a good DOF. Then meter the seen once in camera and make sure your shutter speed is at least 1/800s or faster to capture the action. Pick an ISO that gets you there. Probably ISO200 will be best if it's sunny.
Also, this is a perfect application for using AI servo or AI focus. If you haven't played around with AI servo, AI focus is a good compromise. Either of those allows the camera to keep adjusting focus during a burst as the skier is heading toward you. Otherwise, you'll probably only get one in-focus shot during a burst if the skier is close to you.
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