Metering & outdoor portraits?

[candleman]

heres another one of my broad brush crys' for information.

which metering mode do you prefer when it comes to outdoor portraits?
i dont really know much about this subject or how to squeeze the most out of a specific mode.
in which scenario's do you use specific modes and why?

i have heard "spot" metering on the skin is a good idea for brightly clothed subjects.. what else?

[OsmosisStudios]

I tend to use the SPOT mode for portraits, especially outside, and especially considering my main models very fair skin.

[kencaleno]

It's best to get an incident reading(light falling on subject) from subject's face for portraiture, (if you haven't got a flash meter for this,stand at subject position and holding a "Pringle's" cap,in front of your camera lens,point camera at where you will be photographing from-get a reading and set that reading in manual mode) failing this use center-weighted metering, as the pro's do. regards, Ken

[CES_UK]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

(if you haven't got a flash meter for this,stand at subject position and holding a "Pringle's" cap,in front of your camera lens,point camera at where you will be photographing from-get a reading and set that reading in manual mode)

Hi Ken, would you mind explaining this in a little more detail for me please, I've read it over a couple of times but cant seem to get the jist of it...sorry lol
Thankyou!