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A camera's metering system reads scene brightness to set exposure, but high-contrast subjects can fool it. Use full-frame metering for most shots, switch to spot metering when your subject is much brighter or darker than the background.
A camera's metering system reads scene brightness to set exposure, but high-contrast subjects can fool it. Use full-frame metering for most shots, switch to spot metering when your subject is much brighter or darker than the background.
Your camera doesn't actually know what it's taking a picture of. So here's what you need to know. Let's talk about metering. Metering is how your camera determines how bright or dark a picture should be. So if you have a bright subject on a dark background or a dark subject on a bright background, chances are high that your camera is going to screw that up. Here's how to fix that. You need to understand metering modes. Your metering mode basically determines how much the picture your camera is paying attention to when it comes to determining how bright that picture should be. Most cameras have meters that will look at the entire frame or will allow you to pick a smaller section. For me personally, I usually let the meter judge based on the entire scene. However, if I have a very big difference in the brightness of my subject in the background, I will sometimes switch to spot metering. Spot metering allows me to make sure that my subject is what ends up the right brightness. So if you're trying to improve your photography and the brightness is kind of all over the place, just remember to take a look at what metering mode you're in and set it accordingly.
