GoingManual.com It's time to take control!    Home    Tutorials    Photography Forum  Photography Tutorial Introduction Part I – Gear The Camera  -  Focus  -  Resolution  -  MegaPixels Vs Print Size  -  Sharpening Semi auto settings  -  Aperture Priority (Av)  -  Shutter priority (Tv) Zoom and Focal Length  -  A Note About Sensor Size Other Camera Features  -  Viewfinders  -  Lens Hood  -  LCD screen  -  White Balance Extra Equipment  -  Tripod  -  Cable Release  -  Filter systems  -  Polarizer and ND filter  -  External Flash  -  Studio Lighting  -  Reflectors Part II – Capturing The Scene Your First Manual Photo  -  It's All About Exposure  -  The Light Meter  -  Exposure Explained  -  Controlling Exposure Creative Effects  -  Aperture and Depth Of Field  -  DOF Preview  -  Shutter speed Putting it all Together  -  ISO  -  Ap. & Shutter Relationship  -  Stop for a minute  -  So What?  -  The Bulb Setting Metering the Scene  -  18% of Everything Metering modes  -  Matrix  -  Average  -  Center weighted  -  Spot or semi-spot Taking Meter Readings  -  Expose for your subject  -  Sunsets and sunrises  -  Reflecting sun  -  Night Exposures  -  Moon  -  Green Foliage  -  Bright or White Scenes  -  Dark or Black Scenes Understanding Your Histogram  -  Flash Metering Composition Lead in The Viewer Eye  -  Point of Focus  -  Fill the frame  -  The Rule of Thirds  -  Moving Subjects  -  Print and frame Sizes Different Styles Learn by doing  -  Giving and Getting Critique  -  Portraits  -  Groups  -  Children  -  Shooting Outdoors  -  Silhouettes  -  Macro  -  Products  -  Landscapes  -  Sports and Action  -  Panning  -  Rear Sync Flash  -  Abstract  -  Long Exposures  -  Black and White A few Other Useful Things  -  Blown Out Skies  -  Neutral Density Filters  -  Polarizing Filters  -  Electronic noise You're Half Way There! Part III The Digital darkroom  -  Computer hardware  -  Card Reader  -  Printers  -  Mouse Post Processing  -  The Ethics of Altering  -  Choosing Your Program  -  Tutorials   Photoshop Tutorials   Photoshop Primer   Saving Your Image   Adding a Border   Using Levels   Using Curves   The S-Curve   Correcting White Balance   Improving Saturation   The Clone Tool   Correcting Lens Distortion   Blending Multiple Images   Black and White Conversion   Sepia Conversion   Reducing Noise   Cropping for Different Print Sizes   Sharpening   Working With RAW Files   The Gimp Tutorials   The Gimp Primer   Saving Your Image   Adding a Border   Using Levels   Using Curves   The S-Curve   Correcting White Balance   Improving Saturation   The Clone Tool   Correcting Lens Distortion   Blending Multiple Images   Black and White Conversion   Sepia Conversion   Reducing Noise   Cropping for Different Print Sizes   Sharpening   Working With RAW Files   << The Bulb Setting Metering Modes >> Metering the Scene 18% of Everything Your camera's light meter lives in a rather dull, gray world. It believes all light is reflected of every surface by the same amount. The magic number is 18% which represents the middle point between black and white. It can't see color and believes all the world is the same and does its best to take an average of the different levels of light in a scene. Now you could trust your photography to it, but the human eye is capable of so much more. Take control of how you meter, and you control how you make your photographs. Because the light meter takes an average of tones, it sees the checkered pattern as identical to the gray pattern. The tonal range is different though. The gray image only has one tone whereas the checkered pattern has two. If I replaced 5 white squares and 5 black squares in the checkered pattern with gray, the tonal range would then be three but it would still be balanced and the camera would see it the same as the two images above. To meter accurately you need to judge if the contrast in the tonal range in your scene is balanced. This gets easier with practice but fortunately, digital users have technology on their side. If your camera is digital then it has a light meter built in and it's usually a 'Through The Lens' meter or TTL. Some cameras have an external meter built in so check your manual. You don't want to cover that up with a finger. The meter is pretty good at guessing the conditions and setting your camera accordingly. That's why you'll often get an adequate shot even when using the fully or semi auto modes. The problems come with tricky lighting situations. Sunsets, sand, snow and other unbalanced contrast scenes are all difficult to get a correct exposure as they don't average at 18%. Snow is very reflective so the meter thinks it needs to tell you (or the cameras brain in auto) to darken the scene for a correct exposure. The result is dull gray snow. The same is true with sand or any light scene. On the other end of the same problem are very dark scenes. Say you wanted to take a picture of black marble. It hardly reflects any light so the meter is fooled into thinking it needs to brighten the scene resulting in overexposure and a grayish color instead of pure black. We need to know how to interpret the meter to make the necessary adjustments or take a reading off something we know is 18% reflective. A gray card is a professionally produced card that is 18% reflective. You can put the card in your scene and take a reading from it (the reverse is white and can be used to set up white balance). You then have a happy meter that can take a reading based on the ambient light and it's required reflectivity. A handy trick if you don't have a gray card with you is to use the palm of your hand. Handy, get it? ....... sorry..... You'll need to find out how reflective your palm is so find a gray card to borrow. First, in bright light, take a reading off your gray card and adjust the camera for a correct exposure. Without changing any settings, place your palm in front of the camera at the same angle and in the same light as the gray card. Look at the meter and see how it reads. My palm is 2/3 stop more reflective than a gray card. Try the same thing in shadow or other light conditions and the difference should always be the same. Now if the light is tricky and the meter is being fooled, use your palm to meter off. I have to reduce my meter reading by 2/3 stop and I'll have a correct exposure. With both the gray card and the palm method make sure the angle you hold your hand or card represents the same light as your subject. Don't turn your palm down and meter it in shadow if your subject is in full sunlight and don't reflect the light into the camera, off your palm if your subject isn't reflecting it too. Using auto or semi auto settings when the scene is difficult to meter will result in an incorrect exposure. You have the options of using the exposure compensation feature of your camera or possibly locking the exposure in an area that is correctly exposed. The method that offers the most control is manual. When you become familiar with using the manual mode you don't have to use any other settings nor are you tied to camera types that use these technologies. << The Bulb Setting Metering Modes >>

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