Mustofa Jeksen, Bali.
A lot of new photographers never use the (M) manual-metering mode when they shoot surfing. I guess its because they don’t understand how a camera meter works (or doesn’t work) and the idea of taking total control of the exposure is a little terrifying. I’m sure they get good enough results, most of the time relying on the camera’s automatic metering abilities. So why bother? A good photographer understands the limitations of the equipment and is able to recognize situations where the meter will be fooled and then acts accordingly. Nailing the exposure in-camera also means less time in post-processing later.
When to shoot (M)
It’s not always practical to shoot in Manual mode for example, if there are clouds constantly drifting through and changing the light it’s difficult to manage your exposure while doing everything else; or in a panning situation when I’m shooting away from the sun one minute and into it the next. In these situations you’re better off leaving it to the camera to figure it out. However, anytime the light is consistent on the scene, I shoot in manual metering mode.
How the camera’s built-in meter works.
Camera meters work on what they see. They determine the exposure based on the light reflected off of the subject and for the most part they are pretty accurate. Nikon 3D matrix metering is incredibly advanced and can usually manage most extreme lighting situations. The problem with reading reflected light is that various colors absorb and reflect light differently. The worst culprits for absorbing light are the primary colors: red, green and blue. And of course white, and shiny objects are more reflective. When you photograph subjects of these colors chances are your meter will be fooled a little or a lot. In the past I used a handheld Sekonic incident light meter which is a much more accurate way to determine exposure because it measures incident light. (the actual light falling onto the scene) Now, I just take some test shots and check the histogram on my camera’s LCD screen. Good digital exposures go hand in hand with learning to use and trust your histogram. Think of it like your own little Yoda: it’s kind of hard to look at, a little cryptic, but full of good information, it always tells the truth and is there to guide you. The histogram is literally a mathematical representation of your exposure. No guessing, just math.
The Rule: If the light doesn’t change, the exposure doesn’t change.
Although built-in meters today are very advanced and do a fine job in most situations, blind faith in your camera’s meter will eventually fail you and it will most likely be the frame that matters. When shooting most surfing action the scene is loaded with constantly changing elements. Think about it for a minute, through the course of surfer riding a wave, your meter will see the deep blue color of the swelling wave, maybe the sky, the bright white crest of the breaking wave and eventually the white water toward the end in the shallows. That’s a lot of difference in the reflected light that your camera will see. If you allow the camera’s built-in meter to do its job here (the only way it knows), your exposure can vary a full stop or more throughout sequence. Even though the actual amount of light in the scene didn’t change. It’s the “actual light” the matters in a proper exposure. That’s a problem if you want a proper exposure through all of your frames. A proper exposure is critical to retain the highlight and shadow detail in your shots. This is particularly true in a digital exposure.
These two shots of "Garut" Widiarta in Bali were shot manually on the same wave at the beginning and the end. You can see how the meter can be fooled here. Your camera's meter sees two very different scenes (reflected light) and would vary the exposure settings to accommodate it, but it would be wrong. You can do better.
When to shoot (M)
It’s not always practical to shoot in Manual mode for example, if there are clouds constantly drifting through and changing the light it’s difficult to manage your exposure while doing everything else; or in a panning situation when I’m shooting away from the sun one minute and into it the next. In these situations you’re better off leaving it to the camera to figure it out. However, anytime the light is consistent on the scene, I shoot in manual metering mode.
How the camera’s built-in meter works.
Camera meters work on what they see. They determine the exposure based on the light reflected off of the subject and for the most part they are pretty accurate. Nikon 3D matrix metering is incredibly advanced and can usually manage most extreme lighting situations. The problem with reading reflected light is that various colors absorb and reflect light differently. The worst culprits for absorbing light are the primary colors: red, green and blue. And of course white, and shiny objects are more reflective. When you photograph subjects of these colors chances are your meter will be fooled a little or a lot. In the past I used a handheld Sekonic incident light meter which is a much more accurate way to determine exposure because it measures incident light. (the actual light falling onto the scene) Now, I just take some test shots and check the histogram on my camera’s LCD screen. Good digital exposures go hand in hand with learning to use and trust your histogram. Think of it like your own little Yoda: it’s kind of hard to look at, a little cryptic, but full of good information, it always tells the truth and is there to guide you. The histogram is literally a mathematical representation of your exposure. No guessing, just math.
The Rule: If the light doesn’t change, the exposure doesn’t change.Although built-in meters today are very advanced and do a fine job in most situations, blind faith in your camera’s meter will eventually fail you and it will most likely be the frame that matters. When shooting most surfing action the scene is loaded with constantly changing elements. Think about it for a minute, through the course of surfer riding a wave, your meter will see the deep blue color of the swelling wave, maybe the sky, the bright white crest of the breaking wave and eventually the white water toward the end in the shallows. That’s a lot of difference in the reflected light that your camera will see. If you allow the camera’s built-in meter to do its job here (the only way it knows), your exposure can vary a full stop or more throughout sequence. Even though the actual amount of light in the scene didn’t change. It’s the “actual light” the matters in a proper exposure. That’s a problem if you want a proper exposure through all of your frames. A proper exposure is critical to retain the highlight and shadow detail in your shots. This is particularly true in a digital exposure.
These two shots of "Garut" Widiarta in Bali were shot manually on the same wave at the beginning and the end. You can see how the meter can be fooled here. Your camera's meter sees two very different scenes (reflected light) and would vary the exposure settings to accommodate it, but it would be wrong. You can do better.Shooting the same scene manually I have a constant exposure throughout the sequence and the subject is exposed properly through the varying extremes of reflected light. Or at the very least, all the shots would look the same (exposure wise), which helps to streamline your RAW workflow later because you can apply the same adjustments to several images using the lift and stamp tools in your RAW conversion software. See my RAW workflow post.
How to shoot in (M) mode
From experience, I know that at ISO 100 in bright sun is typically going to require 1/1000th at F5.6 with my D2X. So that’s where I start. You don’t have to guess, just take a test shot that best represents all of the extremes (like a nice clean breaking wave) and check the histogram. Make any adjustments to the exposure settings: aperture or shutter speed until you get a nice histogram that begins and ends with in the scale. Once you have it set, you can leave it. You only need to adjust it again if the actual light changes. If a thin cloud blows and blocks the sun, I open up a half stop and take a test shot and confirm a proper exposure with the histogram. Repeat as necessary. I keep an eye on the sky and frequently check the histograms of my last shots and change my settings accordingly. I often shoot on the same exposure settings for several hours.
From experience, I know that at ISO 100 in bright sun is typically going to require 1/1000th at F5.6 with my D2X. So that’s where I start. You don’t have to guess, just take a test shot that best represents all of the extremes (like a nice clean breaking wave) and check the histogram. Make any adjustments to the exposure settings: aperture or shutter speed until you get a nice histogram that begins and ends with in the scale. Once you have it set, you can leave it. You only need to adjust it again if the actual light changes. If a thin cloud blows and blocks the sun, I open up a half stop and take a test shot and confirm a proper exposure with the histogram. Repeat as necessary. I keep an eye on the sky and frequently check the histograms of my last shots and change my settings accordingly. I often shoot on the same exposure settings for several hours.
Never judge your exposure from the image on the camera’s LCD. It is not reliable because of the varied lighting conditions you are viewing it under. Instead, use the histogram to determine if you have captured the details and not blown anything out. An underexposed shot may look better on the small screen but the Histogram will tell the true story where the shadow detail is clipped off and missing. Here’s a few detailed articles on using the histogram to perfect your exposure from the Luminous Landscape and Zibtips.com.I shoot a lot of my surf images this way. If I could shoot manually all the time, I would because it’s nice to be in total control of the exposure. Especially when I’m in a situation when I can do a better job than the camera. Sometimes though, relying on the camera’s meter is really the only practical way to get the shot and that’s ultimately why we’re there.
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