Skills of using SLR spot metering

Lead: Spot metering is different from other metering methods, it only measures the light in a small area of the picture. When there is a big gap between light and dark in several parts of the picture, only these parts can be exposed correctly by photometry, and other parts will be underexposed or overexposed, and some parts of the picture will be particularly dark or bright. In this way, you can get richer and more diverse picture effects than what you can see with the naked eye. Let's take a look at the skills of using SLR spot metering.

First, look at several typical examples:

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The above two examples are for the correct exposure of bright parts. In this case, exposure will make the dark part underexposed and completely black, thus highlighting the bright part.

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This is just the opposite of the first two examples, deliberately exposing the dark places correctly (lighting up). Such exposure will make the original bright place too bright, that is, overexposure will create a different atmosphere. At first, the scene was close to the sunset, but it was like the rising sun, warm and full of vigor and hope.

Is it possible to get a satisfactory exposure by measuring the part you want to expose correctly? In fact, it is not entirely true, because the range of spot metering is very small, and there is rarely a single brightness in any block of the picture. You will get different photometric values at different brightness points, and the results will be different. So how do you choose the metering point to get the correct metering for this part that you want to expose correctly? Let's take a look at the experiment made by the metal antenna board:

Because of the relationship between radian and light reflection, there is a gradual change of light and shade. The following figure shows that there are just three parts (upper left) from the darkest to the brightest on the disk surface, and then these three parts are shot by spot metering (the metering point is shown as yellow O in the center of the whole picture).

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The result is obvious. The darkest point is too bright, and the brightest point is too dark. Only the middle brightness (lower left) is closest to what the naked eye can see, which generally means correct exposure.

That is to say, if this antenna dish is the part I want it to be exposed correctly today, my metering point should be selected in the middle brightness part of the dish, but in fact, the subject I usually meet is rarely as simple and clear as this antenna dish, so how to choose a point with middle brightness in complex situations? According to experience, you can use a simple method-find a point in the main body that is slightly darker than the brightest part, and it will be quite close to this intermediate brightness. This intermediate brightness is the accurate metering point.

Now let's look back at the previous three examples and verify this method of selecting metering points that are brighter and darker than the brightest:

The first case:

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Let the brighter part be exposed correctly, that is, the part of the leaf; So let's find a place where the leaf surface is slightly darker than the brightest place (yellow X below). The brightness of this point is about the middle brightness of the whole leaf. If some leaves are exposed to other parts that are darker than the leaves, they will be completely black, making the leaves stand out more.

The second case:

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Let the bright part be exposed correctly. Now change it to the scene outside the woodcarving door. Just look for a spotlight that is slightly darker than the brightest (yellow X below). The exposure of the scene outside the door is correct. Because of the great difference between the light inside the wood carving door and the outside light, the exposure is seriously dark, forming a strong composition effect.

The third situation:

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The logic of exposing dark places correctly is the same as that of exposing bright places correctly. We didn't look for the brightest point just now, so don't look for the darkest point in the dark now, or the result will definitely be too bright (try it yourself) unless there is a deliberate need. The protagonist of this picture is a tree, so as long as you find a dark spot (red circle on the right) on the trunk to measure light, the whole picture will be lit up.

By now, you should know that spot metering is to choose the right metering point completely according to the type of picture you want to present.

Simply put:

1. If you want to get darker, measure the light in a brighter place. If you want to be brighter, measure the light in a darker place.

The darker you think, the brighter you will be. The brighter you think, the darker you will be.

3. I just want to measure the light in the brightest and slightly darker places;

Master the above three principles, plus the intuition of accumulating experience, and you can make the exposure you want at will.

The previous examples are all extreme applications, because I want you to know the characteristics of spot metering immediately. If I don't want to make any part of the photo particularly dark or bright, I just want to present the picture faithfully in front of me, which is actually the most commonly used. So how do you choose the metering point?

Just like the third principle above, it is necessary to measure the brightest and slightly darker places now, but there is no clear local target to judge like the previous example. With so many points in the picture, where should we aim at the brightest and slightly darker place?

Simply put, any photo has a protagonist. If there is, it will be very simple. Just aim at the brightest part of the protagonist and then measure the rest of the photo in a dark place, which will be natural. If there is no specific protagonist, the whole picture is a subject, then we must really find the brightest and slightly darker subjects in the whole picture, and then find their brightest and slightly darker subjects, but the only thing to note is that these so-called "brightest" should exclude the "daytime sky" because the brightness of the daytime sky is never comparable in the photo, and its final brightness can only be determined by other parts of the photo.

Next, we use a few examples to mark the brightest part (O) and the slightly darker part, that is, the actual metering point (X), to illustrate these situations respectively:

There is a protagonist:

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The protagonist in the above picture is the border between blue and green in the middle, and the brightest part in the following picture is not marked with O. Because it was extremely rainy at that time, there was basically no big light difference in all parts of the whole picture. As long as the purple flowers were exposed correctly, the rest would be natural ~

No protagonist, the whole picture as a whole.

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A correctly exposed photo can actually be slightly darker and slightly brighter. Generally, a little deeper will make the color of the picture more saturated (thick), and a little brighter will show a light (light) color saturation, which is eye-catching and attractive, while the light color has a faint freshness and charm, just like the difference between spicy noodles with soy sauce and salty and spicy noodles, each has its own delicious taste and charm, depending on personal preferences and habits.

Generally speaking, people are easily moved by eye-catching things, and most photographers seem to prefer photos with saturated colors. However, if you eat too much soy sauce in Lamian Noodles, you won't get bored. It's good to change the refreshing salty taste in Lamian Noodles once in a while, but as long as you like the same taste, there's nothing wrong with eating it all the time. Next, let's actually test how to cook the same bowl of Lamian Noodles into soy sauce and salty taste:

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That day, the sky was gray and dripping, so although the contrast of the sunset picture was poor, the above appearance was actually closer to what was seen at the scene according to the normal metering point, but it was obviously a little brighter in the eyes (above), so if the metering point moved to a brighter place, we should take the following picture.

Special mention: of course, this does not have to rely on moving the metering point. All shades of color can be done by adding or subtracting exposure, mainly depending on personal habits.

Please look at the following example:

This is a sunrise or sunset problem that people often shoot. Finally, we should shoot the very dark part, leaving only the bright part, and then the color is very strong and pleasing to the eye; It's best to take a brighter picture, which is closer to the scene and can keep some dark details. I think many people should have encountered such a struggle. Let's see what's the difference between dark shooting and bright shooting.

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Photometry is a very convenient and easy-to-use basic photography skill. As long as you try to practice more, you should be able to control it quickly and then shoot the exposure you want at will.