Am I doing this right?

[kshapero]

My ZI is aperture priority metered. When I am about to photograph a subject that is backlit, I usually take a meter reading at the subject's knees then hit the Aperture lock button, recompose and shoot. Example would be if metering straight on might be 1/125 sec and metering at the knees might be 1/30 sec. Makes sense to me because I am letting more light on the subject and not being fooled by the backlight. Do I have this right?

 

[payasam]

Sounds fine. Got any results yet?

 

[kshapero]

Sounds fine. Got any results yet?

Traveling right now. Was in the Hamptons, Long Island and I am now in the Brkshire Mts of Massachusetts. Can't wait to get the 9 rolls I have taken developed. Going to the Big Apple tonight.

 

[Sparrow]

In essence yes….. if they have 18% grey trousers on, white or black will meter differently, obviously

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

In essence yes….. if they have 18% grey trousers on, white or black will meter differently, obviously

An of course the Zeiss Ikon meter is center-weighted, not spot, so the light reflected from beside the trousers also comes to play.

In general spot metering is the only consistent way to get a backlighted object correctly exposed without resorting to a hand-held meter. With center-weighted or multi-segment (a.k.a. evaluative or matrix) metering only experience will tell you how the meter actually works in such situations. Once you learn that, you can usually apply the desired compensation. Multi-segment metering systems typically apply automatic backlight compensation, but it may not be sufficient or it may be overdone.

All this is of course less of a problem with digital, since you can always check the results. This is merely a statement of fact and not an endorsement of digital imaging. I am a 95% film photographer myself.

A good basic explanation about different light metering systems and their use:

http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/metering.html

 

[sepiareverb]

You might also just dial in some exposure compensation- say a +1 or +2 (or somewhere in-between) and fire away.

 

[Sparrow]

An of course the Zeiss Ikon meter is center-weighted, not spot, so the light reflected from beside the trousers also comes to play.

In general spot metering is the only consistent way to get a backlighted object correctly exposed without resorting to a hand-held meter. With center-weighted or multi-segment (a.k.a. evaluative or matrix) metering only experience will tell you how the meter actually works in such situations. Once you learn that, you can usually apply the desired compensation. Multi-segment metering systems typically apply automatic backlight compensation, but it may not be sufficient or it may be overdone.

All this is of course less of a problem with digital, since you can always check the results. This is merely a statement of fact and not an endorsement of digital imaging. I am a 95% film photographer myself.

A good basic explanation about different light metering systems and their use:

http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/metering.html

A ttl reading from a grey-card in the same light as the subject takes some beating, but I doubt that the reading would differ much from the subject’s knees, which is a lot easier to take

 

[kshapero]

I am a knee man.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

You might also just dial in some exposure compensation- say a +1 or +2 (or somewhere in-between) and fire away.

Works reasonably well in many situations, but usually some bracketing is required, if you want to have at least one shot with "just right" exposure.

 

[MartinP]

I would stick my hand in the same light as the subject and meter close-up off my palm, then add a stop. I have not yet left behind both hands when out with a camera - and they are multi-funtional, unlike grey-cards 😉

 

[payasam]

I've used my palm a lot, Martin, and added a stop and a half. It happens that the human palm has pretty much the same reflectivity, regardless of the owner's race affiliation.

 

[sepiareverb]

Works reasonably well in many situations, but usually some bracketing is required, if you want to have at least one shot with "just right" exposure.

Practice does make perfect in this arena, and when in doubt I meter the knees.

 

[thomasw_]

I am a knee man.

I hear you, being a knee man too. What you described, works for me.

 

[kshapero]

I hear you, being a knee man too. What you described, works for me.

learned it from my old manual, manual, maunal days. That's manual focus, manual meter and manual labor.