Metering Question

I have a question regarding metering when I am shooting a backlit scene such as a sunset over a city/marina. The problem I am experiencing is a very dark foreground (boats in the marina) but the colors in the sky are excellent. Would I meter off of the darker foreground to get get it a little lighter? I can fix this in PS, but would rather do it right while shooting. Thank you.

You could meter off the boats but obviously this will clip the sky and therefore you'll lose the colours there as well.
You could also try taking two photos and merge them in your image editor or use a ND Filter.

I don't think you want a neutral density filter, but you do want a graduated neutral density filter (which are two completely different things).

With the latter, you can hold back the sky brightness and still keep some of the color.

---Bob Gross---

Thanks guys. What ISO should I be using in this situation?

Is this a situation where dynamic range is a problem ? If so, will these filters work around Or in place of exposure bracketing and a tripod ? I am wondering because I sometimes take landscapes where I either loose too much land in favor of sky or too much sky infavor of land. And had gotten the impression that filters weren't necessary with digital cameras,

Thanks
Eric

That is a perfect situation for using fill flash. Set your exposure on Manual or Av for the sky. Since your already getting a good exposure for the sky, use whatever settings you already are. Then put your flash on ETTL and dial in -1 to -1 2/3 FEC. The flash will lighten the shadows in the foreground.
I would suggest using a tripod and ISO 100. I used to use ISO 400 for flash, but there has been alot of discussion of noise when you try to lighten shadows in post processing at ISO 400.
An alternative to the above is a Split ND filter, when you have a clear horizon line. It will reduce the top half light by the amount of the filter and leave the bottom alone.
Regards,
Scott

That is correct, most of what photographers used to do with color filters can now be done in the image editor. But then, this is not a color filter we are talking about.

Graduated neutral density filters are rectangular, and they fit into a filter holder. They must be rectangular, since you need to be able to slide them up and down in the holder to situate the transition in the correct place over your scene. Some such filters have about 1 stop of darkness, some have 2 stops, and some have more. Some have a hard transition, meaning abrupt. Some have a soft transition and are gradual over most of an inch. Otherwise, one end of it is dark and one end is clear.

Let's take an example. I'll just use some arbitrary numbers here. Suppose your sunset scene gave you an average meter reading. Then suppose within that, the colorful sky was +4 and the dark foreground was -4. If you situate the graduated neutral density filter correctly at the horizon, you might "darken" the sky to be only +2 and leave the foreground at -4. You can see that it is easier to get the whole brightness range into the shot now. The trick becomes choosing a metering point, and that comes from experimentation.

---Bob Gross---

thanks

Thanks for the to the point answer. I find it frustrating when I have to keep re-metering and retaking a picture ( thank god for digital I could never aford to learn by film and trying to figure out what I did wrong days or weeks after I took the picture. I would have a million pictures with blown out, over , under exposed pictures ) Digital has taught me so much by being able to look at a histogram( yeah I'm a chimp ). I still have a lot of trouble with anything that is not situated with the sun behind me and large varying light and dark areas. And have been curious about filtering even with a digital. Again thanks for the info about them.

Eric

If you shoot landscapes with any great amount of sky visible, then a circular polarizing filter can be very important.

---Bob Gross---

So, if I were to take a picture of the sunset, and wanted to include the foreground, I would take meter reading of the sky to the left/right/above the sky correct? If so, how would I lock that reading before re-composing the shot, with my AE lock button?

If you pick the metering point in the bright sky with no graduated neutral density filter and lock that, then the meter sees bright and the foreground turns too dark. If you pick the metering point in the bright sky with a graduated neutral density filter in place and lock that, then the meter sees semi-bright and the foreground turns semi-dark. If you pick the metering point in the dim foreground and lock that, then it might be mid-tone and the sky might be colorful and semi-bright. Like I said, it comes with experimentation.

---Bob Gross---

Point your camera at a part of the sky you most want to expose properly not including the sun, push the * button and recompose the picture. If there is more then a couple of stops difference between the spot that you metered and the foreground, the foreground will be in shadow with little detail. You can then:
1. Decrease exposure of the sky by one stop(EC or switch to Manual) or
2. Use a split ND filter to reduce the brightmess of the sky and reduce the dynamic range of the picture to where the camera can capture the highs and lows or
3. Use fill flash: set your flash to -1 to -1 2/3 FEC. On the 300D you would have to use a 550EX and dial it in on the flash.
Regards,
Scott

Great, thanks for all your guys. Back out to do some experimenting this weekend.