Metering Mode

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gopal Venkat on June 22, 2009 at 11:31pm

I would go with evaluative.

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Carbone Bolyard on June 23, 2009 at 12:50am

Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Dennis Arculeo on June 23, 2009 at 7:30pm

No hard and fast rule here. Really depends on the time of day, the light, what's in the light's path, what direction it comes from and what you prefer...averaged or specific metering..they all work, some settings better than others...also depends on what the result should you want..you may want to try bracketing, which may yield a choice of better end results-with regard to lightness and or stauration...give it a try - move the metering within a range of 2 + or -'s. Remember your meter is looking for middle gray and reproduces middle gray-if the spot meter points to black you'll be over exposed, if it points to white it is under exposed...also depends on what's important to you in he scene,Sky, water, land...try it each of three ways..as a test-then stick with the one that works best for you. Experiementing takes the guess out of what if I do this. Dennis

Permalink Reply by Mike Padgett on June 24, 2009 at 1:27am

Hi Stephanie, I agree with Dennis. Experimentation is the best way to figure out how to get the results you want. Also, if you are a photoshop user you can try creating a HDR image by combining 2 or more images that are exposed differently. You may have already done this, but if you haven't it's pretty cool. High Dynamic Range will combine your images and let you adjust them as needed. It is found in the automate mode of photoshop. Keep in mind that you are merging images, so shooting from a tripod that is very steady is a must. If your camera shifts position between shots you will get a blurry image when you run the HDR filter. I usually bracket 3 shots: +2, 0, -2 then merge them. Good luck, Mike

Permalink Reply by Harold Hull on June 24, 2009 at 7:12am

For general landscape shots, evaluative metering works well. If I'm shooting waterfalls I often spot meter on the whitewater at the bottom of the waterfall and then open up 1 1/2-2 stops to prevent the whitwater from being blown out. You can then adjust slightly under exposed areas in Photoshop.

Permalink Reply by Matt Needham on June 24, 2009 at 9:02am

Metering mode determines what parts of the scene the meter considers for exposure. Center weighted means it mostly meters whatever is in the center of the scene/viewfinder/LCD. Spot means it only meters a tiny spot in the center. Evaluative/matrix/multi-segment breaks the scene up into many parts; the meter gives some parts, such as the center, more priority than others.

Landscape photographers use spot metering to measure specific parts of the scene without having to walk right up to them. For instance I usually want to know the difference in stops between the highlights where I want full detail (such as clouds), and the shadows where I want full detail. With film I needed this info to come up with a development plan that gave me the tonal range I wanted.

With digital I usually just use evaluative mode, take a test shot, and assess the histogram. I can see where the highlights and shadows are falling, and adjust as necessary so they are where I want them. In some tricky lighting I might use the spot meter, but only after the histogram and a test shot has shown the dynamic range to be beyond what the camera can normally handle, and I have to come up with a way to deal with that.