Exposure Issues

[jml79]

I have been having some exposure issues. I think I have narrowed it down but would like some input from others.

Issue 1 - While on vacation in florida and the carribean I used my polarizer a lot and centre weighted metering. I was intermittently getting under exposed shots that I had to fix in PP. Sometimes up to 2 stops. I thought that maybe the filter was affecting the metering system but that doesn't make sense because the filter is in front of the metering system as well. I think my issue here was using centre weighted metering inappropriately. I think I should use it with the AE lock and then recompose. Does this sound reasonable or is the filter interacting in some way that I don't know about?

Issue 2 - Recently it has snowed and I am consistently getting shots that are underexposed by 1-2 1/2 stops. When I look at the histogram I notice that there is a huge spike right at the middle and nothing above. I am thinking that because the snow is such a huge part of the picture that the WB and metering system are making it middle grey and severely underexposing the shot. My Raw converter is smart enough to figure this out and correct but I would rather have the camera do it. Is this consistent with anyone else's experiences?

Thanks for any help.

[OsmosisStudios]

Your assumptions are spot on for both.

With general use, the matrix meter is likely a better bet, especially if you're using a polarizer to darken the sky. Presumably these would be more landscape than anything else.

For snow, use the spot meter and meter off your subject. Dont be afraid to take manual and over expose that way.

Your camera's metering system evaluates a scene and determines "correct" exposure (based on the concept of 13/18 percent gray) When a scene is very bright.. like snow or beach or sunny south florida, the camera meters all of that light and gives you a darker image.

Most camera mfgs include a "Exposure Compensation" button [+/-] or menu option to allow the photographer to quickly identify those situations and quickly correct for it. Likely, bring your exposure up +1 or 2... and you would have been perfect.

[jml79]

I have been experimenting with my ev comp. + 2/3 seems to work well across the board for snow. I still get a few underexposed but not a severely and any higher and I was blowing the highlights in about 40% of shots. I can recover from slightly underexposed but once you blow the highlights you're done.

I searched for the compromise because I am shooting dogs and horses at play. I don't have time to adjust the ev comp for every shot.