Bracketing and metering....

[photosbyvito]

well....i've been hearing these terms for a while, and haven't figured out wat they actually mean....

wat IS metering? is it the camera reading the lighting, and telling you wat settings to use to expose the scene right? or is it the "-2" that flashes if i have the settings set too dark....

and wat is bracketing? this i don't even have a guess for...lol

i thought i had exposure figured out...maybe i do..but if you could help me with this....i will be able to take (haha...here it comes) "histogrammatically" correct photos (wow...i should take up wordmaking for a living! )

please help me with these really photo-nooby questions....

thanks a ton! help will be GREATLY appreciated....

Vito

(oh man steve....you have a mod that doesn't even know wat bracketing is.... )

[Klaus DK]

Vito, on my website you can do a search on Bracketing and see what it is.

http://www.hertz-ladiges.com/modules...ge&pid=431

The -2, you reffers to, could be the exposure compensation/value, which you will find here:

http://www.hertz-ladiges.com/modules...age&pid=97

regards

Klaus

[Mikefellh]

One correction, if -2 is flashing (assuming you are using manual exposure modes), that means the scene is darker than what the camera would adjust itself to. When the camera is set on manual mode, the number that's *normally* the exposure compensation number becomes a guide to let you know how far above or below your settings are compared to what the camera is reading the scene at and the settings *it* would choose; in manual modes that number becomes a "digital light meter". In this case it's telling you that you are more than 2 stops below what the camera would set the exposure settings to.

Are the settings wrong, it all depends on what you want...you may want an overly dark scene. The number is only a guide.

On some cameras, you can turn on an "analog" representation of this...on my Olympus if you press AEL in manual mode, you get the old style light meter rather than a number.

p.s. You shouldn't feel dumb...no one can know everything about photography, especially when you get into manual modes on digitals. Personally I was using a fully manual SLR for 20 years, so I'd just turn the dials by instinct; I never had to deal with exposure compensation or automatic exposure modes...I'd just look at the scene and know what I wanted to set the camera to. Now I actually have to think more when using the automatic exposures because I want to compensate for what the camera thinks is right.

[photosbyvito]

ahh ok....i think i'm remembering something from my dads camera....which is an old minolta SLR....it had lights inthe viewfinder, that went from red to green as you changed the settings to make the exposure right....i think...lol

Vito

[derbunk]

If your camera displays a live histogram, this is probably the best metering tool available. If not, then checking the histogram immediately in playback will tell you if other shots are needed. Bracketing is simply shooting a series of the same shot, from 1 or 2 stops under to 1 or 2 stops over so you can choose the best one with whichto work.

To learn more about histograms, click here:

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...light=histgram

[photosbyvito]

actually..from PS work, i've gained knowledge of histograms...thanks for the link anyway though!

no, my camera doesn't do live histogram...unfortunately...but it does in the playback...

thanks for the help...

Vito