Filter
Top Products
Canon T3i Experience
52
determine proper exposure of a subject or scene before switching the camera to Manual
Mode for a controlled studio shot, a critical shot, or a series of shots where the lighting
is not going to change.
3.6d Center-Weighted Average Metering
This metering mode can be thought of as a combination of Evaluative and Partial
Metering. It acknowledges that the subject is in the center and requires special
metering attention, but it also takes into account all the other exposure metering zones.
This mode is useful where there is a difference in lighting between the foreground or
subject and the background, but unlike Spot or Partial Metering you still wish for the
camera to take both subject and background exposure into consideration (see Figure
17).
As with Spot or Partial Metering, this might be used when your subject is backlit, or
when a nicely lit subject is in front of a darker or lighter background. Another time to
use this is when there is a wide range of light in your scene, such as bright sunlight to
deep shadows. Determine the proper exposure by metering on the subject using the
center of the viewfinder, and lock in that exposure (see Exposure Lock below).
Again, this is not linked to the active autofocus AF point, but always to the center, so if
your subject is off center - which it typically should be for a more dynamic image - you
need to lock the exposure on your subject and then recompose. If you are finding that
Evaluative Metering is not giving you the exposures you desire because you are always
seeking out and using unusual, dramatic, or difficult lighting, and your exposures are
consistently slightly too dark or too light, try using Partial Metering or Center-Weighted
Average Metering in conjunction with Exposure Lock. Or use Exposure
Compensation, discussed below.
Center-Weighted, Partial, or Spot?
To decide between Center-Weighted Metering and Partial Metering: use Partial
Metering in a high-contrast situation where you want to properly meter on the subject
but don’t want an extremely bright or dark background to influence the exposure (see
Figure 15). Use Center-Weighted Metering in a situation where you want to ensure the
subject is properly metered, but the background or other areas of the image are also
somewhat important for the metering system to consider, and aren’t so light or dark
compared to the subject that they will throw off the exposure (see Figure 17). Use Spot
in a similar manner to Partial, except that you need to meter on even a smaller area for
more precision (see Figure 16).