 BetterPhoto Member |
how to meter a subject and a overall scene? i cant quite figre out how to meter a subject or a overall scene of what I am shooting. I have a 35mm slr nikon F80 camera is there a way to do it with my camera? I only started my course so im a little confused. thanks
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Kerry L. Walker |
The short answer is "Yes you can". The hard part is learning how to do it. For the average scence, you can rely on the meter in your camera and you will come out fine. The hard part is knowing when to trust your meter. When a scene is back-lit, you will have to meter off the subject, for example. I would suggest getting a good book on exposure, such as Bryan Peterson's (sp?) Understanding Exposure. Read that and practice, practice, practice. It will take a lot of practice to know when to trust your meter and when not to. Good luck!
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Michael A. Bielat |
Is your question pertaining to the camera's metering system or an external spot meter? If you are wondering about your camera then you have the 3D Matrix Metering system on that specific model which is nice and does its job fairly well. There is probably even a dial to switch between spot metering. First off, read or download and read the manual to learn more about your camera and get the lingo of it and what the settings do. Nikon is usually good with those things. Matrix metering is where the camera takes the info coming from the lens and uses many points of reference to determine what a good exposure would be for what you are aiming at. It is not the all knowing exposure though. You have better control over this by changing your camera mode to "M" and YOU adjust the shutter speed and aperture to determine more of what you want in regards to the photos output and exposure. Spot metering on the camera will just get you the proper exposure for the little area in which you are wanting to focus in on. That is just a starting point for now. Best of luck in your class and in your new adventure in photography...
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