When 1134 freezes over - DPChallenge Forums

12/17/2006 04:14:49 AM · #1

Welcome to white balance hell...

Ok, I'd heard ice rinks can be caves, but this is crazy!

When I walked in I knew I'd be shooting at 1600 nearly wide open, but at least the lighting looked (moastly) even. But when I got home ... wow!!! I've seen lights cycle, but never like this!

I used two different lenses, 300 f/4 and 85 1.8. The 300 was just for portrait type shots so I wasn't too concerned about speed, which is good because I could only get 1/160 max. The white balance issues really only appeared with the 85, which I used at 2.0 - 2.2 and 1/500/ The lights were cycling alright, but never in unison, leaving me with tons of half-red shots!

Even converting to B&W couldent fix it! (Although I kinda like this one)

Has anyone dealt with this before? How?
I used AWB and shot RAW. (hours of color correction in DPP ans PS)

Still, some shots came out ok. (with a little work)

And a fun one.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED

12/17/2006 02:52:46 PM · #2

Oh, and the rest of the shoot is here.

nomad469

Nikon D700

12/17/2006 02:55:42 PM · #3

wish that I could see em.
they are a tad bit TINY

At least the first few are

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 14:56:30.

12/17/2006 02:57:14 PM · #4

wow, how did that happen? They looked ok when I uploaded!

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 14:57:25.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/17/2006 03:04:22 PM · #5

OK, should be fixed now! Glad this wasn't a challenge!

MattO

Nikon D4

12/17/2006 03:17:51 PM · #6

Those dont look too bad considering you've never shot hockey before. However I have to say you either underexposed them or the 350 doesnt handle noise very well as the noise is very evident even at web size. I'd like to know for my own reference which it was.

MattO

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 15:18:35.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/17/2006 03:56:57 PM · #7

Originally posted by MattO:

There was definately some underexposure, the lighting turned out to be pretty uneven when the cycling was taken into account. The lights were positioned fairly low and when they cycled "red" they lost intensity. As far as noise handeling, I'd need to know which shot as a 350D and a 400D were used.

It could also be my fault in post. I was pretty tired last night!

MattO

Nikon D4

12/17/2006 06:20:25 PM · #8

Just an example this shot in particular is very noisy.

I also see that they have been filtered already with Neat Image I assume from the file naming. Meaning that they were worse then they were to begin with. I have shot Hockey a couple of times this year and have learned its a tough sport and the lighting in these "hockey barns" leave alot to be desired. some of the other shots also exhibit noise but this one really stood out to me.

MattO

Edit to add if this one is a heavy crop that may also be why noise sticks out so much to me.

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 18:21:01.

12/17/2006 06:26:43 PM · #9

Originally posted by MattO:

Just an example this shot in particular is very noisy. ...

That shot was definately rescued. The light around the goals just wasn't there.

Here's the original. (Resized)

Edit:

here's a 100% crop

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 18:34:16.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

12/17/2006 11:27:43 PM · #10

Are you speaking literally about the lights cycling, like 60 cycles/sec or 50 depending on world location. I can see why this would cause havoc at 1/500 shutter speed, as vapor arc lights, like sodium vapor or mercury vapor lights pulse like a strobe from off to on every time that the current cycles. Our presistance vision effectively smooths this out so that we precieve steady light.
The exposure and color balance would depend on what part of the cycle that the lights happen to be in at the time the shutter opens.
I never thought of this before. I don't have lenses fast enough to shoot at that high shutter speed, except for a 50/1.4.
Is this a common problem for indoor sports photography?

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

12/17/2006 11:37:28 PM · #11

I'm no expert, but that sounds just like the problem. It was not appearant at 1/160, but very obvious at 1/500. You couldn't tell just being there.

Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:

Is this a common problem for indoor sports photography?

It appears to be fairly common.
I may have read about it here, but it's been discussed many times on Fred Miranda's sports forum.

Message edited by author 2006-12-17 23:38:00.

asimchoudhri

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

12/17/2006 11:43:39 PM · #12

btw, i like the old school calculator reference...