Help with metering

[sygyzy]

Hi,

In a photography book I am reading, the author explains how he takes each shot in the book. Once in while, he'll say something like "I metered off the blue sky above the tree, recomposed, and took the shot."

On my 40D, I have a little asterisk which I assume is for AE lock?

Anyway, I was shooting this event and the sun was super bright in the background, shining on the back of the subjects. The audience between me and the speakers all were silhouetted. That's a cool effect, I guess, but what if I wanted them all to be focused?

Example

Also, how exactly is the * button used? I have tried a few variations and I am not sure which is right. Do I simply point to a different spot (say the darker ground), and press the * or do I have to half press the shutter then press *?

Thanks.

 

[moks78]

Did you attend the roll out ceremony for the new White knight II? Lucky you...heard you took a flight fm LAX to the Mojave Airport.

On your question abt metering...I'm no expert and would like to know the answer to that too.

 

[sygyzy]

moks78 - I did and we did take that flight.

 

[Jawo]

Darn you sygyzy!! I wanted to be there! I would think that you would want to use spot metering...but I don't know a whole lot about metering.

 

[moks78]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
moks78 - I did and we did take that flight.

You lucky guy.:thumbsup:

 

[n4bby]

- use center-weighted metering mode
- compose the picture so that the part you want properly metered (crowd) takes up the majority of the center of the frame
- hit the AE lock button (*) and note (*) displayed in viewfinder
- recompose and shoot

you can also use spot metering, but then you need to be more precise about finding a midtone. when shooting events, i can usually use faces if i compensate for skin color with exposure compensation. not to be racist but... Caucasian will be +1-ish, African Americans -1.5 or -2, Asians usually right around 0.

true story - friend of mine was shooting a NBA game, and was having trouble exposing Shaq properly against his bright yellow Lakers jersey. he asked a pro next to him how to make sure his face was not lost in the shadows. "+2 for Shaq man, +2."

 

[xchangx]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Hi,

In a photography book I am reading, the author explains how he takes each shot in the book. Once in while, he'll say something like "I metered off the blue sky above the tree, recomposed, and took the shot."

On my 40D, I have a little asterisk which I assume is for AE lock?

Anyway, I was shooting this event and the sun was super bright in the background, shining on the back of the subjects. The audience between me and the speakers all were silhouetted. That's a cool effect, I guess, but what if I wanted them all to be focused?

Example

Also, how exactly is the * button used? I have tried a few variations and I am not sure which is right. Do I simply point to a different spot (say the darker ground), and press the * or do I have to half press the shutter then press *?

Thanks.

I think what the guy in the book is talking about is using fill flash. In that case, you meter for the sky and use a flash to light up the foreground.

If you do what n4bby said to do outside, you will completely blow the sky.

 

[ElFenix]

cameras don't have enough dynamic range to get both the people in the audience and the people outside anywhere near properly exposed. not even the best film could get that.

you could photoshop the indoor and outdoor pictures together, maybe.

 

[ivan2]

looks like it deserves a fill flash. If you must you can play around with the curves in PP to brighten the dark heads a bit but watch out for banding...

somehow i find xeni jordan's photos pleasing, maybe u can try to see how her photog does it.

 

[LS21]

fill flash is one option, but most built in flash dont reach that distance, meter on the crowd like said above is one option though the background would be very much overexposed. you could meter on an intermediate area (non spot mode) to split the difference

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: ivan2
somehow i find xeni jordan's photos pleasing, maybe u can try to see how her photog does it.

In general or of the event? The event pics are pretty bad. I think she might have used a cell phone. She has a crew, I don't think she takes her own pics or if she does - cell phone. Also, she doesn't have any shots like I am talking about.

 

[sygyzy]

I think from the responses, the answer may be it's impossible to get both the audience and subjects lit while having a super bright background.

 

[n4bby]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
I think from the responses, the answer may be it's impossible to get both the audience and subjects lit while having a super bright background.

you could meter so that the audience is somewhat visible and the subjects are not overblown, but the background is going to be blown out no matter what. your best best is to choose a better composition, which doesn't look all that possible from that angle.

 

[sygyzy]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am still learning and this definitely helped.

 

[ghostman]

Originally posted by: n4bby

Originally posted by: sygyzy
I think from the responses, the answer may be it's impossible to get both the audience and subjects lit while having a super bright background.

you could meter so that the audience is somewhat visible and the subjects are not overblown, but the background is going to be blown out no matter what. your best best is to choose a better composition, which doesn't look all that possible from that angle.

This is true. There is no way to get that shot without over exposing the background. I think your book (sounds like Understanding Exposure) refers to a situation where the subject is also lit by the sun. In your situation, your subjects are in the shade (actually, practically indoors). The only way to get them lit along with the background is to use a flash.

 

[sygyzy]

Ghostman - You're right! That's the book I am using. Amazing. Thanks for the tips!

 

[ivan2]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
In general or of the event? The event pics are pretty bad. I think she might have used a cell phone. She has a crew, I don't think she takes her own pics or if she does - cell phone. Also, she doesn't have any shots like I am talking about.

nvm those were from gizmodo's shots. And the rest of them too could be help with a little flash...

 

[OdiN]

Yup you needed fill flash to get that shot done right.

You either blow out the background and get the people, or you get the background and the people are too dark to see well.

Also - if you are in M mode, the AE Lock button is useless. You just meter on the sky, recompose and shoot. You don't need to change any of the settings since you've already set them. So just recompose, dial in more or less FEC if need be and shoot. The sky will be exposed properly by your settings, and the flash will fill in enough light on the subjects to expose them properly. If done right and with some practice, you can blend the two pretty well.

 

[sygyzy]

Do I need to half press before I can lock? Or can I simply press AE?

 

[OdiN]

You know, I'm not sure. I think you half press first, but I never use AE because I'm always in manual mode, so I couldn't tell you for certain.

 

[ivan2]

I think u should half press first so the metering will know which focus point to weight on. If you don't I think it's weighted on the center. That is assuming that you use that average metering(4got the name of that but it is not partial, spot, nor center weight average...), the others don't apply.

 

[ElFenix]

fill flash would need to be giant umbrella flashes.

canon has 4 metering modes:
spot
partial (which is just a bigger spot, and yet everyone always complains about the lack of spot metering on their entry bodies)
center-weighted
evaluative

you can lock metering pressing the * button before half pressing if you want. i don't think spot metering follows the AF point on the 40D.

 

[sygyzy]

How often do you guys change metering during a day of shooting? I just set it one when I got my camera and left it. Obviously, I shuold be using them more.

 

[OdiN]

I typically leave the metering mode on a single mode for most shooting. I may change it going in/outdoors though. I use spot quite a bit with weddings, or center weighted average.

It doesn't really matter - as long as you know how the camera treats a particular mode, you can shoot in a single mode all the time as long as you're conscious of any changes you'll need to make to adjust to various lighting situations.

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I typically leave the metering mode on a single mode for most shooting. I may change it going in/outdoors though. I use spot quite a bit with weddings, or center weighted average.

It doesn't really matter - as long as you know how the camera treats a particular mode, you can shoot in a single mode all the time as long as you're conscious of any changes you'll need to make to adjust to various lighting situations.

And take test shots, checking the highlight clipping and histogram. But it always helps to know the ins-and-outs of your camera's AF and metering systems, especially if you need to shoot fast or don't get second chances.