Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/07/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The problem with a back lit portrait is that the meter reads the much brighter back lighting and renders the face dark because it doesn't know the main subject, the face, is much dimmer. To get around this, you need to either take a spot reading or a close-up reading of the face. If you are able, you should then open one stop for caucasian skin tones, or close down one stop for black or dark skin tones. A spot meter is useful because you can take the reading from afar, as you would want to if this was a candid shot. If it's a posed portrait, it doesn't matter. Walk up to the subject, take the reading, and then return to your shooting position. I think more often a back lit portrait should be considered as a special effect. Depending on the intensity of the back lighting, you may run into flare problems or complete washout of the background tones. Both can led to dramatic portraits or dramatic failures, depending on what effect you wanted. Allan On Tuesday, July 2, 2002, at 02:54 PM, DFangon@aol.com wrote: > Is it advisable to use spotmeter on the face of a subject with a strong > backlight for portrait outdoors in the shade? Just using my M6 > metering and > sometimes I underexpose the subject, sometimes I get it right. What > am I > doing wrong or should I just have to avoid lighting situations like that > altogether? > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html