Water based turfs - Green color correction

[academicnomad]

Water based turfs (hockey for example) cast a strong green cast on athletes' skin on sunny days. How do you handle that other than in the post work?

 

[paddler4]

I have had the same thing with foliage. The only thing I can think of, if you are shooting JPEG, is to create a custom white balance under those circumstances and use it when you are taking those photographs. If you are shooting raw, take a couple of images with a neutral card positioned to pick up the green reflection, then use that to set an initial white balance in post.

 

[ShipleyNW]

I've never seen this, and I'm not sure I entirely understand your situation, but it sounds like you're getting reflected light off a green surface. All turf is at least a little bit shiny, so you might consider shooting with a polarizer filter to cut down the reflection. It's worth a try. The filter will cost you a stop of light, but it sounds like it only happens on sunny days, so you can probably afford that.

How far up does the green go? Is it limited to their legs, or does it green up chests and faces?

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I don’t think you can prevent this in camera as it’s not a white balance issue but reflected light off of a strong coloured surface nearby. I get this with birds too when the grass beneath them colours their bellies green, most visible on white birds. There is no way to prevent that in camera. I deal with it in post.

 

[paddler4]

I think Levina is right. My suggestion would only work if the entire image had that color cast, which almost certainly isn't the case in the situation you describe.

 

[academicnomad]

Yeah it's not the entire body but in field hockey, players are frequently bent down so the faces/bare arms catch that green shade.

This is especially so at the beginning of games when the field has been watered moments before the start.

I will try the very card approach next time.

 

[West Coast Birder]

Use a grey card before you start shooting your event with the lights in the state that the actual game will be in. Then, shoot in RAW so that you can use the grey card shot to get your color settings dialed in.

 

[academicnomad]

Thank you everyone for your input. Much appreciated