what metering mode

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WAYNE CHAMPION
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whats the best metering mode to use for taking portraits. im asuming to get the eyes sharp spot metering would be the anwser but not 100% sure :shrug:
 
Getting the eyes sharp would be down to accurate focusing. But for overall exposure i would be metering off skin tones. Moving in close to fill the frame and multi pattern metering , exposure lock ,then recompose including any background.
You didn't mention whether or not you are using flash or natural light ?

Roy
 
thanks for the reply i would be using natural light but may want to use flash at some point in the future!
 
If you are going to start using exposure lock, I would seriously consider switching to manual exposure. That way, you can take the meter reading once as described by Roy and then shoot for as long as you want without having to go back for a second reading.

Obviously, check that the lighting has not changed significantly - otherwise get a new reading. Any minor discepancies can be corrected in post processing.
 
Focusing and exposure control are completely separate functions, although the lens aperture - the f/number - has a big effect on the depth of field (how much is sharp in the picture, in front of and behind the point focused on).

You need to understand what is happening when setting lens aperture and shutter speed, together with ISO, as all these settings have a big effect on how the image appears even though you can obtain the same correct exposure with a wide range of different combinations. This is the basic skill of photography.

For newcomers, I think using manual exposure control is potential dangerous. It is very easy for the light to change a lot even when shooting the same subject and the camera will keep track of that, usually with a good degree of accuracy. To say that you can correct things in post processing is a) only true to a small extend, and b) is bad practice that will lead to disaster sooner rather than later. There is no substitute for a bit of learning, checking the LCD image and knowing what the histogram is telling you.

I would stick to evalutative/matrix metering. It will always get you close to optimum exposure, often dead on. Then check the LCD/histogram and moderate it with +/- compensation if needs be. If you are confident that the exposure is correct and that the light will not change, then you can switch to manual which basically locks the camera settings so that nothing will change unless you alter it.
 
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