blho … can you clarify whether your observation is with or without flash? And with or without the flash switched on? The flash changes things.

Neil vN

You could do that, or simply just use your camera’s built-in meter.

No need to switch between exposure modes. Use the meter display (and interpret it), in the camera’s manual metered mode.

Neil vN

I also had a question similiar to Lydia’s , as I wasn’t quite clarified on it.

“Therefore I had to control my exposure – in this case by locking a relevant meter reading in manual mode.”

For instance, I have a D700 Nikon. How would I go about taking a “relevant meter reading in manual mode” ? Would I switch to AV mode spot metering, press shutter halfway down on my targeted area and see what it’s recommending?

Or do you simply mean to take a few exposures in manual shooting mode and preview the histograms based on being zoomed up in the area you want to properly expose for (similiar to your article on how to properly expose for a brides dress?)

any help would be greatly appreciated as I was not quite sure how to do this manual metering aside from the above.

Thanks a ton for all you do for us!

aj

Hi there Steve … no, you don’t change your settings.

Think about how someone with an incident light meter would’ve done it – measured the light falling onto your subject. This way the tonality of your subject doesn’t influence the meter reading. In fact, the tonality of your subject has no immediate bearing on how you use a handheld light meter.

If the handheld incident lightmeter is calibrated for your camera’s sensor / type of film … then it is accurate. You set those camera settings, and you’re done.

Anything else you need to do to bring detail back the tones into the zones you like, is then done in post. But your basic exposure settings remain unchanged for any specific light setup.

So who wins? : )

Neil vN

Great book and blog. My wife (photographer) and I (second shooter) and I agree to disagree on an issue. If you spot meter on a brides dress (change exposure compensation to adjust the 18% grey) and you have consistant lighting from abmient and strobes, same location, same compensation but different individuals around her, such as formals. Dark tuxes from groomsmen then light dresses from bridesmaids. Would you need to change the exposure settings for different individuals around the bride to make up for the tones that are not included in the spot metering, or would you expect to have a correct exposure every shot since we are only considering the brides dress from spot metering. Asthetics vs technical?

Thanks in advance,

Steve