Review Digital Camera World 11-14-2013

Digital Camera World

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Camera metering techniques: how to get the best image quality from your DSLR Nov 14th 2013, 00:01, by jmeyer When it comes to getting the best image quality from your camera, metering is one of the most crucial ingredients. In this tutorial we explain a series of camera metering techniques designed to give you the most accurate exposure possible. What you see isn't always what you get. The human eye copes with high-contrast scenes much better than digital cameras do, so photographic images often have washed-out highlights or lack detail in the shadows. Most current DSLRs feature systems that can effectively boost dynamic range, such as Canon's Auto Lighting Optimizer and Nikon's Active D-Lighting but, even so, there's no substitute for nailing the correct exposure setting to do full justice to the most important aspects of a scene. Evaluative metering, also known as Multi-segment or Average metering, is a catch-all mode where the camera's light metering system takes in the whole frame and makes a best guess at the exposure setting that will give a good balance. The catch, and it's a big one, is that a 'good balance' is often the last thing you want, because it can make people in backlit portraits look like silhouettes, or dumb down bright white objects to a dingy grey. SEE MORE: 10 common exposure problems every photographer faces (and how to fix them) For effective metering, one option is to stick with the Evaluative mode and to dial in an appropriate amount of +/-EV (Exposure Value) bias, generally referred to as exposure compensation. For example, in a heavily backlit portrait, you might need to apply between +2EV and +3EV exposure compensation. The background will most likely be washed out to white, but the all-important skin tones in the portrait should be lively and vibrant, rather than dull and muddy. At the other end of the scale, when shooting a subject against a very dark background, you will typically need to apply negative exposure compensation to ensure that the main subject is correctly exposed, at the expense of lowlights (which are generally of secondary importance) descending into gloominess. For greatest accuracy in tricky light, it's worth switching to a more selective metering mode, like Centre-weighted, Partial or Spot metering. The Centre-weighted option automatically gives metering prominence to the central region of the frame, taking less account of how bright or dark the scene is towards the sides and corners. Partial and Spot go a step further, completely disregarding everything outside respectively small and tiny areas of the frame. In any metering mode, and especially in Partial or Spot, it's vital to make a distinction between 'accurate' and 'good' metering. Technically, a camera's in-built light meter sets an exposure that corresponds to the amount of light reflected from an 18% grey card. SEE MORE: Metering mode cheat sheet: how they work and when to use them This is fine if the subject you're photographing happens to equate to 18% grey but if, for example, you're taking a portrait of somebody with fair skin, you'll still need to add around +0.5EV exposure compensation to avoid the skin tones looking dull and muddy. Settings for outdoor landscapes are often comparatively straightforward, as green grass typically corresponds very closely with the reflected light value of 18%, usually resulting in wonderfully vibrant scenic shots. Take full control of your camera’s metering in Manual shooting mode Many cameras only offer as little as +/-2EV exposure compensation, which often isn't enough for very tricky lighting conditions. So switch to Manual mode and you can dial in  the exact exposure values you want. -2 EV +2 EV Try bracketing your exposures, taking several shots across a spread of EV settings. It's true that if you shoot in RAW you can adjust the EV at the editing stage but, for the very best quality, you'll need to be within half a stop of the ideal EV when shooting. PAGE 1: Essential camera metering techniques PAGE 2: How to set your camera’s metering modes PAGE 3: Top camera metering tips for accurate exposures READ MORE Histogram: photography cheat sheets for achieving perfect exposure Dynamic Range: what you need to know about capturing all the tones in a scene Expose to the right: the camera technique every landscape photographer must know 10 common camera mistakes every photographer makes Famous photographers: 100 things we wish we knew starting out Exposure Bracketing: how to do it manually and how your AEB can help Nov 13th 2013, 12:33, by jmeyer If you’re struggling to get well-exposed images in mixed light, try these simple exposure bracketing techniques to help preserve shadow and highlight detail. In this post we show you how to bracket both manually and using your cameras Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) feature. Image by Mark Hamblin Exposure bracketing is a term used to describe the technique of taking three or more shots of exactly the same scene using a different exposure setting for each one. The idea when using the exposure bracketing technique is to make sure you have one shot that is correctly exposed – a fail-safe method, if you like. It was common practice when shooting film, when exposure had to be very precise. With digital it could be argued it's less important, as there are ways of rescuing poorly exposed shots. However, it's far better to produce a correctly exposed image in camera. JUMP TO: Bracketing explained – what you need to know about maximising detail Exposure bracketing is especially worthwhile in difficult lighting situations when it's hard to be sure of the 'correct' exposure. By taking several shots at different settings you can then decide which one works best on later viewing. In extreme lighting situations it can be invaluable if you want to create high dynamic range (HDR) images by taking a series of exposures to record detail in highlights and shadows and then using software to seamlessly combine the images. The usual method for exposure bracketing is to keep the aperture setting constant (f/16 for landscapes, for example) and then make changes to the shutter speed, which can be done easily in Manual (M) mode. The difference between exposures can be a full 'stop' (1/15, 1/30, 1/60 sec); half stop (1/30, 1/45, 1/60) or even a third stop (1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/60) for careful fine-tuning of the exposure. SEE MORE: 10 common exposure problems every photographer faces (and how to fix them) Manual exposure bracketing step-by-step Bracket manually Select Manual (M) mode, compose the shot and set the aperture to f/16. To take an exposure reading, use the Average/Evaluative metering mode and then align the indicator bar with the centre mark or '0' on the exposure indicator scale. Adjust the shutter speed Take the first shot using the settings the camera has calculated to be correct. With the same aperture, manually change the shutter speed so the indicator bar is aligned with +1 on the scale and take the shot. Do the same with the indicator aligned with -1. Tweaking the technique If the lighting is more extreme (or for an HDR image) take two further shots at +2 and -2. Conversely, if you wish to only alter the exposure by a small amount, take three shots at 0, +0.5 and -0.5. You can chose 0, +1 and +2 if you only want to brighten the shot. PAGE 1: Manual exposure bracketing step by step PAGE 2: How to use your camera’s auto exposure bracketing feature READ MORE Histogram: photography cheat sheets for achieving perfect exposure Dynamic Range: what you need to know about capturing all the tones in a scene Expose to the right: the camera technique every landscape photographer must know Conquer underexposure: how to rescue shadow detail and how to deal with the noise Famous photographers: 100 things we wish we knew starting out

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