It can be extremely challenging to capture accurately exposed photos of scenes with a wide range of brightness values from white to black and everything in between. This tutorial from the My Photo Journey YouTube channel explains how to get the job done in the camera by selecting the oft-ignored Spot Metering mode.
Spot metering is a great choice for a variety of outdoor situations, like when shooting backlit portraits, when there’s a significant difference in tonal values between a key subject and the background, and or when attempting to faithfully capture a full moon in the nighttime sky. Once you understand exactly how this mode works, it’s almost impossible to get things wrong.
High-contrast scenes can easily confuse the light meter in your camera when using more familiar exposure settings. Spot metering works it’s wonders by limiting measurements to a small area in the center of the frame, therefore the reading you receive isn’t biased by darker or brighter surround areas.
Some cameras even allow you to move the metered point, and even make multiple spot readings of the same scene when a compromise is in order. Today’s instructor is a British pro known as Dawley Lad, and he explain everything you need to know in this behind-the-scenes journey through the historic city of Lincoln that’s steeped rich Roman Heritage.
Dawley presents his spot metering tips in the context of street photography after dark, but everything you’ll learn is equally appropriate for precise exposures of other types of images no matter the time of day. One apt example would be capturing a large, dark bird atop a tree with a very bright sky in the background.
The challenge faced by Dawley is a combination of bright streetlamps, brick walls that span an entire range of gradated midtones, and the mysterious darkness looming in the background. He explains his process like this: “I use spot metering to perfectly expose the highlights and, due to the warm cast of the lamps, I may convert some of my images to black and white.”
He also makes the most of picturesque Bight St. by taking two spot readings of a scene “to keep the lamp highlights under control.” Bottom line: They’ll be no more guesswork about getting the light right once you’ve mastered this straightforward technique.
And on a related note, be sure to watch the recent tutorial we featured with another expert shooter who demonstrates a unique Dodge and Burn post-processing trick for rehabilitating improperly exposed photographs.