What went wrong with the metering

<p>Please see the attached photograph.<br>

It would seem the camera (S5 with SB600) metered for the white cloth covering the table in front of the couple.<br>

What metering system SHOULD be used in a situation like this. I'm not after critique of the image, merely trying to find a solution to an exasperating problem.<br>

This was hot using Shutter priority, F4.2 with a speed of 1/160 with ISO400<br>

Any advice appreciated</p><div></div>

<p>The problem is that the exposure is too short to allow in much ambient light. I would go manual for this. If I haven't got time to meter properly I start with a ballpark of 1/60th, f5.6 and ISO 400 and then adjust from there. Slower shutter = more ambient light gets let in.</p>

<p>I am a bit concerned with slow shutter speeds - dont want movement blur on the photo's - hence using Shutter Priority.<br>

Thanks for the advice - will put this to the test as well.<br>

Point I am really after is what metering system should be used ie. Centre Weighted, Spot or 3D Matrix?</p>

<p>I think you're right, the meter was clearly fooled by the white fabric, and maybe even a bit of the daylight coming in through the windows in the back.</p>

<p>I agree with Steve, this looks like a situation where I would've gone to manual mode and opened up my aperture a bit. I'd probably have been at f/2.8, 1/60, ISO400, with flash set to TTL. That would've let in much more ambient light, while still being fast enough to freeze action, especially with the extra "pop" from the flash. In even darker situations, I'll sometimes have my camera on my tripod, but with only one leg extended, so it acts like a monopod.</p>

<p>Regarding your metering question, I only ever use Matrix metering mode. Obviously, when I'm in manual mode, the metering mode is moot.</p>

<p>As has been said, the white subjects resulted in the underexposure. I normally would be shooting in manual, especially if flash is allowed. Then I can decide to adjust either aperture or shutter speed as needed.</p>

<p>"Regarding your metering question, I only ever use Matrix metering mode. Obviously, when I'm in manual mode, the metering mode is moot."</p>

<p>Not really sure what Kevin meant by this statement. The camera still meters and can be quite useful, unless one is guess at exposure.</p>

<p>I'd bump up the ISO to bring in more ambient light and I'd shoot in manual mode. It's best to fire off a few test shots before the ceremony and to check your histogram. Also be careful of flash placement. The values of the white cloth at the left of the frame are a good deal higher than the values of the dress. You could either crop out the cloth, feather your flash, or move the flash off of the hot shoe to increase distance to the subject to move the tonal values closer.</p>

<p>Simple....metering of the white cloth worked perfectly. The meter placed the white cloth at 18% gray. What you really needed was to meter of the white cloth, and add a stop & a half or two stops to the result to produce white in the cloth....and a normal exposure for the rest.</p>

<p>Matrix metering mode is the only mode that takes into account the focusing points. So, if you were in matrix and all the focusing points were on the bride, the camera tried to render the dress to neutral gray, resulting in an underexposed image. This can occur even in manual mode, with or without flash. I prefer center-weighted averaging for weddings because you so often are shooting black and white side-by-side.... focus on the groom and you get one exposure, focus on the bride and you get another.</p>

<p>It's funny because just last night I took a series of shots with different metering modes for an article I am writing today on this very subject. (<a href="http://www.photocrati.com">www.photocrati.com</a>) </p>

<p>Fair comments by everyone - the feedback is appreciated.<br>

Let me throw another curveball into the arena<br>

Here is another photograph<br>

Only by editing it did I get the exposure right (of the peeps)</p><div></div>

<p>Looks like your flash metering is being fooled by the large amount of white in the frame of both photos. You have to use the exposure compensation to adjust for this. Your flash was used in both pics, you can see the reflection of it in the vent grill in the second one and the first has nice crisp shadows on the furniture.</p>

<p>Correct - flash was used in both. And this is what I am trying to solve - the flash metering</p>

<p>I recommend starting by reading the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. You could use any kind of metering to get a good result but you first need to understand how it works and then with experience and test shots learn how to tweak it to perform on your particular setup.</p>

<p>White balance is another problem you have in the samples you posted so you might want to look into that as well.</p>

<p>Personally I just use manual so I would shoot at ISO400, f/2.8, 1/30s as the light in the church is probably EV5 to EV6. That means I'm maybe a stop underexposed on the ambient. Then I need a bit flash so given the distance you are at (I'm guessing 10ft) I would set my flash to 1/32 power if it is direct and 1/8 if bounced or through diffuser. Come to think if it, in all honesty I would probably forgo the flash altogether and just shoot with ambient - ISO400, f/2, 1/30s or ISO800, f/2.8, 1/30s.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I am going to agree with Pete S: read the book Understanding Exposure. Actually, everyone has given good advice and I hope you weren't the paid photographer for the wedding. <em>You</em> should really be able to tell what is going on here. There is no magic button on the camera that will solve this. The camera will <em>always</em> meter for neutral gray. Your "other" photograph isn't a curveball- it's the same thing. </p>

<p>Good info from everyone. Besides the fact that the meter, whether for ambient or flash, always tries to give a 'middle gray' answer, there is another flash related theory at work, in both images. That is the inverse square law. In both images, there is a white surface closer to the camera than the subjects. Whenever you use frontal light (on camera flash, unless re directed through bouncing), and are using an automated flash metering mode, the surfaces closer to the camera are what the camera/flash is going to meter 'correctly'. If those surfaces are white, add the resulting underexposure on top of that from white surfaces, and the subjects behind the white surfaces fall even more into underexposure.</p>

<p>The simple answer to your question regarding metering mode, is to compensate your flash exposure, regardless of mode. I know Nikon cameras combine ambient and flash metering in certain ways. Canon cameras don't. They treat each as separate systems, so spot metering (ambient), for instance, is not available for flash at all. It is primarily the flash metering you need to compensate, since it is primary in both images. I also thought Nikon flash had a balanced fill mode and 'regular' mode. In both images, it should have been the latter mode.</p>

<p><em><strong>"Obviously, when I'm in manual mode, the metering mode is moot." (Kevin Swan)</strong> </em><br>

Regarding the ambient exposure - unless you are using a hand held meter, this comment is incorrect. If using the camera's in-built meter, then the chosen metering mode (evaluative, sport, centre weighted) makes a big difference in manual mode, just as it does in other modes.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the great responses.<br>

And to allay anyone's fears, I was the second shooter on the day. No ways would I enter such an environment without more than sufficient knowledge and experience</p>

<p>David/Douglas,</p>

<p>Regarding the metering mode when shooting in manual, of course the metering mode still influences the exposure evaluation in the analog display (the camera telling you whether or not the shot will be under/over exposed) - I simply meant that the camera does not <strong>act </strong> on its evaluation, as your actual exposure is locked in by your manual settings.</p>

<p>Manual flash mode with manual camera exposure works well if you know how to use it and will be very consitant. But you need to learn how to work with manual flash mode because your lens apeture and flash to subject needs to be correct because no metering will be taking place. However your lens apeture also affects your ambient exposure as does your shutter speed so you need to find a balance.</p>

<p>Problem image 1 is a typical problem encountered with Nikon TTL systems in my opinion. My own evaluation of the scene is that it consists of more dark tones than light therefore should be closer to overexposed rather than under. If you want to shoot "automatically" ie TTL Auto then you can use spot metering and put the cursor on the subjects face. Should give you a much better result than the one posted here but may not be perfect.<br>

I get the best results, running my camera on manual and the flash either on A or manual (adjusting output in Manual.)<br>

This image shot at F2.8 and 1/60th sec without flash could have been a very nice mood shot with that ambience in background.</p>

<p>You Nikon folks--how, exactly does Nikon integrate the flash metering with the ambient metering? I would think spot metering would have no effect on the flash metering.</p>

<p>Not to grind out part of the problem, but the SB-600 speedlight is not exactly what you want for indoor 'flash' photography. You might look into a SB-800 (it has more light output) and if you are 'staging' the photos after the ceremony, try to get the room lights turned on (or up.) You SB-600 'stopped' at the bride, leaving the groom and the guests without 'light.'</p>

<p>A tripod, 'S' mode, and maybe 1/15 or 1/10 second shutter speed may have let more 'room light' into the image.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The big unknown is that how the camera and flash works in iTTL will/might change depending on the combination of camera body and flash unit. So it may be tricky to give a definite answer.</p>

<p>I'm also pretty sure Nikon is tweaking and improving iTTL along with the introduction of new camera bodies and also new flash units. Cameras with better processing capability and more internal memory will also be able to do more complex calculations. Different bodies also have different exposure sensors. Nikon doesn't describe how iTTL works except that it is really suppose to work automatically and be great in all situations. Since they don't say how they can also change it as they see fit.</p>

<p>In my testing I have concluded that iTTL uses a center weighted approach to determine flash output and is not directly affected by spot metering, center weighted or matrix selected in the camera. The flash exposure is biased by the flash exposure compensation in the camera and on the flash as well as the exposure compensation in the camera.</p>

<p>The ambient exposure is affected by the metering modes and by the exposure compensation but not flash compensation.</p>

<p>Come to think of it I'm not sure that anybody outside of Nikon's R&D department know how it works in detail. For instance people like Joe McNally who appears on Nikon's videos and in book presenting Nikon's flash systems seems to be more of the approach that you spin the wheels till it looks good.</p>

<p>I think that you can correct for this type of thing by setting the flash exposure compensation. The i-TTL metering for the flash is independent of the ambient light metering and you can increase the flash output to compensate for the large expanses of white. Check your camera manual for how to do this. If your camera works like my D200 you can also use the Flash Value Lock to meter the flash on a non-white object and use the lock to keep that flash intensity when re-composing the picture.</p>

<p>Nadine, Nikon's SB900 has two general iTTL modes: balance fill flash and standard flash. Balance trying to balance flash with ambient and standard flash (how exactly, who knows). When we use the spot metering, the balance fill flash is not an option (the flash will automatically go into standard). On the D300s, the spot metering is tied to the focus point which, in my opinion, makes a huge difference. Many cameras tie spot metering to the center focus point rather than your chosen focus point which can be two very different things. The 900 also has 3 different illumination patterns: standard, center-weighted, & even (wide) with light distribution patterns similar to their names. Now this is the SB900, the flash we primarily use. I don't know much about the 600 to be honest. And of course in all metering modes, the flash is still relying on the preflash to determine the flash output (based on all the other selections!), but that flash output is biased on any exposure compensation dialed into both the camera and the flash, even if shooting in manual. Meaning if I have -1/3 on the camera and -1/3 on the flash, the overall bias of flash output will be -2/3. Now how does all this work together <em>exactly</em>, I have no clue! I have always wished that metadata recorded the flash power (and perhaps time) when in iTTl so I could examine outputs in different situations. It is one of the most frustrating things about any TTL system. All that said, I am sure the SB 600 isn't as advanced as the SB900. Additionally, it the OP's case, the camera in question isn't a Nikon, it's a Fuji- so who can know what type of communication is going on between the camera and flash. </p>

<p>Jeremy, if I had to offer anything else I would say that had you been 2nd shooting for me I would have wanted to know during the course of the day that you were having issues. We all start somewhere. I would have been bothered by not given the chance to help work through the issues. </p>

<p>Hi Nadine<br>

In my experience, choosing spot metering with TTL flash will give you the output that the camera "thinks" is right for the spot metered area. I am using a D300 and D700 and the spot can be placed anywhere that the focus point is placed. Its a fantastic idea really. In film days, I used a Nikon FE2 and FA, with a TTL dedicated Metz and TTL cable. If I forgot to change the metering back to Multi Pattern, it didnt seem to make any difference, the circuitry must have overrode the settings. If you were to run a Nikon FA film camera with a TTL dedicated unit against a D300 with Nikon SB flash unit, there's a very good chance the FA would easily win the percentage of better exposed images in various lighting situations. This isnt a definitive statement but my opinion, what do others think? Those with a D300/700 and SB800/900 can easily try this experiment just by changing metering mode and moving the focus point to lighter/darker tones. Its all a wonderful learning curve and crucial experimentation for Nikon owners.</p>