Spot metering and shooting sunsets

Swan Lake near Vernon - it was a perfect evening for shooting a sunset.

Whenever I shoot sunsets, I change my camera's metering system to spot.  There are three, sometimes four, different ways that your camera has to measure light.  The standard one involves the camera reading light from numerous places in the scene and determining an exposure value (EV) based on that information.  This is the Matrix, Multipattern, Multisegment, and Evaluative metering systems found in some of the different camera brands.  Spot metering is different and records the light coming in from one point in the scene and uses that to determine an EV.

OK, what's an EV?  An EV (exposure value) is a number, usually expressed as an integer, and may go as low as -6 to +18 and is measured in stops.  A stop is a doubling or halving of light and is usually expressed in seconds (1/2 to 1/4 is a change in time by one stop) or aperture (f/5.6 to f/4 is a change in light coming through the lens by one stop).  You are given that information as an exposure.  So, an exposure of 1/30th of a second at f/4 using an ISO of 200 means the EV is 8.  You can calculate that by figuring out how many stops of change there is from an f/1, 1-second, ISO 100 exposure, which has an EV rating of 0.  Not that you have to know that, as the camera does it for you.

Spot metering allows the camera to determine the EV rating of any point in a scene, as long as it falls within the camera's ability to measure.  I measure points around the sun and assign a value of +1 or +2 above middle grey, which is what the meter is giving you.  That way, the brights won't be too bright (except for the sun), and the darks won't be too dark.  I do this by using manual exposure mode and setting my aperture and shutter speed so that they show as being +1 or +2 on the exposure line in the camera's viewfinder.  When done, I get a nice silhouette of the foreground and pleasing colours of the skyline.

This is a modification of the Zone System, an exposure system developed by Ansel Adams for making his famous prints.  I used to use it extensively when shooting slide film to determine the scene's proper exposure, given that slide film's latitude is notoriously thin.  It still serves me well, even with the amazing dynamic range found in today's digital systems.

Without knowing all that, it's really very easy.  Pick spot metering.  Pick a part of the sky and move aperture, shutter speed, and ISO values to get a "proper exposure" (0 on your exposure line), and then increase the exposure by one or two stops using whatever means you want.  Take a photo.  Voila - a nice silhouetted and colourful sunset.

Amazing.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com



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