Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand. In the future, do :: or :: diso will be available for guest pieces but for now, let’s just get to Issue no. 1.
You are at a sporting event, no flash. . . just you and the arena lights or whatever light nature gives you that day. You get home and look at the image and there are shadows cast under the athlete’s eyes from the light as it rakes across a helmet, a mask, or a forehead. And, the uniforms are not nearly as bright and vibrant as they appeared at the event. I use a number of fixes and here are three: 50% gray layer; dodge and burn; and the detail extractor filter in Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4. You can see the difference these techniques make in the before and after shots below.