Very Basic Metering Question

[peety3]

sorry, yeah - let's dismiss auto mode - any of the "creative" modes.


but I'm okay with what I know. I shoot RAW anyway, so the EV graph doesn't do much for me. I may be wrong - and I'd love to know what you guys think - but I go strictly by the histogram, ETTR (shutter speed/aperture adjustments - bumping up ISO only if I can't handhold the shot) and then do what I want in post.

Obviously there can be a big difference between the meter and the histogram. However, there should be a relationship between the meter and the histogram (such that if you boost the meter by a stop, the histogram will shift right by a stop), and it can be a useful gauge when shooting in manual.


The other comment I felt compelled to make is that your ETTR/ITTR strategy is good, but do leave yourself flexibility to ITTR if you want a fast shutter speed. You probably do this anyway, I just know that I'm having to remind myself that wide-open apertures (and the corresponding fast shutter speeds) aren't always the way to go (I shot some kids on zip lines Saturday, and learned that 1/60th was the answer).

[canoli]

but do leave yourself flexibility to ITTR if you want a fast shutter speed.

You are so right, and I appreciate the reminder. For the first 10 months shooting DSLR photos I resisted bumping up the ISO - almost never shot above 200. Naturally I had to throw away tons of shots because of blur. Painful, but I kept doing it, thinking all I needed was a better shooting technique. I was so preoccupied with the dreaded noise I just couldn't bring myself to "ruin" a shot using a higher ISO.


Thankfully I learned (here) it wasn't the high ISO, it was the lack of light causing the excessive noise. Once I got past that I found ISO 800 and even 1600 weren't bad at all, they just need a proper exposure.