A system for selectively modifying gating rate in a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is configurable to access first frame metadata associated with a first image frame. The first image frame is captured by performing a first plurality of gate operations to configure the SPAD array to enable photon detection over a frame capture time period. The first plurality of gate operations is performed at a first gating rate such that the first plurality of gate operations comprises a first quantity of gate operations performed over the frame capture time period. The system is further configurable to define a second gating rate based on the first frame metadata and capture a second image frame by performing a second plurality of gate operations to configure the SPAD array to enable photon detection at the second gating rate.