Session tonight, need metering help

Emilymarie

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So Im still confused by the different metering modes (spot, partial, etc). Tonight my shoot will be around 6:30 (the golden hr), Ill be placing the sun behind the girl AND she will be wearing a white dress. Any ideas what meter mode I should use so the dress and all the background isnt blown? Thx
 
The difference should be explained in your manual.

In this case, you probably spot or centre, so that you can meter just the subject.
 
You're describing a lighting condition that often requires the photographer to provide supplemental fill.

If the exposure required for the sky will underexpose the subject then no metering technique will help. If the exposure required for the subject will blow out the sky then no metering technique will help.

Meter for the light on the subject -- given what you've described, move in with the camera so only the subject is visible in the viewfinder and then use that exposure. If the dress is white and the subject has very light skin and hair you could consider adding 1/2 stop of exposure. If this exposure blows out the sky you're only option is to correct the lighting.

Take Care,
Joe
 
I've looked at your blog, and you like to place the sun behind people. So far, you've managed to keep the subjects properly exposed, so I'm guessing you've been adjusting your exposure to expose the subjects, not the sky. If you want the sky to retain more detail, you need supplemental fill (either flash or reflector(s)) to reduce the brightness difference between the sky and your subjects. The other thing I've noticed on your blog is that some shots are pin-sharp, and others are rather out of focus. Not really sure why.

If the subject of your first post was already on the blog, I think you did well. While it's true that the sky is blown out, the framing you chose and the shallow depth of field work well in the last two images. However, the focus is softer than I think it should be.
 
light_reflectance_meter_minolta.jpg
 

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