Metering

[Presto80]

hi all..

im using d90..mostly matrix metering...

im abit puzzled..i always read in magazinew or book that say meter here or there...dun meter the sky.

but as im using matrix so how do they chose where to meter cos i tot is auto done by cam?
onli knw is tat if use spot metering then i can choose where to meter( meter area is the af pt rite)?

im verii blurred abt this..tried to google but all they tok abt metering is the mode(spot,center,matrix etc)

can any1 enlighten as soemtimes my pic is too dark to too bright..headache..

thanx

 

[Reportage]

Cam only tells you what its programmed to say. Thats where experience comes in and why dslr have so many manual settings.

Go to the critic forum and post your pics.

 

[daredevil123]

hi all..

im using d90..mostly matrix metering...

im abit puzzled..i always read in magazinew or book that say meter here or there...dun meter the sky.

but as im using matrix so how do they chose where to meter cos i tot is auto done by cam?
onli knw is tat if use spot metering then i can choose where to meter( meter area is the af pt rite)?

im verii blurred abt this..tried to google but all they tok abt metering is the mode(spot,center,matrix etc)

can any1 enlighten as soemtimes my pic is too dark to too bright..headache..

thanx

So after reading about metering modes, do you now understand what each metering system does to give you an exposure values?

That is the first step. If you do, I will continue in a next post to explain to you how to use the metering system in different situations.

 

[Presto80]

So after reading about metering modes, do you now understand what each metering system does to give you an exposure values?

That is the first step. If you do, I will continue in a next post to explain to you how to use the metering system in different situations.

i knw hw they choose the area all those...

spot-is meter based on the af pt..
center-evaluate basd on the center area
matrix-avg of whole screen...

but i dun understad when ple say dun meter the sky...meter here n there...
or issit based on a technique tat i heard b4
half press on a area of lighting tat u wan then point a tthe area tat u wan to shoot n follow thru?

 

[daredevil123]

i knw hw they choose the area all those...

spot-is meter based on the af pt..
center-evaluate basd on the center area
matrix-avg of whole screen...

but i dun understad when ple say dun meter the sky...meter here n there...
or issit based on a technique tat i heard b4
half press on a area of lighting tat u wan then point a tthe area tat u wan to shoot n follow thru?

With scenes with a big range of lighting, it is important to choose what is your POI (point of interest). Generally speaking you want that to be metered correctly. So you meter that particular spot. But knowing how we want the entire picture to turn out, we might want to meter the other elements in the frame, and maybe take an average or a midpoint in terms of exposure. So you switch to M mode, and you set your aperture, your shutter speed and ISO to get the effect you want. This is your call.

When taking landscapes, in dramatic lighting, the sky is an important element in the picture. So we meter the sky to see what values will expose the sky correctly. Metering different parts of the scene will give you an idea of the difference in exposure between the different parts of the scene that matter to you. You as the photographer will have to figure out where is the middle ground you want your exposure to be to balance it all out. Or if the difference is too great, so that you need other methods to get the effect you want (be it bracketing and blending, or using black card technique, or PP exposure boost). Of course, you probably have to use M mode to take this scene.

In other situations, especially in portraiture, you probably want the face to be properly exposed, so you do a spot meter on the face of your subject and fire away.

In the end, you need to know what you are going for.

 

[Presto80]

With scenes with a big range of lighting, it is important to choose what is your POI (point of interest). Generally speaking you want that to be metered correctly. So you meter that particular spot. But knowing how we want the entire picture to turn out, we might want to meter the other elements in the frame, and maybe take an average or a midpoint in terms of exposure. So you switch to M mode, and you set your aperture, your shutter speed and ISO to get the effect you want. This is your call.

When taking landscapes, in dramatic lighting, the sky is an important element in the picture. So we meter the sky to see what values will expose the sky correctly. Metering different parts of the scene will give you an idea of the difference in exposure between the different parts of the scene that matter to you. You as the photographer will have to figure out where is the middle ground you want your exposure to be to balance it all out. Or if the difference is too great, so that you need other methods to get the effect you want (be it bracketing and blending, or using black card technique, or PP exposure boost). Of course, you probably have to use M mode to take this scene.

In other situations, especially in portraiture, you probably want the face to be properly exposed, so you do a spot meter on the face of your subject and fire away.

In the end, you need to know what you are going for.

nt sure if i understand fully, so if i wan toa take a pic. i will first use pt metering in P mode.
use the af pt on the place or subject tat i wan to take and get the setting..

if i wan to get avg of the scene then i pt metering on another spot and get the avg of these 2 readin and set it in "Manual mode", setting the aperture + shutter speed?

so these is wat they mean by meter here meter there?
so if im nt wrong,then most of the time the ple are using pt metering and manual mode?

cos most of the time i wan the scene to be exposed correctly, so not only the people in it.
cos im currently using matrix and p mode..

 

[daredevil123]

nt sure if i understand fully, so if i wan toa take a pic. i will first use pt metering in P mode.
use the af pt on the place or subject tat i wan to take and get the setting..

if i wan to get avg of the scene then i pt metering on another spot and get the avg of these 2 readin and set it in "Manual mode", setting the aperture + shutter speed?

so these is wat they mean by meter here meter there?
so if im nt wrong,then most of the time the ple are using pt metering and manual mode?

cos most of the time i wan the scene to be exposed correctly, so not only the people in it.
cos im currently using matrix and p mode..

You can use the meter in any mode. Generally, we do a lot of these meter here meter there thingy when we do landscape and/or long exposure. We do this when we want total control over the exposure, and want to decide on exposure settings apart from what the camera suggested in matrix. Measuring here and there in spot metering mode is to just make sure that we get it right for elements in the frame we care about. Meaning in the end, we will probably use M mode to take the shot.

If we want speed, and shoot moving things, we probably will not meter here and meter there...
Hope I make it clear now.

 

[allenleonhart]

okkies. i'll offer him a easy way out.

shoot a photo with wadeva was metered.

if u think its too bright, look at the iso, shutter and aperture and u adjust urself accordingly. i only use the metering as a guage. once u shoot long enough u will know how to compensate.

or the harder way out? use film. u will literally cry with each shot tat was badly exposed;D

 

[aungzawwin]

if we meter here and meter there in a scene, we can know the different exposure settings the camera offers us.. thus we can use them as a guide to set desired exposure when we use M mode..

generally speaking, D90's focus sensors are linked with metering system.. so AF on different part of a scene (from sky to ground for e.g) also means "meter here and meter there"

even in P mode and matrix metering mode, meter here and meter there.. then observe how shutter speed/aperture (for a given ISO) settings change and effect of them on the exposure of the pictures.. cheers

 

[allenleonhart]

well. for me all modes the same o.o

cause either way i'll still self judge the iso aperture and shutter.

 

[Presto80]

thanx for all replies...

tink i will go play aroundd n explore abit b4 comin bak...

 

[tortise]

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3374336&postcount=10
Hi TS,

Metering can be take as getting the camera to automatically help determine settings for either ISO and/or shutter speed and/or aperture for a nicely exposed picture. It's generally not too related to the mode you select unless u use manual, which the camera follows your settings. If you select aperture priority, the metering will adjust shutter speed. If you select shutter priority, the metering will adjust aperture value.

while the best way is to change all these settings ourselves, i guess we don't have enough reaction time and experience to get the right settings for every shot we want.

I usually use spot metering in aperture priority mode. Using this mode, if i take a photo of my friend standing more to the left of the photo, and there are alot of bright stuff in the photo like sky and especially in the middle of the photo where metering values are taken, my photo will likely end up with a dark (underexposed) friend and perhaps nicely exposed sky in the middle. if i want to have my friend properly exposed, i meter on his face (in Canon i press the * button when centre point focus is on his face) and then recompose and take the photo. Likely that he will be ok but the sky overbright. Maybe that's how your friends say don't meter the sky.

The following guide pages are also quite helpful to understanding your issue. Read them slowly, it might help!

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3374332&postcount=9
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3374333&postcount=10
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3374336&postcount=11
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3374340&postcount=12

hope it helps. i know it is difficult, we know what we are saying but it might not be easy to understand for others.

 

[chalib]

thanx for all replies...

tink i will go play aroundd n explore abit b4 comin bak...

That is the right way to do

Only when you practice yourself then you will get the answer

 

[daredevil123]

if we meter here and meter there in a scene, we can know the different exposure settings the camera offers us.. thus we can use them as a guide to set desired exposure when we use M mode..

generally speaking, D90's focus sensors are linked with metering system.. so AF on different part of a scene (from sky to ground for e.g) also means "meter here and meter there"

even in P mode and matrix metering mode, meter here and meter there.. then observe how shutter speed/aperture (for a given ISO) settings change and effect of them on the exposure of the pictures.. cheers

In matrix mode, if you meter here and meter there, you will not get a real representation of the exposure at that particular spot. As the metering system will attempt to calculate the exposure with the entire scene accounted for. IMHO I do not find it as useful. Spot metering is what I would use.

 

[aungzawwin]

In matrix mode, if you meter here and meter there, you will not get a real representation of the exposure at that particular spot. As the metering system will attempt to calculate the exposure with the entire scene accounted for. IMHO I do not find it as useful. Spot metering is what I would use.

sure bro, thanks for the tip..
TS mentioned he mostly uses matrix so i followed..
i'd like to share him that if he "meter here and there", various exposure can be achieved in a given scene..
probably he might have realized now.. playing around by metering here & there

 

[allenleonhart]

aiyo. just play around. until u think it looks right. done.

dun even need meter. just need a lot of time.

*fiddles fiddles*

 

[Jeremy1]

Spot metering is what I would use.

But using Spot Metering will have an impact on the rest of the area exposure ?
Let say if the area that you Spot metering on is dark & the rest of the area is bright. It will overexposed the whole picture ?

I always got problem on those dark spot area. I think the best way is still to use PP to adjust accordingly.

 

[daredevil123]

But using Spot Metering will have an impact on the rest of the area exposure ?
Let say if the area that you Spot metering on is dark & the rest of the area is bright. It will overexposed the whole picture ?

I always got problem on those dark spot area. I think the best way is still to use PP to adjust accordingly.

I would encourage you to read up my previous posts in this thread. The key is to get the exposure readings for each element you find important. With those readings, you use Manual exposure mode and dial in the exposure settings you decided upon to get the a good balance between the elements.

PP can only do so much. If the shadows are too dark, you lose details, and if you boost them up using PP, you will get noise and pixelation.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

But using Spot Metering will have an impact on the rest of the area exposure ?
Let say if the area that you Spot metering on is dark & the rest of the area is bright. It will overexposed the whole picture ?

I always got problem on those dark spot area. I think the best way is still to use PP to adjust accordingly.

If you have a large dynamic range in the photo (eg. person's face in shadow, and background is bright object/sky), no amount of meter here meter there will rescue the shot.
But if your main concern is to get the person's face correctly exposed, regardless of the background, then you can spot meter for the face and set accordingly. You'll get the person correctly exposed and the background blown.
Kinda like high-key effect!

whereas if you had used matrix metering, the camera would have tried to balance the exposures, giving you a middle setting that achieves no purpose. The person would be underexposed, and the background would still be overexposed.

 

[Jeremy1]

If you have a large dynamic range in the photo (eg. person's face in shadow, and background is bright object/sky), no amount of meter here meter there will rescue the shot.
But if your main concern is to get the person's face correctly exposed, regardless of the background, then you can spot meter for the face and set accordingly. You'll get the person correctly exposed and the background blown.
Kinda like high-key effect!

whereas if you had used matrix metering, the camera would have tried to balance the exposures, giving you a middle setting that achieves no purpose. The person would be underexposed, and the background would still be overexposed.

So PP can help to correct the exposure ?

How about HDR ?
Will it help in this area ?

Thanks.