Football photographers are generally happy to contend with everything during a season covering the beautiful game. Inclement weather, unhelpful stewards, over-zealous fans and bore draws can sometimes test the resolve of photographers, but all can be overcame with a little patience, skill or creativity.
However, during the early and late months of the season, there is another challenge that regularly presents itself at many grounds. Shadows.
A bright sunny day is, theoretically, the perfect day to attend a match. However, for the football photographer, it can add some complexities to their work.
If you’re reading this as a non-photographer, it’s worth noting that those pitch side snappers are generally trying to capture the action with a nice high shutter speed while ensuring the focus of the photo is exposed correctly (no overly bright “blown-out” areas, or areas too dark to see any detail).
The vast majority of sports photographers will be shooting with high-end DSLR cameras that do not have any sort of auto mode. So, most – if not all – of the settings will be set manually.
Camera settings will usually be prepped shortly before the teams emerge for the game, or during the warm-up if light conditions are constant, and then tweaked as the game continues depending on light, weather, and possibly the odd artistic shot the photographer may want capture.
However, the introduction of bright and sunny sections of the pitch in contrast to dark shadows is problematic. Keeping the same settings across the pitch simply will not work. For those familiar with Prenton Park (Tranmere Rovers), if a player is running down the wing by the tall Main Stand, they can be completely in shadow.
Once they cross the ball, or cut inside and take a shot, the penalty area and goalmouth can be in bright sunshine. Worse still, there is sometimes a split right through the middle of the goal – bright sunlight, dark shadow.
This photo shows the shadows on the pitch covering a section of the penalty area while the rest is in bright sunlight.
If a photographer was to have the same manual settings applied through the sequence, either shots on the wing or shots in the area will be incorrectly exposed.
Three ways to deal with shadows in football photography
Okay, so how do we get around this problem? Depending on which photographer you talk to, they may well tell you a different method. I have spent much of the last two seasons trying to decide which the best solution out of the following three is.
- Automatic ISO – ISO controls how sensitive your camera is to the available light in the scene you are shooting. For example, if you shoot with a low ISO during a night match, expect the shots to be incredibly dark as you are already shooting with a high shutter speed. Therefore, a minimal amount of light is reaching the sensor. Increase the ISO, and the picture becomes brighter. However, shots can become ‘noisy’ (they appear grainy) if the ISO goes too high.By selecting automatic ISO, the camera will automatically select what is considers the most effective ISO for the shot you are taking, in line with your other settings. This works really well generally and allows you to concentrate on the game and shooting with your high shutter speed and selected aperture. However, it’s worth noting that, depending on the camera being used, it does take a split second for the camera to identify and select the correct ISO if you’re tracking a player from dark to light, for example.However, this has become my favoured method this season, and speaking to some of the other guys at pitch side recently has backed this up.
- Shutter priority – I tried shutter priority for around 30 minutes of a match recently, but I just was not happy with the results. Shutter priority allows you to set the shutter speed you require and then the camera will take care of the rest (ISO and aperture). However, I like to decide aperture for myself and I found I was just not satisfied with the shots this method produced. Some will disagree.
- Keep it manual – the third and final option is one I have used many times, and if only a small amount of the pitch was in shadow or bright light, I’d probably use again. Essentially, set-up your camera for the light conditions for the majority of the pitch, and then tweak if you need to for those smaller areas. This can be fiddly though, and it can take some of your concentration away from the action itself.