I will never understand metering!

[puyjapin]

Will I ever understand! That is the question!!

 

[Overread]

ahem - YES YOU WILL

however I think internet/reading/book learning is not helping you understand and you are meeting frustration in the field.
So try and see if there is a local photography group in your area and join up. Chances are you will be able to get some advice and help with your camera and kit there - and it will be on the spot help with the metering thus it should help you in the field more

keep at it!

 

[table1349]

If you don't understand exposure you can't understand metering. They go hand in hand.

Understanding Exposure, Bryan Peterson, Book - Barnes & Noble


Zone system
Zone System

 

[puyjapin]

i can expose some shots well, however when i meter off something i cant see the point, why meter then re compose, surely its just as easy to adjust the speed and aperture while focussing on the subject

 

[table1349]

i can expose some shots well, however when i meter off something i cant see the point, why meter then re compose, surely its just as easy to adjust the speed and aperture while focussing on the subject

That is part of truly understanding exposure. Taking a picture that is exposed well in terms of light/dark/shadow/highlights etc is only part of the equation. A camera on auto mode will do that fairly correctly a majority of the time. But it will not give you the desired result to create outstanding photographs instead of just snapshots.

Understanding exposure also means understanding what aperture to use to get a desired result. Understanding what shutter speed to use to get a desired result. Understanding what ISO to use to get a desired result and knowing how to combine them to get the desired result. There are trade offs that have to be made to get as close to what the vision is that you have for the photograph.

 

[El2]

If you don't understand exposure you can't understand metering. They go hand in hand.

Understanding Exposure, Bryan Peterson, Book - Barnes & Noble
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/zone_system.shtml

I agree with this suggestion.

 

[chadsdphoto]

A basic thing to know is that the meter is always attempting to make everything it is reading into medium gray (18% to be technical).

So it reads bright things and tries to make them darker. It reads darker things and tries to make them lighter. Most scenes have a mixture of both, plus tones in between. The meter attempts to average them all out so the picture becomes that 18% gray.

There are acceptions to this and it depends on whether you are using spot, average, matrix, TTL metering and other factors. I'll let you read the suggested book or elsewhere to understand each of those.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck and keep asking questions. That's how we all learn.

 

[fwellers]

i can expose some shots well, however when i meter off something i cant see the point, why meter then re compose, surely its just as easy to adjust the speed and aperture while focussing on the subject

You are correct. You can accomplish the exact same thing by just adjusting the triangle parameters. The meter helps you decide what they should be, that's all. If you are real good I suppose you can dial in the correct settings right away. Or you can chimp away until it looks good I guess.