I perfectly understand the reason of metering 2/3 of a stop above when focusing on the brightest part in full sun or half way between the brightest and the darkest part in open shade. I don’t fully understand why it is still 2/3 of a stop above when metering on the shadows (darkest part) if shooting in a dark place. Wouldn’t that make shadows too bright? If we were metering at the centre, shadows would be treated like 18% grey so they would already been lighten up; if you go 2/3 of a stop above probably a shadow wouldn’t be a shadow anymore. Maybe you meant 2/3 of a stop below, when metering the darkest area?
It won’t be too bright, this is done to protect the shaddows as we don’t have a problem with bright areas in deep shaddows. Have you tried this method yet? If not, I suggest getting your camera and trialing the method to see what results you get.
Hi Maikel, it depends on the camera you are using, if I am using my Sony I tend to use AF-Continuous with face or eye decetion turned on, but on my Hasselblad I tend to use single shot focusing on center.
Hi Peter with the 2/3 above center metering system when moving around outdoors from shade to direct sunlight do you leave the white balance setting to “daylight” or do you also change the white balance settings according to scenery? Or a different way of asking is, does the 2/3 rule takes care of all of the scenery change and we don’t have to worry about the white balance setting? I use a Sony A7RIII mirrorless, so does it even matter if i just watch the histogram and view finder live view?
12 comments on “Natural Light Metering”
Great! What zebra setting (number) do you use?
Hey Michael! We use 100+
Thanks, Rozanna! I watched the exposure videos in the wrong order…
Keep up the great work!
I perfectly understand the reason of metering 2/3 of a stop above when focusing on the brightest part in full sun or half way between the brightest and the darkest part in open shade. I don’t fully understand why it is still 2/3 of a stop above when metering on the shadows (darkest part) if shooting in a dark place. Wouldn’t that make shadows too bright? If we were metering at the centre, shadows would be treated like 18% grey so they would already been lighten up; if you go 2/3 of a stop above probably a shadow wouldn’t be a shadow anymore. Maybe you meant 2/3 of a stop below, when metering the darkest area?
Hi Paolo.
It won’t be too bright, this is done to protect the shaddows as we don’t have a problem with bright areas in deep shaddows. Have you tried this method yet? If not, I suggest getting your camera and trialing the method to see what results you get.
Let me know how you go!
Thanks Rozanna, I sure will 🙂
Curious, from which direction does the natural light come into Peter’s studio, is that southern, northern or what?
The front of the studio is facing west, bounce light till 2pm then direct light for the rest of the afternoon.
que enfoquen usa para sus disparos ya que hay movimiento en las poses de los modelos ..AF -S SERVO ÚNICO— AF-C SERVO CONTINUO?GRACIAS
Hi Maikel, it depends on the camera you are using, if I am using my Sony I tend to use AF-Continuous with face or eye decetion turned on, but on my Hasselblad I tend to use single shot focusing on center.
Hi Peter with the 2/3 above center metering system when moving around outdoors from shade to direct sunlight do you leave the white balance setting to “daylight” or do you also change the white balance settings according to scenery? Or a different way of asking is, does the 2/3 rule takes care of all of the scenery change and we don’t have to worry about the white balance setting? I use a Sony A7RIII mirrorless, so does it even matter if i just watch the histogram and view finder live view?
Thanks heaps. 🙂
Frank
I tend to just leave the white balance on daylight or auto and do any colour correction later in raw 🙂