where to spot meter in outdoor portraits

[brandy_kimble]

<p>Usually, I shoot indoors with fairly even and soft lighting. However, I am now shooting portraits outdoors during midday hours when the sun is fairly harsh. I shoot mainly in the shade, but since my subjects are older babies, sometimes they turn where the light is pretty harsh (parcial harsh light on side of face ). when this happens, should I meter the brighter part of their faces or the shaded part?</p>

[ficarelli]

<p>Hi again Brandy,<br>

<br />I'm not a expert but I think you can use a flash or a reflector to fill the darker side, metering the brighter side.<br /> </p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

You should try using the baby's mom as an assistant and have her hold a diffuser (I like the Joe McNally version of the Tri-

Lite) over her kid. That will keep the kid out of the direct sun and give you better light.

 

If you are worried about where to spot meter, you aren't fully concentrating on what's really important in a portrait: the

subjects expression, gestures, body language, and the background.

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p>I shoot mainly in the shade, but since my subjects are older babies, sometimes they turn <em>where the light is pretty harsh ([partial] harsh light on side of face ).<strong> when this happens, should I meter the brighter part of their faces or the shaded part? </strong></em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>If you choose to use Spot Metering off Skin Tones, it doesn’t matter whether you meter the shadow side or the sunlit side of the face in side lit sun as either way you will still have to adjust the exposure to suit (a) the skin type and (b) whether you meter the sun side or the shadow side.</p>

<p>When I use Spot Metering in Harsh / Direct side lit or backlit sun – AND- I am shooting only available light, I meter from the SHADOW SIDE of the face and then correct the exposure for the shot, based upon the skin tone of the Subject . I do this because - IF - I am using this method I am not worried about blowing highlights in the background and I want the shadow side of the face to be the correct exposure. </p>

<p>HOWEVER, if I were shooting Baby or Child Portraits in Direct / Harsh Sunlight, I would normally and most often use Flash as Fill. In this case, the ambient light meter reading would be for the Sun-lit area of the scene and that would normally be “the background”, when shooting in Direct Sunlight.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p><br /> </p>