Difficult Problem - Dark Skin

<p>I've been shooting high school football under the lights, which is difficult by itself. I use a Nikon D300 with a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 and generally can shoot with a monopod, ISO 3200, aperture 2.8, shutter 320. I rarely have a problem getting a very clear photo of white players with white jerseys, but I do have great difficulty getting clear photos of black players with black jerseys. The darkness and dark skin work against me getting what I want. I'm taking a stab in the dark and hoping there is some setting change I can make in the camera that would make this task easier. Any ideas?</p>

<p>no idea what 'clear' photos means here. can you post an example? are the players and their jerseys just coming out as a big blob of solid black color w/ no detail?</p>

<p>It's more of a lack of detail/definition. It's like the camera sees the dark skin as shadow and can't get enough highlights to show detail. Every once in a while, when the dark player is closer to the sideline, the camera will pull in detail, otherwise it seems to read the face with varying shadow/contrasts. Their facial features become a blur.</p><div></div>

<p>Light Example</p><div></div>

<p>are you shooting jpg or raw? if raw, 12 or 14 bit? </p>

<p>if you're not shooting 14bit raw in this case, you should. I think you'd be able to pull more detail out of their dark uniforms and facial features. What seems like a bit of underexposure isn't helping matters although you're probably pretty near the limit shutter speed and ISO (although it would be interesting to see if you could drop speed by 1/3 stop and bump ISO by 1/3 stop (or so)).</p>

<p>i processed both of the shots in camera raw, the white guys got +.4 stop and the black guys got +.9 stop. there was some recovery and black adj (and color correction too). Overall, I dont think the black guys face/uniform is blocked up according to the RGB or L* values.</p>

<p>Your problem lies with DSLRs limited dynamic range and the need for a bit of post processing to 'expand' that limited DR. Programs like Photoshop, DXO, ect. make it quick and easy to 'fix' this kind of issue. Shooting RAW (12 bit is fine) is your best bet.</p><div></div>

<p>Laura, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "clear". I'm assuming it's not a matter of image resolution since that would be the same between your "light example"and your "dark example". Do you perceive a difference in image sharpness? Are the results different if the subject is moving versus stationary? Do you shoot with focus assist on? I don't have any solutions to recommend for you but I did want to share that I've noticed similar effects when shooting roller derby bouts under low light conditions. Independent of skin tone, whenever the game is between a team with a light colored uniform (yellow, orange, or bright blue) and a team with a dark uniform (black in this case), I can get well-exposed and relatively sharp images of the players in the light uniforms; I can also get these results for the players in the black uniform, but only when they are not moving. It seems as though my camera cannot lock onto the moving "dark" athletes as successfully as it can capture the moving "light" athletes. Probably not surprisingly these differences go away when the venue is extremely well illuminated. I've assumed it's a camera limitation (I shoot with a Nikon D70) and that I may get better results when I can save up enough coins to trade up to something like the D700 with better low light performance. (Is this just wishful thinking?) Have you ever shot one of these games in daylight? Were the results the same or different?</p>

<p>First off, I recommend shooting RAW because you will get greater exposure latitude which means you will get greater detail in the shadows and highlights than JPEG. Also you get a tonal range to work with.<br>

I open your image in camera raw lighten the over all exposure, used recovery and then darken the blacks and used the fill light. Then I did a little dodging and burning in.</p><div></div>