Proper metering mode for a portrait outdoors?

So, if I was to use spot metering for a portrait outdoors. Am I better off just metering a Gray Card to get the proper exposure and color as opposed to using lets say a grass or the palm of your hand?


When using a Gray Card, do I still need to a +1 EC for Caucasian and/or -1 for African American skin tones? How about for those with tan skin?


DO i apply the Sunny f16 rule when taking a picture of a gray card outside on a sunny day? how about on overcasts?

Im sorry, I did a search and all I found are how to expose skies, landscapes and such.

If you are spot metering off a grey card, it will return an 18% grey reading, so you meter for 0.

You would aim for +1-ish if you didn't have a grey card and were metering off Caucasian skin.

I bought a grey card years ago and used it precisely once; it would hinder my style of shooting and once you know a few 'constants' (ie, green grass, black cats, blue skies, the Caucasian skin one above) you don't need one.

With respect to the fans of Sunny 16, I think it is a red herring in both learning about, and obtaining decent exposures in the digital age.

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Using your camera's meter (which is a reflected-light meter) and a gray card will give you pretty much the same results as what the "Sunny-16" rule-of-thumb will provide on a sunny day outdoors.

Using the camera's meter with an 18% gray card as a target will give you the same results as using a handheld meter which is set up for incident mode readings. Both methods are measuring the light which is falling on the subject. When measuring light this way, you do not need to blindly compensate for the color or reflectivity of the subject(s) in your scene.

You would do well to ignore the post above this one.

thanks skip