Spot metering with landscape photography?

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by navcom

Screw-in ND grads are mostly worthless. Most are made so you have the horizon directly in the center of the picture. It's usually a big no-no to have your horizon perfectly centered in your composition. Even the ones that are offset are very hard to work with as what you really end up doing is compromising your composition to use the filter versus using a filter to enhance your composition.

Cokin P filters are the way most professionals use ND grads. They are much more versatile. You don't need a perfectly flat horizon to use them either. They are sold with either hard or soft transitions. If you are shooting a sunset on the ocean, you can use a hard one that transitions very fast...more like a solid line. If you are taking a picture of a sunset behind the mountains, you use a soft transition ND grad. It will blend in very well with an uneven horizon.

Bear in mind that ND grads are not plug and play. Many folks (myself included when I started out) tend to think, "hmmm, pretty easy concept. Throw on this filter and "bam"...better pictures. Then you get frustrated because you can't get the results that Galen Rowell got. You need to understand how to use them and also when to avoid using them. You also have to understand that the filter won't improve your composition...only enhance the exposure a bit.

Cokin are pretty inferior-better to get the Lee filters or Galen Rowell "Singh-ray" ones. Ken

[Elmo]

I use spot metering a lot. I feel it is vital.

Before stating why I feel it is vital, let me clarify something. In the zone system 10 areas were spot metered ranging from what was to be white on the print to what was to be black. This gave the dynamic range needed to record the scene. The negative was then developed to produce the required dynamic range by varying the developer, development time and development temperature. The reason for the middle tones, was when the development was varied from specified standards the linearity of the tonal range varied. The mid-tones were used to fine tune the development process.

In a digital negative we do not have this latitude in changing dynamic range, but we still need to deliver the scenes dynamic range. To do this one needs to spot meter the scene. These readings can then be used to determine what Grad value needs to be used, or to determine the bracket size for HDR images.

[navcom]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

Cokin are pretty inferior-better to get the Lee filters or Galen Rowell "Singh-ray" ones. Ken

Singh Ray's are the best. That's all I carry. But they are expensive and many might not be able to justify the expense if they are only a hobbyist...especially just starting out. Using a cheap Cokin or similar brand ND grad will work fine for learning...as long as you understand there are better quality ones out there if you are serious.

[IanWorthington]

Hi Nemesis.

As Ken says, spot metering needs to be used with a bitof care, such as the zone system.

Think about what the meter is telling you: that whatever you're pointing it at will render at 12% gray when photographed using the settings it's telling you.

So that's fine if you're pointing it at something that's 12% gray. Otherwise you have to adjust it. The zone system (you can google for a simplified zone system more approriate to digital photography) says to find the brightest area you want detail in, and give that about 2, maybe 3, stops more (depending on the dr of your camera)

Or you can look for the deepest shadow you want detail in and give that 2-3 stops less.

In Ansel Adams day you would expose for one of these, and develop for the other, an option not available to us. So we have to expose for the highlights we want to keep and hope we have anough dr to capture detail in the shadows.

We can help that along a bit by using Adobe Raw to extract a bit more dr in the highlights, and GNDs to try and bring the dr of the subject into the rangeof the sensor.

Good luck!

i

[ueharak]

I tend to think about Ansel Adams when I see spot metering and landscape photography being used together; particularly in BLACK & WHITE landscape photography. If you are familiar with his Zone system, then that would be a case where spot metering would come in handy. If there is a part of the scene that you would like to appear middle grey or 'Zone V' in the final image, then use your spot meter on that area, and the other parts of the scene will fall into their corresponding zones (shadows will fall around Zones II or III, highlights will fall around Zones VIII or IX). Or, if you would like that area to appear darker at say Zone III, then you would meter that same area, then set your camera exposure two stops down, since Zone III is two stops less than Zone V. Seems simple enough. One thing to keep in mind is a concept Adams called 'pre-visualization', or being able to see the final image before the shot is even taken. It requires a keen eye - one that is developed through lots of practice.

I am by no means an expert on the Zone system or Adams' techniques, but I am familiar with the general concept and have employed its use in my own work. That said, if you are looking to become very deliberate about your B&W landscape photos, then the use of a spot meter coupled with the Zone system can be a useful tool.

[holycow958]

Similar to taking an HDR, you could also spot meter different spots of the landscape, taking multiple pictures, and in post combine the different areas. (I haven't really done this, but from stuff I have read I think this would work.) You could combine them either through HDR or just masking in PS.

[lucheng0]

My 5 cents ...

if the scene is properly (evenly lit), regardless what mode you use, you should get a good photo. If you have high contrast, any other mode will give you what it says: 'an average' ... if you want a bit of everything, fine, but more often than not the composition drives the photo, and there must be something in-there that you want to emphasize. Thus spot metering (again - my view).

That said, besides the comments above on grey cards, zone system etc, it is essential *where* in the scene you measure the light, just as important as what metering mode you use. Sunsets, seaside, night-scenes, portraits - all drive differently the way you (should) meter, so taking decisions simply on metering mode, out of the context, is a bit superficial (I'm amateur).