exposing for white shirts, what?

[rocker83]

I shot with a good friend yesterday, and she was wearing a very white blouse and a polka dot black and white skirt...I knew I was going to run into trouble with this and did so. The images are sooooooooo dark, of course the camera thought it was exposing correctly but the backgrounds are almost too dim to tell detail...
Ill post an example...
but what does it actually mean to expose for something...say the face...or the background, what do I actually to, when I expose for something else, say a body part or some other thing in the composition...

I was using a flash and a reflector, this photo is not underexposed...


http://MikejbPhotography.smugmug.com/photos/180978351-L.jpg

[nicksan]

Point to whatever you want to "expose for" and set the exposure, then recompose (which may throw the meter to the left or right...) and shoot.

I use M mode...so if I wanted to expose for the sky, I would switch the metering to spot, point to the sky, set the aperture and shutter for proper exposure, then recompose (without changing the settings...which typically throws the meter off from center) then shoot...

[4x4rock]

That's a tough one.

If It was me I'd blow out the blouse a little and expose for the face. The overall pic is kinda dark so if you can lighten up the face a little, it'll be nicer.

Were you using the flash for fill?

The 20D doesn't have spot so partial is the best mode in this case.

[rocker83]

I never stray from M mode...when you say point, you mean point using the focus point you have selected? so say, you want to meter the sky...use the focus point on the sky, hold the shutter half way, "recompose" as in orient the camera back to the composition you wanted, adjust the ap and shutter, then shoot? that seems sorta tricky..well if timing is concerned

Yeah Im still getting the hang of my sigma super dg flash...but I usually dial down the FEC to -2 in day light..that scene was not that dark..it was scattered shade...

[nicksan]

I never stray from M mode...when you say point, you mean point using the focus point you have selected? so say, you want to meter the sky...use the focus point on the sky, hold the shutter half way, "recompose" as in orient the camera back to the composition you wanted, adjust the ap and shutter, then shoot? that seems sorta tricky..well if timing is concerned

Yeah Im still getting the hang of my sigma super dg flash...but I usually dial down the FEC to -2 in day light..that scene was not that dark..it was scattered shade...

Not the AF point. I meant the center circle which is where the camera would take its reading from.

Here:
1) M mode
2) Switch to Partial Metering Mode
3) Point to the sky and fill the center circle. (easy to do I guess...since it's the sky! If whatever you want to meter for is too small, then you can zoom in...then zoom out later once you set the aperture/shutter)
4) While pointed to the sky, adjust Aperture/shutter to get the meter to the middle
5) Recompose without changing the settings. (This will sway the meter off-center)
6) Shoot

The important part is that after you set your aperture/shutter while pointed to the sky, you don't change it again. In essence by doing this you sort of "lock in" the exposure for the sky, while recomposing and shooting.

[rocker83]

I know this is somewhat a basic concept but it rattles my slow brain...
Im on my back porch, filling the circle with the sky....its exposed correctly so I really didn't have to adjust anything...I then go point it at my fence...with hand still half way down on the shutter(is that technically recomposing?) the meter flies left to under exposed, take the picture, its under exposed...

bah

[nicksan]

That's normal since the sky is much brighter than the fence and you metered for the sky. Try metering for something neutral...something grey-ish.

It's difficult to get things right in high contrast situations...such as when you are taking a picture with sun behind the subject.

If you meter for the subject, you blow the sky out. If you meter for the sky, you underexpose the subject...

So in this case you could
1) use fill flash
2) Use exposure bracketing (and maybe merge them later or HDR)
3) Favor the subject a little bit without blowing out the sky, then recover later in PS...I use shadows and highlights for something like this. Works well.

I know this is somewhat a basic concept but it rattles my slow brain...
Im on my back porch, filling the circle with the sky....its exposed correctly so I really didn't have to adjust anything...I then go point it at my fence...with hand still half way down on the shutter(is that technically recomposing?) the meter flies left to under exposed, take the picture, its under exposed...

bah