Before the Sunset

Hello Nonur, looking at your recent, Izmir pictures I see you are using spot metering, very successfully too. I am still a beginner at this so do you have any advice on areas from which to take readings. I like Izmir, by the way, as your pictures show, great scenery! (They make me think of the wonderful midye tava, mussel fritters, too) Thanks, David

It depends if you are trying to preserve the highlights, or reveal the shadow detail. Most digital cameras have insufficient dynamic range to encompass both ends, so it is a choice between one or the other. Normally, it is possible to reveal detail in blocked up shadows using photoshop, but impossible to recover any detail in blown highlights. 255 is white and that is that!

If you expose for a mid grey, usually grass is a good substitute, then you will get an average shot with a bit of both. I normally try to keep as much highlight detail as possible, especially in clouds for example and play around with the shadows using the dodge and burn tools and curves in PS.

In the above image, if I may be as bold, I would suggest cloning away the overhanging leaves in the sky. I think the image, which is good, would be much improved by this small adjustment.

Thank you, David, for the nice response and revealing the sentiments about Izmir. I think David, the Monobod, has answered your question much more appropriately, as I rather make that choice intuitively.

Thank you David for the information you gave and also for the suggestion. In the first place I chose to include it to indicate the sense of hight, but did not like the end result, as it works as a detracting element. However, I do not use cloning tool and have to crop it out, and that will narrow the sky.

Monobod and Nezih, What sort of difference do you think auto bracketing would produce from adjusting white balance and spot-metering? I presume white balance would have more effect on the colour range, for example.When you use intuition, Nezih, would it be to take a meter reading from a highlight or a mid-range area for example? Anyway your intuition seems to be working!

Best wishes

David

Sorry about that, I did not mean to pre-empt your reply.

When using film, getting it right in the camera was all important, but we now have the tools to do the improvements post capture. This is a personal choice and many will agree with not cloning, others will be for it. neither is the whole answer. We know that double imaging and dodging and burning were a printers art when printing from film, so not a lot has changed really, just the tools.

Your photograph has a good range of tonality and I commend you for it.

David is absolutely right and I am not an expert, but as you say, white balance affects the colours and auto WB usually works well, except extreme conditions, like different sources of light which oblige you to make the necssary changes. I usually take the metering from the mid-range area but that also is, as indicated by David, a matter of coice. In this particular case, I think it was the midway of the sea.

One thing about digital, of course, is that photos are basically free. No film to buy or process, so you can experiment to your hearts content. If you read the exif data you can learn a lot this way by seeing what works and what does not.

Take a series of shots metering in various ways, read the results when you get home.

Thank you both, that gives me something to think about, David is a popular name on Pentax User isn't it?
Best wishes
David (Clayboss)