Test run for level 2 assignment - WHAT A DISASTER

[asnow]

I went out to do a test run for the Level 2 assignment and it did not go well to say the least. The first thing I noticed was this exercise was to relax, slow down, and take your time. Instead I found it very stressful because there seemed to be so much pressure to make every picture count. (That was not what it was like when I shot film (actually slides)).

The first thing that is very obvious is I screwed up on the exposure. Normally, I would take a meter reading, snap the picture and then look at the histogram. I would then adjust the settings according to what the histogram said for future shots. This time I didn't have the luxury of taking a picture first. I tried to be very careful metering for the correct exposure. I tried metering off of something that was close to 18% grey. This obviously didn't work. I am now completely confused as to how to meter.

1. What should I meter off of? I remember with my film camera I would meter off of something neutral grey or even green, like grass or trees and this seemed to work pretty well. However with the dslr this did not seem to work. Also grass and trees give a completely different meter reading to something that appears to be neutral grey.

2. I currently use spot metering. Maybe I should be using something different. Therefore when should I use spot metering and when should I use something like evaluative.

3. Any other suggestions in metering for the right exposure would be appreciated.


Anyway, I've posted the bad news. Since I shot in raw + jpeg, I at least had the raw file to try and salvage the image (and those are the second postings)

[asnow]

2nd picture

[asnow]

3rd picture

[asnow]

4th picture

[mbrager]

I've been fascinated by the challenge presented by the assignment as well, and have been planning my shots and doing some test shots with my point and shoot. This is handy because I can still use my DSLR for other things. I'll post the tests soon I hope.
I like your choice of subject matter for sure. Your jpeg shots seem to be duller than usual, but I don't see anything wrong with your exposures per se. You point out that you have processed the "second" RAW shots so they are sharper and have much better contrast. I am guessing here, but I wonder if you haven't got "picture styles" set to Neutral rather than Landscape or Standard. This setting affects jpeg processing quite a bit, so might change the way your shots turn out. Also I think you could check your white balance settings to see if you are using a cloudy setting for a cloudy day as in your examples, or something else.
Thanks for posting these. It's good to know at least one other forum member is intrigued.

[Barefoot]

I'll probably get corrected on this by someone with more knowledge, but I think I'd dispense with the thoughts of metering off of a medium gray and focus more on getting the crosshairs on some medium light if you're going to spot meter scenes like these. I mean, it's not like you're trying to avoid a color cast on a white wedding gown. It appears to me that maybe dialing in -.5 to maybe even -1EV in exposure compensation would have had you in the ball park.

[Iguanasan]

I'll give you my insights for spot metering since I only ever use spot metering. To me, however, every scene is different so I have different approaches.

1) Portrait (or at least a person is in the scene) - I will try to spot meter on their face and get as close to an accurate representation of the person as possible. Caucasians will come in a 1/3 or possibly 2/3 over the middle bar where as African Amercians will come in 1/3 or possibly 2/3 below the middle bar.

2) Landscape. If I'm worried about not blowing out the sky I meter it to be just at the +2 side (far right on Canon) and let the rest fall where it lands. Unless I am focusing on something specific within the scene then I'll meter that at where I believe it fits on the scale and let the sky blow out if it has to do so.

3) With other "generic" scenes I will meter off the main subject trying to best estimate what zone it should fit in within the scale. Everything else falls where it falls.

That's my ... YMMV