Comments on: What metering mode to use when photographing a wedding

By: sara

sara — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:53:53 +0000

Yohan that kind of comment is actually quite unhelpful – people don’t come on here to be berated – they come here to learn – and sometimes that includes having to reveal our own “failings”

By: vencanice

vencanice — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:57:49 +0000

What a simple, but very usefull explanation. Thanks for sharing Perry!

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:51:22 +0000

Wow! Your top example explains a lot. My frustration with Canon evaluative metering caused me to research the Internet and you gave me the answer. Thanks!

By: Yohan Maltais

Yohan Maltais — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:25:20 +0000

Good advice. I’m stunt that Mark and Bob shot a wedding without mastering the exposure… You should always do you test and training before the W day not at the wedding, god!

quote: “I have only shot 6 weddings since I started in November last year, with my new Canon 7D with 24-70 f2.8 lense. Not knowing how metering modes work, and which ones I can rely on is frustrating.”

No comments…

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:55:45 +0000

Thank you so much Booray Perry for this insightful artical. You have obviously done your homework, and hopefully saved alot of us having to do the same. Being a wedding photographer, you are under alot of pressure to get it right in a short amount of time, over and over again, all day long. I will try Centreweighted at my next wedding, and hopefully my results fit with what you are telling us. I have only shot 6 weddings since I started in November last year, with my new Canon 7D with 24-70 f2.8 lense. Not knowing how metering modes work, and which ones I can rely on is frustrating. Thank you very much for helping all who read this article.

By: Exploring Metering Modes « Picturing Change

Exploring Metering Modes « Picturing Change — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:30:45 +0000

[...] This is used when you want ultimate control of the metering and exposure. I recently ran across an interesting article which takes this discussion to another level by addressing the use of different metering modes in [...]

By: Booray Perry

Booray Perry — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:10:55 +0000

I just realized I didn’t quite answer your question. No, it wouldn’t give the same results because with spot metering the spot is very small at the center of the image. With center-weighted the camera meters the entire scene but gives more “weight” to the center. So with center-weighted the camera still considers the area outside the center before making the exposure call.

By: Booray Perry

Booray Perry — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:32:02 +0000

First, it depends on where you put the spot. With spot metering (on Canon, don’t know Nikon) the “spot” os fixed at the center of the viewfinder, not the focus point. So, you have to continually put the center on the spot you want to meter, depress the shutter button halfway to lock it, then recompose the shot. Even then, you can get different exposures with just a slight change in the spot location. For example, when shooting the test pictures included with this article, I also shot some spot meter tests. I got different exposure settings just by moving the spot from the doll’s nose to her forhead.

If I’m shooting a still portrait I might use spot because I have the time to do it but at a wedding I don’t want to be recomposing my shots all the time. many photographers will tell you that they use spot during the formals and put the spot on the brides face, then recompose.

By: Bob Guerrero

Bob Guerrero — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:34:25 +0000

Hi Booray I use spot metering mostly for low light weddings. Wouldn’t that pretty much give the same results as the center-weighted technique you are suggesting?