Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Question: I shot a flag football game yesterday. Sun was setting, camera was on auto iso I was shooting in aperture mode and the exposures were not consistent. They were a stop or so over and under. What am I doing wrong?

I shot in manual and the exposures were fine.

Suggestions needed and appreciated.

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jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Well, the uniforms are black and white, so the exposures are going to be based on what the camera sees from the focus point. If it sees white or black, it's trying to compensate accordingly. Shooting in manual gets you the exposures you expect because the camera isn't trying to go for 18° gray.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Low angled direct sunlight may often exceed the dynamic range of even high end sensors...
The most effective workaround I've found is in post... I attempted to share that with you a while back with an example of Kayaker shot in the same challenging illumination scenario... Once again it is Photomatix Pro which is not cheap at $99 and has a steep learning curve... However it is virtually magic once mastered.

Also Jules you're not alone here since there appears to be considerable frustration with D500 owners on how it handles exposure...

Here is a resource I would strongly recommend you review, get your head around and test extensively until you become one with your D500's metering strangeness... It is from Nikon who realized others were having issues with their latest Highlight-Weighted Metering Mode.
Assuming you're using the tried and true Matrix Metering Mode, correct? If so might consider trying this metering variant.

Here is a link to Nikon's article
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/article/i4pecefz/using-the-highlight-weighted-metering-mode.html

And here is a testimonial as to the merit/worth of this article for the D500

"This is the most helpful article I have read about how to tame the highlights on my D500. I have been so frustrated with the inability of my camera to protect highlights using Active-D Lighting along with Matrix Metering. I have deleted hundreds of files on my D500 because of the highlight clipping. My former Nikon DSLR, a D300, did a pretty good job protecting highlights using Active-D Lighting and Matrix metering, but the D500 clearly works differently. I am thankful that the author suggested using exposure compensation when using the new highlight-weighted metering mode. I had rejected this new mode previously because my overall exposure was averaging around 2 stops underexposure. Now I know I should simply compensate for this."

While this may not be totally appropriate for your above mentioned football scenario Julies at least it does offer some insight on the D500's Highlight-Weighted Metering Mode.

I wish you well on your journey Julies...

whitewolfowner

Get out of manual and shoot in Matrix. Then you can concentrate on the game and the action and worry about exposure adjustments in post processing.

Toby

This is a typical problem when shooting constantly changing brightness subjects. Your camera is changing the ISO based on how much light it is seeing. It could be sun brightness or simply the black or white uniforms.
Simple solution is to shoot in total manual and your shots should all be very close for lighting. Take a few shots initially to determine settings and then watch as sun sets so you can change as needed. You can tune in PP if necesssary. Oh and by the way, you can lightened shadowed areas by using the "shadows" slider in LR

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Thanks for your suggestions. Where is the shadows slider in Photoshp cs6?

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Thanks as always Thomas for your comments and suggestions. I had better exposures with my 7100 than the 500 so far.
I guess I have to get used to this beast. The shots came out okay like this one, but it was a struggle as the sun was going down.

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Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Most of the game I did shoot in manual. When I went to aperture mode sometimes the exposure was way off.
Thanks for your suggestions.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Not much is a worse situation with Black vs. White uniforms (think Weddings!) and deep shadows. When I shoot action sports in that situation I try to keep, or crop, the shot in the same light or use pp when that is not possible and the shot is a really good keeper. Since the F5, I have come to trust the Nikon matrix metering system, but it is not foolproof. Depending upon the situation, Spot metering might be a better choice, but that is not easy to accomplish when shooting action sports. Spot metering has been my choice for concerts and theater, using a single focus point and choosing carefully. I have not yet put the new 'Highlight Weighted Metering' to the test, but it is available on the D500. Everything considered, the Nikon Matrix Metering system is the best out there IMHO. Best of Luck.

Toby

In PS you get to the slider by clicking on images then on adjustments in the pull down menu, then shadows/highlights. The default on mine is too much so you need to back it down using the slider. This works pretty good but I like LR better.
This adjustment is fantastic as it will lighten the shadow areas without brightening the other areas too much. Adobe programmers are great.
Good Luck

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Works great thank you Toby.