picsman Loc: Scotland

I am shooting some ski races tomorrow and have just read up about highlight weighted metering on my D750.

Normally I increase my exposure values by between 1 and 2 depended on conditions, however if I adopt the highlight weighted metering do I still need to increase my exposure for the snow?

Anyone with practical experience of this? I can't try it and see due to time constraints.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Shoot raw, use the spotmeter mode, read off the snow in bright light and add 1-1/3 to 1-2/3 stops to the reading. If the skiers are passing through shaded areas, then you'll need to take a reading for the shade. I did this a lot when my kids were racing.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I would just take a reading of the blue sky (away from the sun).

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

That doesn't work when the sun is shining brightly - seems like you haven't any experience shooting ski races. Most slopes face north, with some early and late sunlight creating challenging lighting conditions. Metering the blue sky will absolutely result in blown snow highlights, though the skier might be ok, unless they are wearing a white or light colored racing suit. Better to meter the bright stuff and compensate based on that reading - you'll get better results.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Use your exposure compensation button. When you get there, shot some practice jumps, adjust the exposure compensation button to the + side until you get an acceptable result.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Your best bet is to purchase a gray card and meter off that.
--Bob

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I always had good results metering of the sky, I also metered off my hand, but the sky metering always came out better! And no, no blown out snow!

MtnMan Loc: ID

Right. But you need to be sure to lock the exposure; i.e. Use M or AE-L.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Depends on the shooting situations...

I shoot Canon, not Nikon, so terminology might be slightly different. But, basically the functions are the same.

There are two main scenarios to deal with: #1, where the lighting conditions are relatively steady... Or, #2 where you're trying to deal with rapidly changing lighting conditions (such as a subject moving in and out of shadows).

#1. Tracking a subject that will remain in the same light, or perhaps only taking shots of your subjects at one particular point in their path where the lighting remains the same, I'd usually use Manual and lock in my exposure. Some additional exposure is typically needed for a snow scene, but exactly how much will depend upon how tight your shot... or how much bright, white snow will be captured in each shot. A really tight shot might not need much adjustment at all, while a wider shot with a lot of snow will likely need between +1 and +2 stops of exposure. A few quick test shots can help you refine this.

Instead I carry a handheld, incident light meter for just this sort of situation. That reads the light falling onto a scene, rather than what's being reflected off it. So it's not effected by and "blown away" by the bright white snow. I just have to be careful that I'm actually reading the same light as is falling onto my subject (i.e., I don't want to take my reading standing in the shade, if my subject is in full sun... and vice versa). Taking a reading of the sky, off a gray card or one's palm, or even metering from the snow itself +1-2/3 stops and fine tuning from that with test shots, all using the camera's built-in reflective meter, are just other ways of arriving at the same result.

When doing the above, it's important to check your histograms every so often as lighting gradually changes in the course of the day. It grows brighter until about midday, then starts to slowly weaken until dusk. I just try to fine tune my settings every 15 minutes or so.

Oh, and be sure to use the histogram when checking exposure (even though it's going to be crowded to the right and likely will even warn of some over-exposure for any scene with a lot of snow in it). Don't rely upon image playback, as what you see on the camera's LCD is likely to be very strongly influenced by the ambient light conditions and can't be trusted for accuracy.

Note: Manual mode with Auto ISO is no longer "manual". It's actually another form of auto exposure. So if using that, see method #2 below.

#2. If tracking a subject in and out of shadows and full sun, a different method is needed. To do that, I think the best results are usually gotten using an auto exposure mode (your choice of shutter priority, aperture priority, program, or manual with auto ISO if your camera supports it... I tend to use aperture priority most and just keep an eye on my shutter speeds, but I will also sometimes use shutter priority for more rapidly moving subjects and when I don't care about depth of field very much). This relies fully on the camera's internal reflective meter, though I might occasionally double check that using my handheld incident meter.

Here you will also need to increase exposure, except now it's done by setting + exposure compensation instead of just dialing in a higher exposure setting the way you would do with a fully manual setting in steady light. Similarly in this case, exactly how much + exposure compensation is needed will again depend upon how much white snow you're capturing in your shots. But, it also can make a big difference what metering mode you are using: Matrix/Evaluative, center weighted, partial or spot (the latter two can vary in size depending upon the particular camera model, and I really don't know what the D750 provides).

For example, if using a broader Matrix or center-weighted mode that's being strongly influenced by a lot of white snow, more + E.C. will be needed. OTOH, if using partial or spot metering that's only "seeing" a little or none of the snow, is mostly just reading off the subject themselves, you may only need to adjust E.C. according to the subject's tonalities or slightly more.

If you change metering mode or change your framing, you'll need to re-adjust your settings in either case.

Note: Auto ISO used in conjunction with any of the other auto exposure modes is anyone's guess. No telling how it might work. For this reason, I would only ever use Auto ISO with M, personally. What you do is up to you, but I'd recommend experimenting with any combos a lot to see what it does, before using it for anything very important. And since Auto ISO and M actually is just another form of auto exposure, it's mostly only useful on cameras that provide means of setting exposure compensation to fine tune it (some do, some don't). A means of limiting the ISO range is also very preferable (which also varies depending upon camera model).

19104 Loc: Philadelphia

I would take a grey card and put it in the same light that is going to be on the skiers and meter off the card. Then lock that exposure in and check it once an hour or so or if clouds came over. Remember that a meter is set up to give a correct exposure with an 18% grey card. And if you don't have one, then meter off the palm of your hand and close it down a stop. Everybody palms are the same and the are one stop brighter than a grey card.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

On bright sunny days this may not work. There is too much contrast. Do you have any examples of images taken in bright snow where you used this method?

This is an example of similar lighting conditions done with the metering approach I described above. An incident meter or a gray card or metering off the sky would have resulted in a reading that would have been about 1/2 stop or more underexposed, like the same image, unedited, below.

(Download)


(Download)

Jim Bob

Yessirreee.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

:thumbup: