Metering when using a wide angle lens

10 years 5 months ago #313041 by Allen D
I was trying to take some wide angle portraits yesterday and had issues with most of my photos foreground being under exposed. I'm thinking this was because of there was to much sky in the photo and it was exposing for that. I tried to bump up some exposure compensation and that worked. So when using a wide angle lens, would it be better to spot meter directly off your subject? But then your sky would get blown out right? Or is this when HDR gets used?


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10 years 5 months ago #313043 by garyrhook
Yes to spot metering. Yes to blown out highlights. Yes to HDR.

Or: don't do that on a bright day. Clouds make for a more interesting sky anyway.

Oh: wide angle has nothing to do with this issue.


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10 years 5 months ago #313085 by KCook
As for the lens, if this is an Ultra Wide Angle, the usual matrix type metering is not designed for that. Prolly time to switch to center weighted average.

For a quickie solution, applying an EV compensation, as you did do, is perfectly good. Until you acquire some skill estimating that EV offset, also bracket.

As for spot metering, yeah this can work. But I would suggest using the biggest spot provided by your camera. A tiny spot can be tricky. I would rather just walk up and get a close meter reading. But there will be situations when getting closer is not practical. Another alternative to a spot reading is to tilt the camera down for the reading, so that less sky influences the reading.

But all of those selective metering techniques can leave the sky blown out. Then use a reflector or flash for fill to better match up with the bright sky.

Linkys for ideas -

www.photographytalk.com/forum/beginner-p...or-outdoor-portraits

www.photographytalk.com/forum/beginner-p...s-towards-their-back

www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/2879/w...-or-matrix-metering/

photography.tutsplus.com/articles/master...lighting--photo-9375

www.photographytalk.com/photography-arti...-a-lighting-tutorial

blog.snapfactory.com/?p=1817

Kelly Cook

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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10 years 5 months ago #313245 by Joves
If possible I would have used a reflector to light up the person you were shooting. Or flash depending on distance. You can HDR it, but with a person posing makes getting them to sit in the exact position is sometimes difficult. In post you could isolate the sky in PS, and then add in a nice one behind them. It really depends on where the horizon is at as to whether it is easy or a pain. But I would always try off camera flash if possible, or bouncing the natural light.


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10 years 5 months ago #313313 by Allen D
I got so side tracked with other stuff on this site that I overlooked my very own question. Thanks for all the answers. This makes a lot more sense to me now.


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