light metering landscapes on a L-358

Background using a 7d, Speedlight 580EX II, 28-135 IS USM lens and a Sekonic L-358.

OK so I have found and watched the youtube video about how to use the L-358 to properly meter portaits and action shots with and without a flash, also wirelessly (even though I don't yet have my trasmitter) in both AP and Shutter Priority modes...

OK so I got it.. pretty straight forward. Place the meter under the chin area of the subject.. take a reading.. dial it in on 'M' mode... Ok were good here.

I am bit confused how I can use metering for landscapes and sunsets, distand objects The manual shows you the operation of the meter but doesn't give you several shooting scenerios like...

Lets say its late in the day.. dim lighting outdoors and I want to shoot at distant object like a tower from atop a large building. Where do I point my meter? Flat and straight up? Point it at the object? Point it at the camera? Bulb needs to be up or down..

There is also an interesting mode on this meter.. Reading LUX.. awesome I got my EV reading.. used the chart and found the correct LUX. Is there anything useful I can use with that reading? LOL my bad.. I need to buy another 1100 dollar meter so I can actually reaad Kelvin and get the correct White Balance setting. I guess I just haven't fifgured out the real value in understanding LUX.

Think about it for a minute. .... unless you're in exceptional circumstances the light falling on the distant object will be the same as the light you're standing in. So just read the ambient light and dial that exposure into your camera along with the appropriate adjustment.

Alternatively, set your camera's metering mode to either Spot Metering or Partial metering, aim it at the distant object and use that reading, with the appropriate exposure adjustment.

Another option is to get a 1 degree spot metering attachment for your meter but I doubt you really need that level of precision. I looked at your posting history and its obvious you're rather new and are struggling to learn basic photography principles. I'd strongly suggest that you master the fundamentals instead of overloading yourself with additional equipment.

BaghdadFred wrote in post #12314882
Background using a 7d, Speedlight 580EX II, 28-135 IS USM lens and a Sekonic L-358.

OK so I have found and watched the youtube video about how to use the L-358 to properly meter portaits and action shots with and without a flash, also wirelessly (even though I don't yet have my trasmitter) in both AP and Shutter Priority modes...

OK so I got it.. pretty straight forward. Place the meter under the chin area of the subject.. take a reading.. dial it in on 'M' mode... Ok were good here.

I am bit confused how I can use metering for landscapes and sunsets, distand objects The manual shows you the operation of the meter but doesn't give you several shooting scenerios like...

Lets say its late in the day.. dim lighting outdoors and I want to shoot at distant object like a tower from atop a large building. Where do I point my meter? Flat and straight up? Point it at the object? Point it at the camera? Bulb needs to be up or down..

There is also an interesting mode on this meter.. Reading LUX.. awesome I got my EV reading.. used the chart and found the correct LUX. Is there anything useful I can use with that reading? LOL my bad.. I need to buy another 1100 dollar meter so I can actually reaad Kelvin and get the correct White Balance setting. I guess I just haven't fifgured out the real value in understanding LUX.

Basically, you can only measure light falling on the L-358. Distant subjects and landscapes, you need to measure the light reflecting off of objects. Like Pixel said, put your camera into spot metering and you will be able to do so.

BaghdadFred wrote in post #12314882
I am bit confused how I can use metering for landscapes and sunsets, distand objects The manual shows you the operation of the meter but doesn't give you several shooting scenerios like...

Aim the hemisphere parallel to the ground, pointing in the direction that you will be standing with the camera , 'at the lens'.

KrautFed wrote in post #12317389
Basically, you can only measure light falling on the L-358. Distant subjects and landscapes, you need to measure the light reflecting off of objects. Like Pixel said, put your camera into spot metering and you will be able to do so.

This isn't quite right.

The Sekonic L-358 is supplied with two different light collector adapters - the Lumisphere to read incident light and the Lumigrid to read reflected light. Also, reflected-light spot meter adapters are sold for the L-358 as well. I have the 1° spot metering adapter but 5°and 10° adapters are also available.

SkipD wrote in post #12317452
This isn't quite right.

The Sekonic L-358 is supplied with two different light collector adapters - the Lumisphere to read incident light and the Lumigrid to read reflected light. Also, reflected-light spot meter adapters are sold for the L-358 as well. I have the 1° spot metering adapter but 5°and 10° adapters are also available.

Thats what I meant... you gotta pay $160 to play spot with the L-358. The Lumigrid is a wide meter that you practically can not aim and is intended for cameras without meters.

KrautFed wrote in post #12317389
Basically, you can only measure light falling on the L-358. Distant subjects and landscapes, you need to measure the light reflecting off of objects. Like Pixel said, put your camera into spot metering and you will be able to do so.

Nope,, you can still use an incident light reading..

The light falling on an incident meter will still be the same whether the subject is one metre away or 100 meters away (unless there is some crazy cloud formation).

BTW, the L-358 can measure both reflected and incident readings.