Exposure Question

[Nikonite]

Hi,

I've been researching exposure and how to read light etc and the same question keeps coming up to which I can't seem to find a definitive answer without asking it my way. I hope some of you can help.

Ok, the camera is in hand an i'm at a wedding or taking photos of people outside and inside.

I will be shooting in RAW for greater control post production.

I'll be assuming the following parameters:

1) Spot metering
2) ISO 200/400 outside, 800/1000 inside (bright cloudy day)
3) Auto WB
4) I have a grey card
5) Palm of hand is 2/3 brighter than grey card
6) DoF is the priority
7) I'm keeping in mind minimum shutter speeds for camera shake

I understand that the camera will always meter 18% grey thus underexposing whites and overexposing blacks and, using AP, the camera will give me different shutter speeds depending what subject the camera meters off.

Therefore, to get an accurate exposure i will need to do one of the following..(which one is preferred if they are all possible and correct ways to do this?)

(A) Using AP mode, I spot meter off something greyish like the grey card/palm of hand (adjusted)/road/pavement, use exposure lock and recompose my scene and take the picture. Will this be a correct exposure? Ignoring my choice of DOF. I realise that i would have to do this for every shot.

(B) Use AP mode, I spot meter off something grey as above, take a note of the shutter speed, meter off the subject i am about to take a photograph of noting the slower or faster shutter speed than before and use exposure compensation to match the shutter speed as before?

(C) Use Manual mode, choose my aperture, spot meter off something greyish like the grey card/palm of hand (adjusted)/road/pavement, adjusting the shutter speed until i get a "normal exposure" according to the exposure meter and use those settings (even though the meter will try and tell me i'm mental) until i feel the light changes.

(D) Think of using P mode but don't use it as it leans towards a "more automatic" mode thus giving me more of a headache in adjusting exposure.

So which is the most appropriate in a setting where you're taking photos of people outside and inside on the same day? (think wedding)...or does it not matter as i can adjust exposure in Lightroom later cos i'm shooting RAW? Therefore i can simply use AP and meter off faces?

Many thanks.

:bonk:

 

[Phil V]

That's the question that sparks the debate.

The answer is that any method that gets you a correct exposure and the photograph you want to take is fine. You'll find as many wedding photographers shooting AP (AV) mode as you'll find shooting Manual. Even P with shift will get the same results - at the end of the day, it's results that matter.

There isn't a right or wrong, there's only what works best for you. Mostly I shoot AV (exp lock), but sometimes M will give me the same results faster.

Under no circumstances should you purposefully shoot an incorrect exposure, if you take a grab shot that needs rescuing - it's a gamble you might get away with. But to have to fix everything in post will severely restrict the quality that you can achieve.

 

[HoppyUK]

Maybe the reason you havn't beeen able to find an answer to your question is because there isn't one. All the various metering modes and methods you've described are just different ways of doing the same thing, achieving good exposure, and the best one for the job depends on the subject, the conditions, and your prefered method of working. You might also use a few different methods at different times during the wedding.

FWIW, and in answer to your PM that asks the same question, the way I would do it is the same as I would approach anything else. Evaluative/matrix metering, blinkies enabled, aperture priority and/or manual. Manual for when the light is constant (eg no clouds coming and going) and when taking several shots of the same basic scene, and I don't want the meter being thrown by changing subject brightness. And aperture-priority for changeable conditions or quickly changing scenes, but keeping an eye on shutter speeds, blinkies, and being ready with exposure compensation.

Evaluative metering always gets close, then take a snap and check the LCD/histogram/blinkies. Especially blinkies (highlight over-exposure warning). Cardinal sin with a wedding is to blow the bride's dress, but if you're over-cautious with that you will end up with lack of detail and noise in dark suits. So adjust exposure (either in manual or with exposure compensation) so that blinkies are just not flashing on the bride, and watch out for shiny cheeks and foreheads too. Then you know the bride's dress is safe, but you have also maximised exposure for everything else. Check the histogram to confirm.

This is Expose To The Right (of the histogram) technique, giving you optimum exposure, which is not quite the same as technically correct exposure, ie it might push mid-grey a bit to the right of the histogram but then you shoot Raw and pull that down a bit in post processing and get a better overall result.

If you fancy a bit of ETTR, then you really need to bone up on that and practise it. Since I use it all the time, I know exactly where the limits lie with my camera and processing regime and can confidently push things quite a long way, but it's a dangerous game. If you overdo it, the bride's dress will blow for sure as you're right on the edge, but get it right and you will have loaded the sensor with the absolute maximum of data for the optimum result.

A safer method is to use an incident reading, that will peg mid-grey to the middle of the histogram but usually leaves quite a lot of highlight headroom unused and wasted. This shows up as darker shadows having less exposure than optimum. A separate meter, or a grey card, or reading off the palm of your hand and adjusting, are all ways of taking an incident reading. You must always be in the same light as the subject though.

BTW, you're perhaps not aware of ETTR technique because that book Understanding Exposure that I know you rate from another thread, doesn't even mention it. It's a poor book IMHO, quirky and originally written for film, and even the latest version is shamefully inadequate.

HTH

 

[Nikonite]

Hmm. I think you've both confirmed quite a lot to me. Thanks very much for your help, as always!

 

[ams99]

I've been out in the garden having a play with different metering modes this morning. What Richard says is spot on (ahem!).

Attempting to use the spot meter in changeable light is extremely difficult as the meter jumps all over the show with the coming and going of clouds. In manual i found i was continually having to adjust as the clouds came and went. Therefore Aperture priority works best for me with changeable light. As Richard says, check the histogram and blinkies and add/subtract EV as required.

Again, for me, I find it easier and quicker using the matrix metering method and then adding / subtracting EV as required. The camera is a lot quicker at making the calculations based on given light than i am. Therefore i let the camera do the technical stuff and then give it a help in hand with the EV.

Alan

 

[AJQS]

Assuming that your happy with the result of your grey card metering (IE it does actually give you the exposure you want). Then A is perfectly correct, although I'd personally whack it in Manual so as not to have to keep hitting exposure lock all the time.

 

[Phil V]

Assuming that your happy with the result of your grey card metering (IE it does actually give you the exposure you want). Then A is perfectly correct, although I'd personally whack it in Manual so as not to have to keep hitting exposure lock all the time.

^This is what can lead to confusion though.

It's OK for those who see the light changing to understand how often to check their meter to shoot Manual. But what if you're inexperienced and unsure, you set your camera on Manual, go to take a close up of the bride, the metering's off to whack (white dress) so you adjust your camera and shoot - wrong exposure! - but it can't be, because you were shooting Manual.:bang:

Then go to shoot the grooms buttonholes, adjust again - fail.

It's not and never will be about exposure modes or metering patterns, it's only any use when you understand your metering.

 

[Nikonite]

This is where i'll be taking the indoor wedding ceremony shots. I was there last week to scope out the place but as there was a wedding in progress i couldn't take any test shots. Judging by the light i was thinking of using matrix/evaluative metering on aperture priority mode? what do you reckon?

 

[Nikonite]

After lengthy research (today) i'm gonna go with manual mode and spot meter off a grey card or my hand...or something mid tone....

thankfully she ain't wearing white..

 

[gad-westy]

After lengthy research (today) i'm gonna go with manual mode and spot meter off a grey card or my hand...or something mid tone....

thankfully she ain't wearing white..

Missed your earlier post but that is pretty much what I'd do. Just keep an eye out for light changing.

 

[DaveN]

Dez, using manual is waaay too slow for weddings. I shoot 'P' mode, evaluative metering and use the dials to compensate when required. I also shoot entire weddings in daylight white balance (one click fix in raw). Sorry to throw another spanner in the works, but the way I shoot let's me concentrate on image content .... !!

Cheers

Dave.

 

[Nikonite]

Hi Dave,

I'm not sure i follow what you mean by being way to slow

Surely it will only be slow if the light keeps changing? This is quite a low key wedding (pun intended) so 50% of the photos i'll be taking will be in that room. Setting up manual before it all starts will allow me to concentrate on image content without worrying about using dials and compensating in P mode...plus evaluative is too hit and miss for me...i want to avoid grey and get better exposure. the other 50% will be outside in a huge garden where i'll be using Aperture priority mode.

 

[DaveN]

Hi Dave,

I'm not sure i follow what you mean by being way to slow

Surely it will only be slow if the light keeps changing? This is quite a low key wedding (pun intended) so 50% of the photos i'll be taking will be in that room. Setting up manual before it all starts will allow me to concentrate on image content without worrying about using dials and compensating in P mode...plus evaluative is too hit and miss for me...i want to avoid grey and get better exposure. the other 50% will be outside in a huge garden where i'll be using Aperture priority mode.

Hi Dez

If the light is going to be constant then shooting like that will be fine, just suppose I've been shooting the way I do for so long I know what the camera is gonna do and just compensate if necessary ...

Hope the wedding goes well for you.

Cheers

Dave.

 

[Nikonite]

Hi Dez

If the light is going to be constant then shooting like that will be fine, just suppose I've been shooting the way I do for so long I know what the camera is gonna do and just compensate if necessary ...

Hope the wedding goes well for you.

Cheers

Dave.

Thanks Dave!