How to meter in such situations?

[mace1980]

Hi,
Appreciate it if someone can advice on how to do metering to avoid over or under exposure in the following conditions:
1) Bright background and dark foreground.
eg. sunset.
2) Bright foreground and dark background
eg. night scene with subject in the light.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[ExplorerZ]

Hi,
Appreciate it if someone can advice on how to do metering to avoid over or under exposure in the following conditions:
1) Bright background and dark foreground.
eg. sunset.
2) Bright foreground and dark background
eg. night scene with subject in the light.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

expose the highlight and push the shadow during PP... otherwise up to you to decide..

 

[adamadam]

Hi,
Appreciate it if someone can advice on how to do metering to avoid over or under exposure in the following conditions:
1) Bright background and dark foreground.
eg. sunset.
2) Bright foreground and dark background
eg. night scene with subject in the light.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

1) I would meter the bright background, meter the dark foreground, work out the difference and use a graduated ND filter to compensate, or take multiple exposures and blend Otherwise, I would choose what I wanted to be correctly exposed and meter and expose for that.

2) I would meter the subject in the light and make sure that it does not overexpose, but perhaps put it as the brightest area in the scene (or just under)

 

[espion]

I would choose what I wanted to be correctly exposed and meter and expose for that.

Best and simple answer.

But there are tricks off camera to achieve what is not within the sensor's inherent dynamic range. And if you ask how to meter to best facilitate such off camera tricks there could be many answers.

 

[hhho]

I used to do spot metering in 1) Bright background and dark foreground.
Here's an example and it works for me
http://www.myfourthirds.com/document.php?id=33535

 

[cantaresg]

1) What effects do you want? If you want a silhouette, then you'd just meter for the background. If you want details in the foreground, then perhaps either the graduated nd or fill-in flash?

2) just expose normally and bracket the shots?

 

[mace1980]

1) I would meter the bright background, meter the dark foreground, work out the difference and use a graduated ND filter to compensate, or take multiple exposures and blend Otherwise, I would choose what I wanted to be correctly exposed and meter and expose for that.

2) I would meter the subject in the light and make sure that it does not overexpose, but perhaps put it as the brightest area in the scene (or just under)

Adam, do you mind explaining how to go about using a graduated ND filter to compensate?
Thanks.

 

[Evilmerlin]

1) I would meter the bright background, meter the dark foreground, work out the difference and use a graduated ND filter to compensate, or take multiple exposures and blend Otherwise, I would choose what I wanted to be correctly exposed and meter and expose for that.

2) I would meter the subject in the light and make sure that it does not overexpose, but perhaps put it as the brightest area in the scene (or just under)

Could explain further how you would go about doing 1)? I'll be getting myself a Cokin ND filter soon and would definitely like to learn more about using it properly.

 

[jOhO]

it depends on how u wanna shoot and what you are shooting. i can't imagine using an grad ND filter if the foregrond was a person, nor fill flash if you're shooting landscape..

there's one "tip" that may be used sometimes, and many pple forget it:

shoot something else, shoot sometime else, or shoot somewhere else, as the case may be. if it's a person, get them in the right light, if it's a mountain, come back another day. etc etc..

 

[ipin]

Shoot in RAW (Multiple shots or one) on a tripod, then use layers (and/or masks) in PS to blend and tweak the pictures to have the best of both worlds.

 

[adamadam]

I started typing how I do it... then got stuck (how bad is that??? haha).
So I searched up for other people's explanation and came across these
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/neutral-density-and-graduated-nd.html
http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/graduated-filters.html

I hope these help

but also Joho advice is very wonderful, "come back another day" and also that the grad nd or fill flash can not be used for all situations

 

[audibum]

Hi,
Appreciate it if someone can advice on how to do metering to avoid over or under exposure in the following conditions:
1) Bright background and dark foreground.
eg. sunset.
2) Bright foreground and dark background
eg. night scene with subject in the light.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

i'll shoot raw and take multiple shots with and without flash and blend in PP after.

 

[Adelfin]

try out all the tips above.. if they don't work..
do HDR...

if u have people in the image.. try taking 2 separate photos, one to expose the image properly with ND grad (without the subjects of course), another just to expose the subjects.. and combine.. but if the light is too harsh it won't look good, and this method's kind of cheating...

 

[lsisaxon]

Hi,
Appreciate it if someone can advice on how to do metering to avoid over or under exposure in the following conditions:
1) Bright background and dark foreground.
eg. sunset.
2) Bright foreground and dark background
eg. night scene with subject in the light.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Know the limits of your equipment.

 

[adamadam]

Know the limits of your equipment.

then know the workarounds

 

[pai]

there's one "tip" that may be used sometimes, and many pple forget it:

shoot something else, shoot sometime else, or shoot somewhere else, as the case may be. if it's a person, get them in the right light, if it's a mountain, come back another day. etc etc..

actually this is a really good answer. also... change your angle or composition so the lighting is less challenging, move your subject or yourself to another spot. wait for lighting conditions to change (clouds) or come back at another time of the day.

(erm... how about... shoot film)

 

[lightning]

Use multiple spot metering....

 

[mace1980]

Use multiple spot metering....

How to do that on a 400D?? :sweat:

 

[joeman]

try to use use a 1 stop lower compensation. Test it out and see if this works.

 

[jOhO]

mace - do you wanna tell us what it was u were shooting? as mentioned, different situations call for different methods.