Using Aperture Priority Mode - Inconsistent Exposure

[Braineack]

I too shoot A mode primarily (about 75% of the time).

I often change my metering method on-the-fly based on the shot I'm try to create. The three metering methods can lead to three vastly different exposures based on the scene.

I default to evaluative. If I'm shooting a towards a bright sky, or alike, I'll switch up to center. I'll use spot when I'm going for a particular look or I won't to make sure I exposure for a particular part of the scene, typically when I want to go low-key, or to wash-out bright backgrounds but to ensure a face is exposed properly.

You will get to a point where you will learn to expect a certain exposure from the camera in each mode and if you happen to get an unexposed image, you know how to quickly correct it.

Here's an example with a picture I took 2 years ago, i took of a dark car towards a bright sky. It was in mutli, so the camera ramped up the shutter speed to bring down the exposure on the sky: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAACOA/xdYqf5t3l7M/w856-h571-no/DSC_3247.JPG

switch to spot/center (i cant remember) I told the camera, "hey, let's jsut focus on getting the hood exposed", and it led to a vastly different picture: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAACN4/OfmEXc6lAm8/w856-h571-no/DSC_3242.JPG

I had run into this issue before and figured out what I needed to do to prevent it from happening again. Still didnt help the picture from being crap.


Fun fact: I talked to that porsche owner about his matching child seat in the back; Two years I was talking to a co-worker at a new job about his porsche, turns out it was the same guy.

 

[Big Mike]

2) Adjusted metering to Centre-Weighted, being mindful to keep my subject relatively in the middle
Side note for this - Centre-Weighted seems to fly in the face of compositional guidelines (rule of thirds, etc). Thoughts on this?

Yes it does...but you need to realize the difference between metering/exposure and composition. You can meter on something to get your exposure, then lock the exposure and recompose the shot. This is really where shooting in Manual exposure mode is beneficial. In manual mode, once you set your exposure (shutter speed, ISO and aperture) it won't change. So you would meter on something, set your exposure accordingly, then you are free to move about and/or recompose your shot....and as long as you're subject is in the same light, you don't have to worry about exposure. It's actually very freeing because you can then concentrate on other things like composition, focus and interacting with your subject etc.

If you are shooting in any of the auto modes (including the priority modes) then there is an extra step that you have to take. You meter on something, use E.C. (exposure compensation) to get the appropriate exposure, then you have to 'lock' your exposure with A.E.L. (auto exposure lock). This temporarily locks the exposure settings so that you can recompose and focus, without the camera re-metering and changing your exposure.

The way I explain this in my class, is that it actually ends up being more work to shoot in auto because you constantly have to worry about exposure and locking it etc. While in manual, it's almost 'set it and forget it'.

3) Still working on exposure compensation - I definitely have a tendency to adjust settings and forget (particularly with ISO, and sometimes adjusting to M mode without flipping back to A).

Exposure compensation (in auto modes) is just a way of telling the camera not to get you to 'zero' on the meter. So if you set it to plus 1, it will adjust either the aperture or shutter speed to get the values that equate to plus one (based on what it's metering on). It's nothing more complicated than that.

As for the balance between shutter speed, aperture & ISO....you'll learn as you go, keep at it.

 

[mcflickr]

Wow - Great info. Will definitely look at metering for exposure, then recomposing in M mode, perhaps comparing it against A, and see what sort of results I get. I like the idea of metering first and adjusting my settings rather than using the AEL function.

I feel like I've become too reliant on post processing to get the "look" I was trying to achieve, rather than getting a SOOC shot that requires a couple of minor tweakes. LR "Actions" are my best friend, but have prevented me from developing my own photographic style. As someone who has wanted to pursue photography professionally (in the future), I don't think I'm in a space where a perspective client would really know what to expect. My photos vary too much.

The hope is I can use this information to really "nail" the exposure. I don't know if my own style will present itself from there, or if it will happen over time. Maybe the correct answer is one's "style" should really cater to a client's preference.

 

[Derrel]

My feeling is that Lightroom's default image import profile is wonky, and not a good fit.

 

[Overread]

Few thoughts:

1) Remember you can meter a scene and recompose the shot so you don't have to keep the subject purely in the middle.

2) Indoors is dark, really dark for cameras. That means you'll oft need wide apertures, big ISOs and slower shutter speeds - otherwise boost the light levels with correct use of flash or other light modifiers.

3) Lightroom has a pretty good noise removal option if you scroll down the list of editing values and a google/youtube search will show many theories and approaches to using it.
In addition PS also has noise removal/reduction and you can combine that easily with layers and layer masks - letting you put the strongest noise removal in the strongest noisy areas whilst saving detailed areas from such a strong reduction (since noise removal is destructive and often softens a photo - clearly not a problem with a noisey background that's already blurry but not what you want on the main in-focus areas).

 

[W.Y.Photo]

Also as this thread is labeled aperture vs shutter priority I thought I'd add that if you know what you are doing when exposing an image but just don't want to take the time to manually change the setting aperture priority is by and far the way to go in my opinion.

What you said about both options is correct but if you understand that a lower aperture will increase your shutterspeed and want to take images on the fly then aperture priority is great because it gives you quick and easy control of the DoF with an automated setting. So unless you realllly need that 1/125th shutter you can easily control where the viewer's eye rests in an image while being as lazy/taking as little time as necessary. For this reason it can also be a very useful tool in action shots because you can ensure that a player downfeild and a player close to you remain in focus without wasting your time switching all the settings around and missing the shot.

 

[dennybeall]

Not sure what camera you have but many will let you get the settings with center weighted, lock those settings in place by pushing a button and then moving the camera to frame the shot you want - be it rule of thirds or what...
Point the flash at the ceiling and see how that works in some instances.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

What denny said is very useful information. Use your camera as a spot meter, not a crappy robot assistant.

Also, if youre not shooting sports or things that move around a lot, I highly recommend you always shoot in M mode. It gives you maximum control and teaches you a lot about the ideal way to expose an image in the process. 7 years of photography and I still find Manual mode to be an informative learning device at times.

 

[Patrice]

The meter aims to expose to around 50% grey …...

Shouldn't this be 18%, or am I misunderstanding?

 

[Overread]

Patrice yes!!

I blame that 50% shades book everyone was talking about for infecting my mind with the wrong kind of grey!

 

[snowbear]

Shouldn't this be 18%, or am I misunderstanding?

Patrice yes!!

I blame that 50% shades book everyone was talking about for infecting my mind with the wrong kind of grey!

I am a little confused: I was always told the grey card has a "mid-toned" value (color/shade) and the 18% refers to the reflectance (light bounced back to camera).