Have you ever been frustrated that the subject in your photo is either hidden in the shadows or overexposed like snow on a bright sunny day?
You check your camera’s metering and it reads a perfect 0 EV. You re-shoot the scene but again, your subject matter is still incorrectly exposed. One solution to this common problem is Spot Metering.
It is a technique under-utilized by many photographers. This feature gives the photographer control over exactly which portion of the frame the meter should use to determine proper exposure.
If left to the factory default, most DSLR cameras use what’s known as matrix metering, a sophisticated process which reads light intensity from several points within the scene. Then, the metering system determines what “should” give your photograph proper exposure. The challenge with matrix meeting arises if your frame contains a wide range of light intensity or if you are seeking a specific effect in a photograph.
For example, if you want to shoot a silhouette against a sunset, matrix metering will result in an over exposed back ground as it attempts to compensate for the foreground subject.
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