CAMERA METERING HOW IT WORKS, AND THE MODES
HELLO My name is Kiam Cai Tng I love photography and share the passion by giving free presentations. You can find me @kiamcai
“Photography is a love affair with life.”
- Burk Uzzle
WHAT IS EXPOSURE • • • •
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To understand metering, you need to first understand exposure. Exposure simply means “exposing camera sensor to light” in photography. When camera does not receive enough light, dark photo is produced – Underexposed. When camera receives too much light, bright photo is produced – Overexposed. We usually aim for “just right” in photography.
WHAT IS METERING • • • •
Process of the camera adapting the amount of light in the environment and automatically update the settings. Metering is not perfect, and can still go wrong sometimes. For example, skies too bright while ground is dark. Focus on the wrong subject – adapt to a bright sparkler while leaving the human subject dark.
METERING MODES 1 • • • • •
To remedy, you have to first learn how to use the various different modes of metering. Matrix metering mode – The “default” mode of most modern cameras. Uses the entire frame for consideration. Will differ from different camera makers and models. May be intelligent to determine the scene correctly and give good settings, or just average out and give a good enough setting.
METERING MODES 2 • • •
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Spot metering – Uses a small spot that you specify for consideration. The camera will simply use that particular spot, and ignore the rest of the frame. Good for small subjects and/or when you have a single subject. Partial metering – Same as spot metering, except uses a larger area for consideration. Only available on Canon cameras mostly.
METERING MODES 3 • • •
Center weighted metering – As the name implies, the camera will only use the center of the frame for consideration. Good if you have a single subject. The subject must be placed in the middle of the frame, and must occupy sufficient framing space.
FIXING EXPOSURE • • • •
To fix bad exposures, you can try using different metering modes. For example, if evaluative mode gave you bright sky and dark ground, use spot metering on the ground instead. Sky will still be overexposed, but ground will be nicely exposed. There are limitations to cameras, and metering cannot fix everything. To totally “fix” the exposure, you will need a piece of ND filter to bring back the exposure level of the sky.
THANK YOU For the complete guide on camera metering, please visit –
https://xlightphotography.com/camerametering/