Metering Confusion

[kelsbeth]

Hello,
I am new to photography and am confused about metering. Lets say I want to take a picture of someone standing in front of me. Can I meter off of anything that is grey (i.e., the wall, the cement etc) or does the grey have to be right where my subject is (so do I have to have them hold a gray card or something?) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[justin_ing]

ideally, you want to meter it in the same space/lighting conditions as your subject

[OsmosisStudios]

You dont have to meter off anything grey: it can be any colour. Nikon has had full-colour matrix metering for years, and Canon has caught up as well.

[dalmorloson]

I think you are getting metering (lighting) mixed up with white balance (color).

[justin_ing]

ya, I read white balance when I read your post I need to get my eyes checked

[kelsbeth]

Thanks guys. So metering only has to do with getting the proper exposure and has nothing to do with white balance? If I shoot in manual but generally keep my camera in auto white balance (it's usually pretty accurate) can I just not worry about a grey card?

[zona5101]

You can use a gray card to both establish exposure and calibrate white balance. Generally, the term "metering" is about establishing exposure. Although I think everyone would understand if you said I used a gray card to meter my white balance, it would probably make more sense to say I used a gray card to "set" or "establish" or "create" my custom white balance...eh, toomayto, toemato.

If you are shooting in raw, then your auto white balance will be fine and most of the time save you steps in your post processing workflow... if you are shooting jpeg, or if you want to ensure your raw shots won't need color temp tweaks in post, use your gray card to set your custom white balance.

[kelsbeth]

Great thanks! I do jpeg and RAW, but have not yet learned about post production with RAW. (That is next on my to-do list!)

[NicoleScraps]

I would add to this that if you are shooting a photo of a person, then it is usually best to meter off of their face. Especially if their clothing or the background is a drastically different color. I get different meter readings for something that is black vs something that is white vs a skin tone.