post your metering questions here

[Andy]

i've heard from a dgrinner, she has some questions. post 'em here, we'll do our best to answer them! :deal

[wxwax]

Meters can be fooled. As understand it, they average the different colors into one measurement.

But as I discovered at small clubs, you can actually have one color blow-out your exposure, and yet still have an OK looking meter reading and histogram. The only solution I'm aware of is a histogram that shows red, green and blue. That's a mighty pricey solution, tho.

[MuskyDude]

Meter questions for the (or any other) "second rate" photographer(s)... :lust


What situations do you find yourself changing your metering mode, how often during a typical shoot will you change it, and finally how many centimeters in a meter? :D

Thanks! :thumb

AJ

[Andy]

Meter questions for the (or any other) "second rate" photographer(s)... :lust


What situations do you find yourself changing your metering mode

i usually am in av (aperture priority) mode most of the time. by now, i can tell what shutter speeds i'll be getting based on the aperture i want. i will change to tv (shutter priority) mode only when i want to be absolutely sure that i'm at a certain ss, say, for sports or action, or to combat camera shake.

ps: all the while you have to monitor your iso, and bump it up if you're not acheiving the desired exposure.



how often during a typical shoot will you change it

usually never, if i'm shooting the same thing - like surfers, or birds. but if i'm street shooting, i could change back and forth quite often, as in big cities the light changes dramatically each time you round a corner, as do the subject matter.


and finally how many centimeters in a meter? :D

:scratch

:lol3

[GREAPER]

By metering mode you mean spot, center weighted or matrix... right?

[MuskyDude]

By metering mode you mean spot, center weighted or matrix... right?
Affirmative.

AJ

[tibu]

Hi

I'll take the oportunity to ask :-)

In a high contrast situation, let's say the typical case of a scene during daylight but with big areas in the shade. What would be a good strategy? I'm never really happy with metering in the highlights or in the shade

Is bracketing the best solution in this case?

Regards
Carlos

[wxwax]

Hi

I'll take the oportunity to ask :-)

In a high contrast situation, let's say the typical case of a scene during daylight but with big areas in the shade. What would be a good strategy? I'm never really happy with metering in the highlights or in the shade

Is bracketing the best solution in this case?

Regards
Carlos

Carlos, I reckon your question gets to the heart of the matter. And I also reckon the answer is: depends what you want your photo to be about.

Sometimes you don't care if you blow out the highlights, sometimes you do. For example, there are many times, especially in B&W, when you don't care if the sky is blown out. Sometimes you don't care if your shadows are really dark, sometimes you do.

I bracket (off a tripod) when I want everything in the shot to be well exposed.

When I don't have a tripod, I shoot in RAW to give myself some working room in high contrast situations. I try to make an exposure that's as bright as it can be, without blowing out the highlights. Then I can go home and make multiple exposures of the image, using my RAW software. If I've done it right, I should have safe highlights, and still some detail in my shadows.

It also helps not to shoot in the middle of a sunny day, with its bright, harsh lighting. :D

I hope this helps.

[VivianG]

Thanks Andy, I specfically went out and took test pictures to try to explain what I'm not understanding. These are not well composed shots but I think they get my confusion across. I set my camera to be in auto wb and auto exposure, I always shoot in aperture priority (for the types of shoots I take). I set the metering for center weighted average. I shot with the sun in front of me, no filter no lens hood. I'm using a 16-35 lens. On the first picture I focused on the trees across the river as you see the contrast is wrong the trees are almost black. On the second picture the tombstones are dark, actually on both, the pictures are dark, considering how much light I had. I shoot in raw and jpg so I know I can "fix" the shots. What am I not getting?http://wisegirl.smugmug.com/photos/19940524-S.jpg


http://wisegirl.smugmug.com/photos/19940527-S-1.jpg

[bkriete]

Hi Vivian - I think because your metering is set for center-weighted, and both the center and the sky are so bright, your camera is underexposing the trees to keep from blowing out the whole picture; here's what I got with a quick levels adjustment (looks like some nasty flare, btw):

[VivianG]

I know I have lots of lens flare because of the position of the sun. So it's the metering mode that I am choosing? If I had stoppped down the exposure would I have seen a difference in the trees? But if I did that would I have blown out the sky?

[mercphoto]

I know I have lots of lens flare because of the position of the sun. So it's the metering mode that I am choosing? If I had stoppped down the exposure would I have seen a difference in the trees? But if I did that would I have blown out the sky?

Most likely, yes, you would blow out the sky. The position of the sun is also not throwing a lot of light on those trees to begin with. It would be a hard shot even with color negative film I would think.

I would think if you wanted that shot you have two choices:

1) wait until the sun is in a spot to throw more light on those trees.

2) bracket the exposure, one for sky, one for trees, and then combine them into one photo.

Or number 3) get out the ND filter, as they did with film. I don't know how that would react with the water though.

[wxwax]

Two exposures. Or, if you don't mind blowing out something, up the exposure compensation.

[bkriete]

The problem with a picture like this is that the dynamic range is probably outside of that your camera can capture. Your eyes are good for about 10 stops of DR, a camera sensor good for only about 5. That means if you have extremes of light and dark in the same picture, you won't be able to expose them both correctly. In order to make this picture work, I think you'd pretty much have to bracket your exposure using a tripod. You could also do a more involved version of what I did with my levels adjustment; mask off the the sky and water, and then lighten the trees, but you would end up with lots of noise in the trees. Michael Reichmann has a tutorial on Luminous Landscape that explains how to blend images. (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml)

[VivianG]

Thank you all for your help. I really like shots with alot of contrast, so I will either have to take two shots and blend them together or fool with the exposure settings. I honestly thought it was something I didn't understand with my 20D. Thanks so much!