Spot Metering Technique

Last night I was reading a magazine and I think the penny has shifted a bit downwards on the subject of metering.

I have been taking a few photos that have not had the desired results and couldn't understand why. Then I read this article and had an "Ah ha!" moment.

What the article said was the exposure could be controlled by spot metering part of the image, locking that in and then recomposing the photo to shoot.

However the part that gets me is this:

"Lock it in by depressing the AE-L/AF-L and then while still holding that button down in a locked position recompose the picture and shoot."

All well and good but this raises 2 questions for me.

1. With my very small hands, being limited to 5 digits each, how the heck do I keep that button down, refocus and shoot?
2. With the D5100 does the AE-L/AF-L have to be held down or just pressed once to set it? The magazine was specifically for the Nikon D5100

I guess I will try to work this out before I get any answers but still your comments would be appreciated.

I think this has been a big breakthrough for me with lighting.
​

If memory serves you can go into the camera menu and set it to lock/unlock when pressed rather than trying to hold it. Check your manual for the instruction how.

Thanks MM. That makes more sense but then when I press the shutter to focus will the metering be retained? I suppose that is the whole point and the best way to find out is to try.
The article was about "silhouettes" and how to take them but I suddenly thought "Mmm … that (metering the wrong area) could be what I am doing without knowing it and landing up with less than average results"
​

Here is a great read for you. Scroll down to number 3, I think that will answer you question.

Nikon AE-L / AF-L Button

Lawrence said:

but then when I press the shutter to focus will the metering be retained? I suppose that is the whole point and the best way to find out is to try.
​

Click to expand...

I may not grasp the questions meaning, but if your menu C1: Shutter Release Button AE-L is ON, then half pressing and holding just the shutter button will lock the metered exposure (and focus too, in AF-S mode), regardless if you shift the camera away to a new place. You don't need the other button.

Be careful of Spot Metering. It does NOT mean the Spot will be "correctly exposed". It merely means the Spot will come out middle tone, not too dark, not too bright. If you picked a proper spot that ought to be middle tone (for example, an 18% gray card), then you will like it. If you picked a human face, you won't. This is simply how light meters work.

MM thanks for the link.

WayneF I am beginning to get a grip on this. The article was about silhouetting and how to trick the camera to underexpose by telling it a light area was the middle tone. And yes I went to C1 and turned it on. The thing about all of this is to remember with each shot what you are trying to do and to change the settings when required. Its a lot to think about at first and I trust, like driving a car, becomes instinctive the more you do it.
​

Well, I cannot think of any reason to ever turn C1 off. If you don't want to lock and move, then don't, just wait until you get there.

Silhouetting sounds like a good case for it, but I typically use it for the opposite... like when there is a window or other bright background behind the subject, which makes the foreground subject seriously underexposed. I just aim the camera down at their knees or feet (to exclude the bright window background), half press on that exposure (which is at the same same distance and very nearly same light as up above), and then reframe and shoot. Works great. That's an old trick from decades ago, before cameras even had menus.

You know what, don't really bother about the AE-L/AF-L button all that much.
You can manage without until you feel a need for it..

WhiteLight the thing is "discovering" how it works has explained my mistakes.
I went out with a friend yesterday and we took similar photos. She has the D3200 and operates only in auto mode using the scenes.
I am avoiding those.
Her pics ere much better than mine, in terms of exposure, and I was trying to figure out why. This is one reason as I was metering the overall image with a massive great sky. I just know if I went back and redid those photos with this little bit of knowledge they would be much better than yesterday's efforts.

Another question. Why is my metering monitor (or whatever that little grid that appears in the viewfinder is called) only ever (regardless of if I am in matrix, centre waited or spot metering) light up in red at the spot on the bottom right of the screen?
​Hope that makes sense.

Lawrence said:

Another question. Why is my metering monitor (or whatever that little grid that appears in the viewfinder is called) only ever (regardless of if I am in matrix, centre waited or spot metering) light up in red at the spot on the bottom right of the screen?
​Hope that makes sense.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean. I think the only thing that lights up red and moves is the focus point?

D5100 manual, page 10, one of those focus points marked 1. Depending on the focus mode (page 42), the big joy stick wheel on the back (multiselector, page 2, item 13) moves those around, page 43, to wherever you want it. Center is a default position. But I am guessing about the subject.

Thats a lot of pages.

Will take a look and sure it will solve my problem but just in case not I took a screen shot below:



when I press my shutter down the bottom right hand one lights up red and is the only one that lights up. Just doesn't feel right.

Lawrence said:

Thats a lot of pages.

Will take a look and sure it will solve my problem but just in case not I took a screen shot below:

View attachment 55665

when I press my shutter down the bottom right hand one lights up red and is the only one that lights up. Just doesn't feel right.

Click to expand...

The picture ought to help, and sorry I am dumb, but the bottom right hand WHAT lights up red? Where is it on this picture? I have a different Nikon model, but only one of the focus points light up red. The focus points are those more or less in the circle in center.. only one shows, but it can be moved.

The bottom right hand "dot" of the 11 that are visible.

Lawrence said:

The bottom right hand "dot" of the 11 that are visible.

View attachment 55671

Click to expand...

That's what I thought. Those are focus points, the red one is the point where it focuses, but you can move it (and apparently have).

D5100 manual, page 10, one of those focus points marked 1. Depending on the focus mode (page 42), the big joy stick wheel on the back (multiselector, page 2, item 13) moves those around, page 43, to wherever you want it. Center is a default position.

Thanks WayneF. I can't find what you are saying in the paper version of the manual that I received so will check the disk.

​Your help most appreciated.

GOT IT!!

Thanks

Sorry, I am referring to the PDF Reference manual at
https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17325 (240 pages)

Not sure of the situation, but I think these used to ship, but now it may be the shorter User manual ?

You only have five fingers on each hand? We'll there is the main problem.


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Lol