Metering...
I was on a photography board the other day and a poster asked about metering. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to getting lighting right in my photos but I thought I'd post something quickly about metering, spot metering and that fun stuff since I've been playing with it!
In high contrast situations it's difficult to get an evenly composed image. The camera just can't adjust for the high tonal range. There are a bunch of ways around this though I've not found a perfect solution yet - i often end up in PS trying to even things out manually.
Anywho, the images below are SOOC and not well composed at all but the illustrate what spot metering can do for you in a high contrast situation (without an ND filter - which has so far been the best work around outside of PS).
The first image I just focused on the dog and let the camera meter as it normally does. This results in the window being way blown out but the dog is visible and in focus.
This image I used my spot meter button (the button on your camera that looks like a star or an asterisk) and metered on the window. Once the meter was set, I recomposed, focused on the dog and shot. Since I metered on the window and it was sooo bright, I lost the dog in the picture. (but the window is well exposed)
The last image is not the best example but I think it shows it a bit. Instead of metering on the window or on the dog (the high and low tones in the picture, i found a middle tone - the back of the futon and metered there). Once I had the meter set, i recomposed, focused on the dog and shot. The result is a window that's not totally blown out (or at least not as blown out as the top image) and a visible dog (although not as visible as in the first picture).
In the end it takes alot of finesse, playing, and just plain experience to handle these situations. I mean, I could have dropped in a split ND to block out some of the light from the window. Or I could have metered on the window and added a fill flash so as to not lose the dog. Or heck, I could have just picked a better lighting situation (but then how would I get to show you all this fun stuff?) or gotten all artsy and made this situation work for me. But I think a lot of that is what photography is all about and what makes great photographers great and hobbyist always wanting to learn and get better. It not only takes the artistic vision to compose the image but the technical know-how and experience to deal with tough situations like this one.
In high contrast situations it's difficult to get an evenly composed image. The camera just can't adjust for the high tonal range. There are a bunch of ways around this though I've not found a perfect solution yet - i often end up in PS trying to even things out manually.
Anywho, the images below are SOOC and not well composed at all but the illustrate what spot metering can do for you in a high contrast situation (without an ND filter - which has so far been the best work around outside of PS).
The first image I just focused on the dog and let the camera meter as it normally does. This results in the window being way blown out but the dog is visible and in focus.
This image I used my spot meter button (the button on your camera that looks like a star or an asterisk) and metered on the window. Once the meter was set, I recomposed, focused on the dog and shot. Since I metered on the window and it was sooo bright, I lost the dog in the picture. (but the window is well exposed)
The last image is not the best example but I think it shows it a bit. Instead of metering on the window or on the dog (the high and low tones in the picture, i found a middle tone - the back of the futon and metered there). Once I had the meter set, i recomposed, focused on the dog and shot. The result is a window that's not totally blown out (or at least not as blown out as the top image) and a visible dog (although not as visible as in the first picture).
In the end it takes alot of finesse, playing, and just plain experience to handle these situations. I mean, I could have dropped in a split ND to block out some of the light from the window. Or I could have metered on the window and added a fill flash so as to not lose the dog. Or heck, I could have just picked a better lighting situation (but then how would I get to show you all this fun stuff?) or gotten all artsy and made this situation work for me. But I think a lot of that is what photography is all about and what makes great photographers great and hobbyist always wanting to learn and get better. It not only takes the artistic vision to compose the image but the technical know-how and experience to deal with tough situations like this one.
Labels: metering
posted by The Kloeppings at
12:37 PM
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