problem picture

[Anne12343]

Can anyone tell me what happened in this overexposed picture. Many of the others were fine and well-exposed, but a few were not. The exif data is 1/160s, 2.2, 200 iso. It was shot on my d90 with a 50mm lens. It was metered at spot metering. Flash was not used. Thanks, everyone!

[natek313]

I'm guessing the spot metering mode metered the exposure for the black suit(s), causing the the rest of the frame to be overexposed.

For that situation, an average metering mode would have been better.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by Anne12343

Can anyone tell me what happened in this overexposed picture. Many of the others were fine and well-exposed, but a few were not. The exif data is 1/160s, 2.2, 200 iso. It was shot on my d90 with a 50mm lens. It was metered at spot metering. Flash was not used. Thanks, everyone!

Hard to say what you did to cause this but it makes sense that it is over exposed based on daylight and your camera settings. From what you posted I can't really tell if you were using some override (exposure comp) or in manual mode.

[Benji]

If you are shooting outdoors like you were in this shot take a meter reading as soon as you step outdoors, set the camera on manual and set the aperture and shutter speed at what the meter called for and shoot like crazy. EVERY shot will be perfect UNLESS the light changes significantly or they move in to the shade. In these two cases you will actually have to think about what to do instead of allowing the camera to think for you. Once YOU start THINKING about exposure your images will improve. As long as you allow the camera to think for you you will never improve.

Benji

[CiiVii]

Note that she said she was using spot metering- if she was pointing at the black suits, the camera would try to make that area average out to 18% gray. Hence the overexposed shot.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by CiiVii

Note that she said she was using spot metering- if she was pointing at the black suits, the camera would try to make that area average out to 18% gray. Hence the overexposed shot.

actual reading! what a concept - i should try it!
Missed the spot mettering sentence completely.
Your assessment is "spot" on.

[dishingthedivine]

Originally Posted by Benji

If you are shooting outdoors like you were in this shot take a meter reading as soon as you step outdoors, set the camera on manual and set the aperture and shutter speed at what the meter called for and shoot like crazy. EVERY shot will be perfect UNLESS the light changes significantly or they move in to the shade. In these two cases you will actually have to think about what to do instead of allowing the camera to think for you. Once YOU start THINKING about exposure your images will improve. As long as you allow the camera to think for you you will never improve.

Benji

I'm following up with a question about this since I have had this problem before. I don't own a light meter, which I would assume is what you're speaking of, but if I DID own a light meter, where would I put the meter? In front of the men in suits? In front of a gray card? I don't really understand how those work. I'll subscribe to this post in case anyone can answer.

[useless clown]

It doesn't take too long to get comfortable in manual mode; you have a meter built in to your camera and the only cost to you in test shots is a miniscule wearing down of mechanical parts

It'll also make you far more comfortable with the process as a whole and become second nature after a while. Using a light meter makes a little more sense for a subject and light source that isn't going to change at all but if they're moving around you might as well get used to adapting your exposure on the fly. An alternative is to use spot metering on the face and get used to locking it and recomposing. If you're using a Canon you can even use a custom setting where the shutter locks the exposure instead of the focus. So many options!

[Benji]

Originally Posted by dishingthedivine

I'm following up with a question about this since I have had this problem before. I don't own a light meter, which I would assume is what you're speaking of, but if I DID own a light meter, where would I put the meter? In front of the men in suits? In front of a gray card? I don't really understand how those work. I'll subscribe to this post in case anyone can answer.

The built in meter in your camera meters the amount of light that is being reflected off of whatever you are photographing. For example lets say you are photographing a bride and a groom. You point your camera at the bride's dress and the meter says the correct exposure is f/11 @ 1/125, and just to make sure you then move the camera over and point it at the black tuxedo the groom is wearing. Now the meter says to use f/5.6 @ 1/60! Which is correct? It simply cannot be both because there is a three stop difference between them. One or the other is wrong, or (more likely) both are wrong. Why? The amount of light being reflected off of the bride's white dress will be a whole lot more than what will be reflected off of the black tuxedo.

For proof of this; have you ever driven your car anywhere the day after a snowfall when the sun was out? If you have you will vividly remember that you were nearly blinded by the sunlight being reflected off of the snow. Fast forward six months to another day, same car, same road, same sun but now instead of snow you have grass. Were you blinded? No, because the green grass absorbs the light instead of reflecting it just as the black tux absorbs the light rather than reflecting it. The full sun is always exactly the same amount of brightness. So if there is exactly the same amount of light on both the white dress and the black tux the exposure for both must be exactly the same. Enter our "saviour" the hand held light meter which meters the light falling on the subject.

At this point I can just hear the detractors screaming "oh great now this jerk wants me to spend yet another $350.00 so I can get good outdoor photographs." Uh, yes as a matter of fact you can if you want to, otherwise right now on ebay for $4.25 there is a Weston Master III meter Weston Master III Universal Exposure Meter - eBay (item 200456186838 end time Apr-06-10 12:27:06 PDT) or if that one doesn't seem to fit the budget there are several more on ebay for .99 cents all the way up to $350.00.

How to use a hand held meter. Set the ISO (It may say ASA but they are identical) at whatever you have your camera set at, walk up to whatever you are photographing and take the reading. Set the camera to the suggested aperture and shutter speed (camera on manual) and make as many captures as you want at that reading provided the light stays the same. If they step inside or into the shade take another reading. Pretty simple huh?

Benji

[dishingthedivine]

wow... I have a bajillion things to learn, I guess. I had no idea that canons could lock exposure. I am clueless about manual mode, but I just bought a new 580 exii and am learning that it's best used in manual mode. I have a ton of books on hold at the library and am taking photos every chance I get to see if I can learn anything. Thanks for your response to this.