The Sports Photo Guy

Now that fall sports season is winding down, there’s time for sports photographers to do a little leaf-peeping.

Tinker Mountain - Daleville, VA

Maybe you have a little more time on your hands waiting for winter sports to start.  Or you’re traveling to tournament sites for fall championships.  Do what you can to make time to capture fall’s brilliant colors, and use these tips to optimize your results.

First, consider using filters to make the colors really pop.  I’ve found two that I can’t live without when fall colors are out: the circular polarizer and the enhancing or intensifying filter.

The circular polarizer is one of the most commonly used filters around, with good reason.  Without getting into all the science, what the polarizer essentially does is cut down on glare and reflections, like a pair of polarized sunglasses.  Minus this contrast-robbing glare, colors are more intense.

The polarizer is a filter whose effect varies with orientation, both the filter itself (which comes in a rotating mount) as well as the direction of light.  Rotating the filter allows the photographer to adjust the strength of the polarizing effect; while the filter has the most impact when the sun’s rays toward the subject are perpendicular to the direction of shooting.

Control - No filter, Matrix Metering, Auto WB

One very important consideration in using a polarizing filter is metering: do not use matrix metering, but instead use center-weighted.  Of lesser importance is white balance: while auto white balance does reasonably well, slightly better results can be obtained with a preset or custom white balance, depending on the conditions.  Below are four comparison photographs showing the various effects on a sunny day:

Matrix Metering-Auto WB

Matrix Metering - Sunny WB

Matrix metering tends to underexpose the overall scene, while center-weighted metering enhances the rich colors the polarizer brings out. 

Center-Weighted - Auto WB

Center-Weighted - Sunny WB

Meanwhile, the Sunny white balance preset lends a slightly warmer overall tone to the image.

Now examine the effect of the enhancing filter under the same variations.  The enhancing filter, also known as a didymium or intensifying filter, blocks a portion of the orange-yellow spectrum that has a tendency to “muddy” images without adversely affecting most other areas of the color spectrum.  Much like the polarizing filter, the enhancing filter does its work by removing color rather than adding.  The enhancing filter’s effect is neither directional nor rotational, however.

Matrix Metering - Auto WB

Matrix Metering - Sunny WB

 

 

 

 

 The same effect of the change in white balance can be seen here, a slight warming effect with the Sunny preset.  The reds and browns really pop compared to other colors.

Center-Weighted - Auto WB

Center-Weighted - Sunny WB

 

 

 

 

 The shift to center-weighted metering again yields more saturated colors.  The filter’s principal effect, however, remains in the reds and browns.

So you might ask – what happens if you stack both filters?  I do this whenever possible, although stacking filters usually results in vignetting on wide angle lenses.  The combined effect of both filters can push the boundaries of reality, but usually produces excellent results.

Both filters, Center-Weighted, Sunny WB