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<blockquote data-quote="WayneF" data-source="post: 112275" data-attributes="member: 12496">I don't know if the cameras report flash power level in Exif.&nbsp;&nbsp; I know Nikon does not report it.&nbsp; So, you could use a flash meter (Not on the TTL flash, but you could adjust the manual flash power to the aperture/ISO you want to use).&nbsp; Or you could adjust the manual flash power to be right first, trial and error, watching the rear LCD picture, and sometimes the histogram is helpful.Spot metering on a face does NOT give &quot;correct&quot; exposure of the face.&nbsp; The goal of any metering is to give you a middle gray result, which is rather different than a &quot;correct&quot; result&quot;. The reflected meter is dumb computer that has absolutely no clue what the subject is, or how it ought to be, so there is no concept of &quot;correct&quot;.&nbsp; It's rules are different than your goal.&nbsp; Not at a spot level, but at an overall level, many average scenes do measure about middle, so this sometimes works. But for spot metering, you have to pick a spot that ought to meter about the middle. Spot metering is an advanced technique, it is anything but point&amp;shoot.If you spot metered on a middle gray card, it probably gives a &quot;correct&quot; result (this may not be precise, but it is definitely ballpark). If you meter on a white card, you surely need to open up maybe a couple of stops to make it be white. If you meter on a black card, you need to stop down a couple of stops to make it be black.&nbsp; If you meter on Caucasian skin, you probably open about one stop.Perhaps you knew all that and are doing it. You just did not say it that way.See <a href="http://www.scantips.com/lights/metering.html" target="_blank">How light meters work</a></blockquote>

[QUOTE="WayneF, post: 112275, member: 12496"] I don't know if the cameras report flash power level in Exif. I know Nikon does not report it. So, you could use a flash meter (Not on the TTL flash, but you could adjust the manual flash power to the aperture/ISO you want to use). Or you could adjust the manual flash power to be right first, trial and error, watching the rear LCD picture, and sometimes the histogram is helpful. Spot metering on a face does NOT give "correct" exposure of the face. The goal of any metering is to give you a middle gray result, which is rather different than a "correct" result". The reflected meter is dumb computer that has absolutely no clue what the subject is, or how it ought to be, so there is no concept of "correct". It's rules are different than your goal. Not at a spot level, but at an overall level, many average scenes do measure about middle, so this sometimes works. But for spot metering, you have to pick a spot that ought to meter about the middle. Spot metering is an advanced technique, it is anything but point&shoot. If you spot metered on a middle gray card, it probably gives a "correct" result (this may not be precise, but it is definitely ballpark). If you meter on a white card, you surely need to open up maybe a couple of stops to make it be white. If you meter on a black card, you need to stop down a couple of stops to make it be black. If you meter on Caucasian skin, you probably open about one stop. Perhaps you knew all that and are doing it. You just did not say it that way. See [URL="http://www.scantips.com/lights/metering.html"]How light meters work[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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