metering for foggy situations

[putri]

how do u meter for a foggy/misty landscape?

[erik_loza]

How does it look to you? I can pretty much tell by eye how close to 18% grey a scene is, then put in or take out as much light as is needed. Same thing with snow. For fog, I either use the ND grad to kill some light if it's only part of the scene, or just take a stop or so out, if the whole scene is that way. It's just experience and knowing where your camera wants to be.

[stp]

When I'm in the middle of fog, I just meter on a gray card that I usually carry with me.

Otherwise, I look at a part of the foggy landscape and ask myself if that will look right when

"converted" to 18% gray. A digital camera histogram adds another tool.

[Two23]

In the past I've always used a hand held incident meter, but now I'm finding the histogram on my D80 is just as accurate.

 

 

Kent in SD

[ian green]

you can always meter of your palm and get the 18% perfect exposure<div></div>

[colin carron]

I am not sure there is a right answer to this as it depends on what you want the shot to end up looking like.

 

For a landscape which fades off into a mist I would meter off an average target as a first guess then bracket round that. The average target could be a nearby patch of grass, your hand, even a grey card if you carry one.

 

Against the light (my personal favourite in mist) the main aim will be to capture as wide an exposure range as possible maybe using an ND grad. So I would shoot on auto then consult the histogram and adjust (tricky if you are not shooting doigital of course).

[david_henderson]

Bearing in mind that the brightness of fog varies considerably according to what's behind it, how thick it is, how much (in distance) fog there is between camera and subject, I spot meter in fog as I do most everywhere else. I then have to decide how i want the fog to appear, and assuming we're talking daylight here I'm often inclined to place the brightest fog as one stop over using slide film or as two stops over on b&w. But this will vary according to the overall effect I want to create; and in extreme circumstances such as sun being visible through the fog. There is no magic formula that works all the time I'm afraid and maybe short term some bracketing will help you form a view of what you like best in which circumstances.

 

BTW I wouldn't often choose to use my palm as a mid-tone.

[crabseye]

This is just pointed at the tree, select aperture, and let the camera choose shutter.

 

IOW, aim, shoot, check histo.

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/5356810-lg.jpg

[luke_neher]

It's funny because that shot is underexposed :P

[andrew robertson]

It's up to the photographer to decide if a shot is overexposed or underexposed.

[luke_neher]

It's up to the beholder. Otherwise it would be as such:

critic: " i think it's too dark.."

artist ".. no it isn't"

Maybe some will like it like that, but looks underexposed about a stop to me.

[andrew robertson]

Who decides the exposure?

 

Would you argue that Guernica is too pointy looking?

[luke_neher]

Who decides the exposure?

Would you argue that Guernica is too pointy looking?

 

No, because it doesn't look pointy at all. But I'd say that i thought the use of point was

poor, if i thought so.

You've done what's often called, "making a stupid nonsensical comparison, mutilated so

that there is no correct answer, only a nonsensical opinion voiced without any backing"

Luke.

[pvp]

Geez, what happened to the O.P.'s question?

 

Russell: you will need to compensate for the diffused light from the fog. Generally a foggy scene will appear brighter than the same scene without fog, so you'll have to increase the metered exposure if you want to render the scene realistically. In the alternative, metering a close object (one that isn't affected by the fog) and setting the exposure for that reading should work.

 

If you simply point and use the metered reading, you'll get a nice middle gray exposure every time. That will look dark and muddy compared to the original scene. This isn't a problem if you're using negatives (in fact it might be a good thing because it will put the scene in the middle of the film's range) but if you shoot transparencies or digital you'll just be making more work for post production.