metering for a bride and groom...

stan the man

stan the man

Nutkicker
Messages
7,299
Name
mark
Edit My Images
Yes
okay....my daughter is getting married on friday(no,i'm not the official tog there :lol:)and at some point after the ceremony,i'd like to take some shots of the bride and groom for my own record of the day.the bride is in a white dress,and the groom is in his blues,or number1 dress,as it is known...so whats the recommended method of metering for this situation?
 
First off, if it is a sunny day find a shady spot so the bright light isn't reflected on the dress and you don't get harsh shadows. Put the camera in manual, spot meter the brightest part of the dress and put in about +1.7 to +2 EV, this should be enough to ensure the dress isn't blown whilst retaining sufficient detail elsewhere, make sure you always check your histogram and make adjustments as required.

Oh, and shoot in RAW if possible.
 
Hacker said:
First off, if it is a sunny day find a shady spot so the bright light isn't reflected on the dress and you don't get harsh shadows. Put the camera in manual, spot meter the brightest part of the dress and put in about +1.7 to +2 EV, this should be enough to ensure the dress isn't blown whilst retaining sufficient detail elsewhere, make sure you always check your histogram and make adjustments as required.

Oh, and shoot in RAW if possible.
Click to expand...

That told HIM!!!! :lol:

Very good advice there, Colin! :thumbs:
 
Hacker said:
First off, if it is a sunny day find a shady spot so the bright light isn't reflected on the dress and you don't get harsh shadows. Put the camera in manual, spot meter the brightest part of the dress and put in about +1.7 to +2 EV, this should be enough to ensure the dress isn't blown whilst retaining sufficient detail elsewhere, make sure you always check your histogram and make adjustments as required.

Oh, and shoot in RAW if possible.
Click to expand...

thank you very much colin :thumbs:

as janice says....great advice..as always.i always,always,ALWAYS shoot in RAW :)

sadly,the forecast for friday is rain,so i don't think harsh sunlight is going to be a problem :shake:
 
Hacker said:
First off, if it is a sunny day find a shady spot so the bright light isn't reflected on the dress and you don't get harsh shadows. Put the camera in manual, spot meter the brightest part of the dress and put in about +1.7 to +2 EV, this should be enough to ensure the dress isn't blown whilst retaining sufficient detail elsewhere, make sure you always check your histogram and make adjustments as required.

Oh, and shoot in RAW if possible.
Click to expand...

Im having a moment here, probably due to lack of sleep....but how do you put in +1.7 when in manual? Is this not just dropping the shutter speed?
 
I would also suggest bracketed exposure- just in case you get it wrong :) & like Colin says, use RAW if at all posible.
 
Paulmack said:
Im having a moment here, probably due to lack of sleep....but how do you put in +1.7 when in manual? Is this not just dropping the shutter speed?
Click to expand...

You could just do it by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture but the reason I explained it this way is for people who might not always shoot in Manual and using the +/- EV compensation is sometimes easier.
 
Hacker said:
You could just do it by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture but the reason I explained it this way is for people who might not always shoot in Manual and using the +/- EV compensation is sometimes easier.
Click to expand...

Its ok it just threw me when you said put camera in Manual then put in +1.7. Thought there was something I was missing.

So going back to the original point then, you find the brightest part of the white dress and then over expose by up to 2 stops? Would this not blow out the whole picture?
 
If I'm understanding this properly, you want the brightest part of the dress to be the brightest thing in the photo. If you spot meter the brightest part of the dress, then 'correct exposure' would expose the dress to be the mid-tone. So if you 'overexpose' by a couple of stops, you make the dress the brightest part of the photo, and everything else should fall into place. It's sort of a simplified version of using the zone system I think.

This actually seems like a very good way of metering... I think I might try this out. At the moment I'm meter from the faces but it's not always reliable.
 
Paulmack said:
Its ok it just threw me when you said put camera in Manual then put in +1.7. Thought there was something I was missing.

So going back to the original point then, you find the brightest part of the white dress and then over expose by up to 2 stops? Would this not blow out the whole picture?
Click to expand...

Because you are spot metering off the brightest part of the frame (a white dress) the rest of the image will appear quite dark or underexposed hence the need to put in some + EV.

Hope this helps. :thumbs:
 
Ignore my last post. I just read this and it all makes sense. I was getting severly confused (which isnt difficult) and that little refresher brought it all back. Good read for anyone who is new to manual exposure by the way
 
Hacker said:
Because you are spot metering off the brightest part of the frame (a white dress) the rest of the image will appear quite dark or underexposed hence the need to put in some + EV.

Hope this helps. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Yeah I was just having a moment but it is all clear now thanks :thumbs:
 
This is the reason all wedding togs prefer a light overcast day rather than bright sunshine,as others have said find some shade if you can but if thats inmpossible then expose for the dress as the bride is much more important than the groom,At least thats what my wife told me.

Or you can be very tog freindly as I was and insist they wear a light grey suit
 
paul mack...thanks for the link,now bookmarked :thumbs:

colin....if i understand what your saying..if i shot in aperture priority as opposed to manual,i'd just need to meter for the brightest part of the dress and dial in +1.7 to +2EV compensation?

if it's a dull day(hopefully not though),i can just meter from the dress and just dial in the required exposure compensation to correctly expose the scene?

sorry for all the dumb sounding questions....
 
stan the man said:
paul mack...thanks for the link,now bookmarked :thumbs:

colin....if i understand what your saying..if i shot in aperture priority as opposed to manual,i'd just need to meter for the brightest part of the dress and dial in +1.7 to +2EV compensation?

if it's a dull day(hopefully not though),i can just meter from the dress and just dial in the required exposure compensation to correctly expose the scene?

sorry for all the dumb sounding questions....
Click to expand...

Stan, you could do but you would have to lock the exposure. When spot metering you take a reading from a very small area in the centre of the viewfinder (in this case it would be the brightest part of the dress), however if you were in Aperture priority the shutter speed would then change when you recomposed. By using manual mode you are telling the camera what exposure you require for that shot, in aperture priority the camera is telling you what exposure it thinks is best for that scene. This is why it is best to use manual in situations like this, but in saying that, if it is an overcast day you will probably get away with matrix metering in aperture or shutter priority - just be sure to check you histogram and have your camera playback set so that you can see blinkies for blown highlights.
 
A white dress is never going to appear as 18% grey which is what the camera will try to turn it into.

A dull day you would still need to add exposure but not as much as 2, perhaps just .1.0

what you have to say to yourself is.... what will the camera do to bring this to 18% grey... and then realise you need to up the exposure a bit.

Alternatively if you were taking a photo of something dark black, the camera would up the exposure to make it 18% grey but you dont want that, you want it dark cos it IS dark, so youd need to pull the xposure down, ie -1.5 or something like that.

hope that helps a bit...............or at least makes sense!!! :lol:
 
Hacker said:
Stan, you could do but you would have to lock the exposure. When spot metering you take a reading from a very small area in the centre of the viewfinder (in this case it would be the brightest part of the dress), however if you were in Aperture priority the shutter speed would then change when you recomposed. By using manual mode you are telling the camera what exposure you require for that shot, in aperture priority the camera is telling you what exposure it thinks is best for that scene. This is why it is best to use manual in situations like this, but in saying that, if it is an overcast day you will probably get away with matrix metering in aperture or shutter priority - just be sure to check you histogram and have your camera playback set so that you can see blinkies for blown highlights.
Click to expand...

thank you again colin..i can see manual is probably the easiest and best way to do this as i won't need to lock the exposure,and just dial in the exposure comp on the wheel(s).i just did some test shots on one of the wifes white blouses(and no,i didn't try it on :lol:)...took some shots without exposure comp,and yep..it turned out grey...then dialed in +1.7EV,and it was indeed white.checked the histogram and no blown highlights..:woot:

thankyou all very,very much for your help,so i'll hopefully get some nice shots of my daughters wedding.one last thing..flash,do you recommend i use fill flash wherever possible(indoors/outdoors etc..)?
 
I think the weather down here is not going to be good on Friday, where is the wedding – hope it’s a nice setting inside.

I would use fill flash outdoors and bounce your flash inside.
 
jpd300 said:
I think the weather down here is not going to be good on Friday, where is the wedding – hope it’s a nice setting inside.

I would use fill flash outdoors and bounce your flash inside.
Click to expand...

yeah,the forecast is not very good in wales for friday :shake:

they are getting married in neath registry office(which is where i got married)with the reception in the central club.can't remember what it looked like inside though.if it's dry,then they want some formal shots in the victoria gardens which is a very nice setting.
 
There is an easier way.

Roll the bride around in the car park for a few minutes first (you may need to use the grass verges and any resident oil patches for best effect). This will dull down the bright white dress and make correct exposure a doddle.

Glad to be of assistance :D
 
Simmotino said:
There is an easier way.

Roll the bride around in the car park for a few minutes first (you may need to use the grass verges and any resident oil patches for best effect). This will dull down the bright white dress and make correct exposure a doddle.

Glad to be of assistance :D
Click to expand...

Yep, that's exactly what I did last weekend. Can't remember much about the rest of the day strangely, but the nurse was very helpful. :D:D
 
In sunny conditions, I prefer to take them back lit or 3/4 back lit.
Take the reading on the dress and adjust two stops as above
and use fill flash.
It gives a very lively lighting and they don't squint.
 
Histogram? Since we're shooting digital, does it have to be any more difficult?

A bit late for a Friday wedding I guess, but that will ensure you've got everything safely within the dynamic range. And since it's off the JPEG, shooting Raw will give you a bit of a safety margin.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top