9 replies to this topic

[zuvielenamen]

Hi guys, kinda new here. I recently made the jump from my D5100 to a D610 with the hopes of doing as much photography this summer as possible and have photography be a career someday. Have only been shooting for about a year but have advanced a lot in that year, and I have watched hours and hours of videos and tutorials. Anyway with my D610 I have a 50mm 1.8g, 85mm 1.8g, and 24-85mm. I shoot mostly portraits but like doing landscapes and car photography just for fun. So here is my issue I am having with shooting into the sun. 

 

Ok so let me try to explain this. When I shoot into the sun for portraits if I am in A priority, matrix metering, and single spot focus point the subject is under exposed and the background is fine. I understand why, the issue is when i use spot metering. If i use spot metering most of the time it literally looks the same, and if it does anything it usually just over exposes everything to the point the whole background is gone and the person looks terrible. From what I have seen this should happen to some degree but not to the point that I am seeing. I know I can compensate for this with exposure compensation but I was hoping i wouldnt have to always use that when spot metering. Another issue I am having is when i use spot metering from distance to get the person and a lot of the background in the shot it never works its always under exposed like i am using matrix metering. The focal point is on manual and always over the face, but still doesnt work. Now if the person is very close and fills up the frame better then it doesnt have a problem with it other than the over exposed issue. So does it just not work well metering something that is relatively small? I though I read that spot metering was the using the smallest area to use for metering only several percent of the image where the focal point was. 

 

Now if I put the camera in M priority and select the correct aperture, shutter speed it usually looks great but the funny thing is it looks great regardless of weather I am in matrix or spot metering modes... If i leave the settings alone and take two pics one in matrix and one in spot metering they look identical. So I am just trying to figure out if I am using spot metering correctly? Or is there a better way to use it? I am hoping its something that I will just have to work around. Lastly, I typically only get these underexposed shots with spot metering when the sun is low but not at sunset maybe an hour or two before its on the horizon. I dont have an issue as the sun dips a little more and the intensity of the sun goes down a bit. 

 

I have some pictures for a stranger i am doing Monday and I wanted to get this question out before I did this shoot so if there was a different technique i could utilize it, thanks!

[Adam]

 

Now if I put the camera in M priority and select the correct aperture, shutter speed it usually looks great but the funny thing is it looks great regardless of weather I am in matrix or spot metering modes...

 

In M mode, it doesn't matter what metering mode you use.  The camera might indicate a different degree of over/under exposure, but you'll still get the same image no matter what you set the meter to, given that you don't change the shutter speed or aperture.

 

 

I though I read that spot metering was the using the smallest area to use for metering only several percent of the image where the focal point was.

 

Spot metering, as the name implies, uses only a single point to measure the light.  Therefore, even slight variations in your subject's appearance can drastically affect the exposure.  I only suggest using spot metering for uniformly-lit scenes.  A better option is to use center-weighted metering, which averages the center of the frame.  In this mode, you can point the camera at something that isn't too bright or too dark, lock the exposure (AE-L), then compose and shoot.

 

In difficult lighting such as what you're describing, I would recommend shooting your portraits either in M mode, or in A mode with exposure compensation.  Take a test shot first to figure out the right exposure, then shoot away- remember, the lighting won't change as long as you're facing the same direction, so you don't have to worry about it.

 

If you'd still like more advice, I'd recommend posting a few samples that we can take a look at.

 

Also, the D610 has a pretty big dynamic range, so using active-d lighting/RAW shadow+highlight correction works wonders.

[Ron]

In addition to what Adam said, you can also use your pop up flash to provide a bit of fill lighting for your main subject and adjust your exposure so that the background isn't washed out. Just be sure to take your lens shade off (to prevent flash shadows) and take some trial photos to dial in the exposure.

 

--Ron

[Guy]

Active-D only affects the OOC JPEG.  It has no effect on the RAW file. 

 

The 11 or so of useful stops the digital camera has is not enough capture all the light looking into the sun. Something has to give.  Your spot metering did what you told it to do.  And that is give you the middle gray exposure for a person in the shadow of the sun if their back was to it.  And naturally the highlights are many more stops above that.  

[zuvielenamen]

I think i need to just start using manual mode more it seems to work better. If I go by what it suggests is correct when looking into the sun it useually is a little off and last night I shot a few car pics into the sun and just over exposed compared to what the display was telling me to do and it worked well. Only took a few seconds of test shots to get the correct exposure. Here is what I came up with.

D610 85mm (1 of 1)-24 | Daniel Dmochowski | Flickr

[Guy]

I think i need to just start using manual mode more it seems to work better. If I go by what it suggests is correct when looking into the sun it useually is a little off and last night I shot a few car pics into the sun and just over exposed compared to what the display was telling me to do and it worked well. Only took a few seconds of test shots to get the correct exposure. Here is what I came up with.

D610 85mm (1 of 1)-24 | Daniel Dmochowski | Flickr

 

 

Nice shot.   Yeah, way too many stops in that scene for a single exposure with digital.  It seems these days digital is more about multiple shot data collection and build your photo in post than in the film days. 

 

So if you want to capture more light you need to exposure blend.  And that shot you could also use the "thumb trick" too.  That is, take one shot with your thumb over the sun and one without.  Blend them in post.  That both prevents the lens flare and gives you better contrast in the foreground if that is your goal.  Otherwise, appreciate the shot for what it is with the understanding there are physical limits.  

[zuvielenamen]

Thanks, I guess I need to get PS bc all I use is LR5. I have gimp but haven't really gotten into it. But I get what you are saying. I know LR I have enfuse plugin I believe that can blend photos. I could try that as well. That shot was a single exposure.

[Guy]

Thanks, I guess I need to get PS bc all I use is LR5. I have gimp but haven't really gotten into it. But I get what you are saying. I know LR I have enfuse plugin I believe that can blend photos. I could try that as well. That shot was a single exposure.

 

Also, to maximize a single exposure, you would under expose the foreground a stop or so and pull up the shadows in post as apposed to the spot metering.  The D610 RAW files have a lot of latitude in the low end for recovery.  But if you pull them up too far you'll start to get color shifts and noise.  With that method you could bring in more highlights.  And I think most people shooting RAW files on Nikon cameras do that.  They guard the highlights and pull up the shadows in post when practical. 

[zuvielenamen]

Also, to maximize a single exposure, you would under expose the foreground a stop or so and pull up the shadows in post as apposed to the spot metering.  The D610 RAW files have a lot of latitude in the low end for recovery.  But if you pull them up too far you'll start to get color shifts and noise.  With that method you could bring in more highlights.  And I think most people shooting RAW files on Nikon cameras do that.  They guard the highlights and pull up the shadows in post when practical.

Awesome thanks! Yeah I bcould see how that would be better . Starting over vs under bc portraits dont seem to end up well when under exposed and having to adjust later in post.

[Guy]

Awesome thanks! Yeah I bcould see how that would be better . Starting over vs under bc portraits dont seem to end up well when under exposed and having to adjust later in post.

 

Here is a single exposure for reference on that old, crusty, inferior stuff no one likes to shoot anymore; namely, real BW.   It captured detail in the shadows and the actual diameter of the sun without a lot of fancy post processing.  And I didn't even use a light meter either.  No need to outside in the daylight with BW film.