Light readings? Exposure?

[Cerbera]

Hey. I got my Canon EOS 350D SLR for Christmas this year, and using it has brought great pleasure, yet great frustration.
I'm struggaling to get properly exposed pictures without using the auto-exposure-bracketing, the pictures are either too dark or too bright otherwise. How can i change the exposure for each individual picture without having to use AEB?
Also, how do i take light readings? I took a picture of my friend, and it was posted on his myspace, and his friend left this comment for the following picture:
"i, myself, would have taken a light reading from the ground, to compensate for the bright sky, thus giving more detail to the main subject."
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/4561/img0023lj7.jpg
I was hoping someone could shed some 'light' on this please?

Thanks for your time :) Happy snapping :D!

[snavlee]

in this situation with the bright background I would have taken a meter reading of the subjects face and locked in that exposure to use. once you zoomed out from the face and include the bright sky your meter will say your exposure is way off, but that's because it now sees the bright sky... just ignore the meter and use the reading you got from the face. This should give you a propery exposed subject and a more washed out (overexposed) background, rather than a properly exposed background and underexposed subject.

the person that made the comment about metering from the ground is referring the same technique... i would just meter from the face.

[René Damkot]

To change exposure on a shot, you can dial in Exposure Compensation (look it up in the manual). You could also use Exposure Lock, or use M, and set exposure yourself.

Some camera basics here. (http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/p_2_005.html)

[Cerbera]

Thank you for the reply Snavlee. For this picture i was using a 50mm prime lense, in order to get the meter reading on the face would it mean getting closer to my subject getting the meter reading,locking it and then moving back into position?
Also, this is going to sound silly, but to get the meter reading is it just a case of pressing the shutter button down half way then pressing the exposure lock?
Thank you for your time. :)

EDIT: Thansk Rene for the reply, i'll take a look in the manual and that website. Thanks :D!

[snavlee]

Thank you for the reply Snavlee. For this picture i was using a 50mm prime lense, in order to get the meter reading on the face would it mean getting closer to my subject getting the meter reading,locking it and then moving back into position?
Also, this is going to sound silly, but to get the meter reading is it just a case of pressing the shutter button down half way then pressing the exposure lock?
Thank you for your time. :)

EDIT: Thansk Rene for the reply, i'll take a look in the manual and that website. Thanks :D!


yep, you are correct, i would just move in a little closer and focus on the face. Also I don't know if the 350 has spot metering, I don't think it does, but switching the camera metering mode to spot or partial (see manual) would possibly help as well. At any rate, once you are focused on the face, adjust your exposure until it the camera says it's correct, then press the exposure luck button and recompose however you like. Hopefully that helps.
If you are shooting in Tv, Av, or any of the semi-auto modes you will have to use the exposure lock button. If you shoot in M mode then once you get the correct reading from the face just simply recompose the shot... with M you dont have to lock exposure because the camera won't change anything.

[Cerbera]

Thats fantastic, thats Snavlee, i appreciate your time.

[Bodog]

Understand also, that if you do expose his face properly there is a good chance you will blow out the nice blue sky in the background. This would have been a good opportunity to use your built in flash to expose his face and let the camera expose the background for you.

[Cerbera]

I'll take that into consideration, its something i never thought of (i'm new to photography), but i suppose i'll give it a try and see what the outcome is :D

[Mark_Cohran]

Understand also, that if you do expose his face properly there is a good chance you will blow out the nice blue sky in the background. This would have been a good opportunity to use your built in flash to expose his face and let the camera expose the background for you.

Yep, that's called "fill flash" and is an excellent technique to learn. In Av and Tv mode, the flash will automatically act as a fill for you.

Mark

[italypa99]

Thank you for the reply Snavlee. For this picture i was using a 50mm prime lense, in order to get the meter reading on the face would it mean getting closer to my subject getting the meter reading,locking it and then moving back into position?
Also, this is going to sound silly, but to get the meter reading is it just a case of pressing the shutter button down half way then pressing the exposure lock?
Thank you for your time. :)

EDIT: Thansk Rene for the reply, i'll take a look in the manual and that website. Thanks :D!


how would you lock the settings after the meter reading ?? with the 30D

[snavlee]

how would you lock the settings after the meter reading ?? with the 30D


It's the * button on the upper right corner of the camera body

[italypa99]

ok and once you lock them how do you unlock same way ?

[Mark_Cohran]

ok and once you lock them how do you unlock same way ?

You can relock the exposure by repeating the procedure on a different area of your image, or you can release the shutter and half-press to remove the lock. If you take the shot, the eposure lock is removed, or you can continue to hold down the * button and take multiple shots with the same exposure setting.

One trick is to use Custom Function 4-1 (on the XXD series, but I think it's the same for the digital rebels) to separate the exposure and the focus. This custom function puts focus on the * button and AE on the shutter button. Lots of threads it the forum discuss this technique.

Mark

[Wilt]

Be aware that the bright face of a UK youth (or most 'white' Western Europeans) is NOT 18% gray, which the camera meter assumes is the average tonality of the average scene. If you read the face of the youth in the photo, even with a spotmeter, you will underexpose the shot!
If you read the palm of the hand, that skin is remarkably uniform in tonality regardless of racial background of the subject, or the status of a summer tan or an Alpine skiing tan...+1EV brighter than an 18% gray card!!!

[J Rabin]

Wilt is so right. I KNOW my hand is +1/3 for metering, dating back to my Olympus OM-1 in 1974. Yet, one of my kids is pale, and +2/3 to my palm.

Fill-flash is Tactic No. 5 on a high contrast scenes tips document I keep for my own use here: http://postit.rutgers.edu/uploads/Exposing%5FHi%5FContrast%5FOutdoors.pdf (right-click download).

On bright days, I under expose background skies from -2/3 to -1 1/3 to saturate colors and pop foreground fill flash (FEL on the face if subject is cooperative) for shots like this giving a balanced exposure: http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~rabin/Insects_Critters/IPM/slides/IPM_Fruit_Tietjen_2.htm

Jack.

[Steiglitz]

For the shot at the top of this thread, fill flash would have made for a nice blue sky and the subject's face exposed properly...I seem to use fill in all my outdoor shots with few exceptions...I like bright faces even on a bright day...often shadows appear, especially if one is wearing a hat.

Now you could meter on the subject's face or your hand and that could expose their face properly but the sky might go near white or too bright....again, fill is the answer.

[Cerbera]

Thank you to everyone who has replied,i'm learning so much.. i'll be sure to try everything i've learnt here out. I appreciate it greatly.
Happy snapping :D.

[PhotosGuy]

Be aware that the bright face of a UK youth (or most 'white' Western Europeans) is NOT 18% gray, which the camera meter assumes is the average tonality of the average scene. If you read the face of the youth in the photo, even with a spotmeter, you will underexpose the shot!
If you read the palm of the hand, that skin is remarkably uniform in tonality regardless of racial background of the subject, or the status of a summer tan or an Alpine skiing tan...+1EV brighter than an 18% gray card!!! More on that: Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)

[DAMphyne]

When you use the fill flash, how can you be sure it is giving the correct exposure on the face. On the OP's picture, can the fill know that you want the exposure on the face, or do you still need to meter the face and set the fill for correct exposure. It seems that if the camera tries to make the whole scene match the 18% grey, it would be a "Flat" exposure.

[PhotosGuy]

or do you still need to meter the face and set the fill for correct exposure. You'll probably get other answers 'cause I only shoot on "M". I meter for the scene & know what my flash will fill at the distance & f-stop used. I'd shoot some flash tests at the distances you expect to work at. Some help here: info on light falloff at various distances Fill light at sunset (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66353)