 Pocholo Ignacio |
How to Meter Properly My subject is against bright clouds, late afternoon around 5 pm in the Philippines. My subject is still clear, facing away from me. I'm shooting her from behind, slightly to her right as she gazes into the mountains. I am however surrounded by trees and it is getting dark. How do I meter properly so I get the best exposure for my subject without the overexposure of the clouds and under exposure of foreground? I don't want to use flash. Thanks. Poch
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Andy |
If your subject is in the open and your camera has a spot meter, you can spot meter the subject's face. If the subject is also surrounded by trees, you can also spot meter the face but the background probably will be washed out. You did not mention which direction the light is from (front, side or backlit)? Hope this will help.
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Pocholo Ignacio |
Hi Andy. Thanks for the reply. In my example, I am shooting against the light. I am however confused with spot metering, center weighted, and 3d matrix metering. When do I use what and what are the effects of each? Again, many thanks. -poch
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Andy |
I think you have a perfect example of trying out different metering and other features of your camera. Since you stated that your subject is a person, come close and try to spot meter the person's face. This will ensure the person is correctly exposed. This is one application to use the spot meter. Other people may take several spot meter readings of the person's face, the sky, the ground, etc., to determine the correct exposure based on the subject and the surroundings. Now if your subject is the scenery with the person included (may be the person occupies a third of the screen on the side), you may use the matrix metering (or evaluative metering on some cameras) to get the exposure. This type of metering is supposed to be good for situations with light and shadows, or in your case, backlighting. If you are taking photos of a landscape or evenly lit subject which is at, or close to, the center of the screen, then center weight metering is the way to go. However, I am using Canon's EOS system and found most of the time, the evaluative or center weight metering gave me the same result for my applications. You also stated you do not want to use flash. But put the flash on and see the different results. I think in your particular situation, using flash may give you a better balance of fore and background. Hope this will help.
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