Beach photography and spot metering

[aussiearef]

Hi Guys,

I just read a post about portrait photography on the beach. In that post some have recommended to use spot metering. I have two questions regarding this:

1- If we shoot at mid-day which is super bright, and the subject's back is facing the sun. If we use spot metering to meter the face's light, won't the background be super bright and kind of blown out?
2- How to meter when we photograph more than one person? say a family. which spot should be metered?

thanks

 

[fjrabon]

1) yes, but this has nothing to do with metering. This is simply what happens if you have a really large dynamic range. It wouldn't matter where you metered, either the backlit sky would be blown out or the person's face would be dark.

2) Wherever is sort of the most middle part of the exposure.

Ultimately, I think your questions indicate you don't really understand how metering works. All metering is just a measurement. It just tells you how far from middle grey whatever the spot is on is, if you were to use the settings you have the camera currently set at. If you're in a priority mode or program mode, and you don't have exposure compensation dialed in, the meter will make your camera expose such that whatever your spot is pointed at is middle grey.

What metering won't do is change the dynamic range of a shot, or make your exposure more evenly lit. If one person is dark and another is light, it won't matter where you meter, one of the people will be off. If everybody is lit uniformly, it won't matter where you meter, they'll all be right.

Further, caucasian skin is typically a stop brighter than middle grey, very light caucasian skin is two stops, light african American skin and asian skin is typically close to middle grey. Dark african American skin is a half stop below middle grey. So if you are using people as your spots you meter, you'll have to take those values into consideration and use exposure compensation (or your meter reading if you're in manual) accordingly.

 

[KmH]

This time of year south of the equator, it's nearly summer and the Sun is about as high in the sky mid-day at it will be all year.
These days in Perth at solar noon, the Sun is at about 81.5°, or pretty close to directly overhead - Sunrise and Sunset for Australia – Western Australia – Perth – coming days
It gets worse if you're further north.

Meter the brightest family members face. At all costs, avoid dappled sunlight.

Mid-day, summer time, un-diffused light is the worst kind of light to try and use for portraiture.

Midday you will need to use fill flash to avoid 'Raccoon eyes' (dark eye sockets), and to balance your exposure with all the light reflecting off the sand.

I shot beach portraits in and around San Diego's beaches for 10 years, and mid-day is when you stay inside, have a nice refreshing beverage, and do photography business tasks.

 

[Derrel]

Spot metering can EASILY lead to screw-ups unless the user 1)knows how to use it and 2)uses it properly and 3)uses it with EXTREME consistency.

My experience is that spot metering for people photography is best left to experts. Center-weighted metering, aimed at the faces of subjects from a fairly close distance or with a narrow angle of view (ie. telephoto focal length), will "usually" get your exposure about where it needs to be, without the ultra-critical, hair-trigger precision that can be needed when spot metering.

Spot metering, when used even slightly inconsistently, can lead to HUGE fluctuations in exposure. It is, as I said, best left to expert users, who truly understand the basics, as well as the nuances, of metering, and lighting, and photography. Those who understand exactly how their camera and lens focal length impacts metering can use spot metering and do well with it; many others, OTOH, can ruin photos left and right by using spot metering in an improper or inconsistent manner.

Honestly, I find spot metering almost unneeded. Just.Not.Needed.Any.More. It leads to more cock-ups than fix-ups.

 

[KmH]

This time of year south of the equator, it's nearly summer and the Sun is about as high in the sky mid-day at it will be all year.
These days in Perth at solar noon, the Sun is at about 81.5°, or pretty close to directly overhead - Sunrise and Sunset for Australia – Western Australia – Perth – coming days
It gets worse if you're further north.

Meter the brightest family members face. At all costs, avoid dappled sunlight.

Mid-day, summer time, un-diffused light is the worst kind of light to try and use for portraiture. Shoot during the 'golden hours' instead.

In midday diredt sunlight you will need to use fill flash to avoid 'Raccoon eyes' (dark eye sockets), dark shadows under noses, etc.

Mid-day is the time to be in your office doing your business related tasks.