LOL, j/k post away, your photo's are really good, they are always good to look at.

 

No, don't leave us. I know for one that everything you've posted has helped me out thus far

 

Sorry Justin, it's 2012. We moved to 201...

I know you're just kidding, but seriously one of the things that helps me a LOT is seeing images I like or that are of a different style - and then someone explaining the conditions and camera settings around it. And then I go out and try to replicate it. I think posting images and information about them is wholly relevant to the thread.

I need to read back through the thread to see if it's been covered, but GrayTT touched on a great point to expand on: metering.

 

Yeah, I'm totally kidding. You guys take awesome shots, it's cool to see what you can do.

 

But it does truly only benefit this thread if there's some explanation or relevance to the current topic.

 

Alright, I've got a model shoot coming up in a couple weeks. I'll try to remember to take some BTS (Behind The Scenes) shots with step by step instructions on how to "build a shot" which is what we photographers call it.

Food for thought: One of the biggest challenges when it comes to photos is how we want the audience to "perceive" our subjects. Do we want to direct their attention to a certain area, or have them look at the whole image, etc. There are those that shoot a picture just for the sake of shooting something and then there are those that shoot pictures because they are trying to convey a "message." I always think about that when I take a picture.

 

I actually did not get to metering but its never too late to start...

Here is a basic definition of the three settings all cameras have these days even simple point and shots...



Spot or Partial Metering
As you can tell by the name here your camera will use a small spot in the centre of the frame to adjust the lighting. Spot/Partial metering allows you to meter the subject you are focusing, in P&S it is normally only the center of the frame. The size of the spot varies from camera to camera but normally smaller than 5% of the frame if you have Partial metering then the area is about double that. Where to use it typically to correct for brightly backlit or any shot with large difference in brightness.
The best way to test this out is to head out and have your subject in the center of your frame with a bright background... set your camera to Spot and the AF to the center point. Now focus on your subject and take the shot, I would set aperture to f5.6 or f8.0 to get a good DoF. Now take another shot but focus and meter on something slightly off your subject and while the shutter button is half way down reframe to try and duplicate the composition of the first frame. If you can take one more photo and try to focus/meter away of your subject even more that will help you compare better.

Center-weighted (CW) or Average Metering
Average metering is averages out the lighting over the whole frame but give the center of the frame more importance therefore the name "center-weighted" metering. Different brands have different formulas but generaly the range is between 70% to 80% center and 30% to 20% outer... I find that cameras with Partial and not spot metering tend to have a larger percentage on the center of the frame.

Matrix or Evaluative Metering
This is the newest, greatest and most complex metering mode out there right and you might not notice the difference brands in their lower range cameras but when comparing the higher end WOW!!! You will understand why you need a Canon or a Nikon
What happens here is the frame gets divided into a matrix of 16 to 77 spaces that are fitted into 6 or more metering zones which are evaluated individually and then placed into one of these



to try and put together the best lighting...
This is normally the default setting on all cameras and the most used metering mode...

 

Love how you purposefully did that to "Nikon." Why can't you simply accept the fact that Nikon is better. Just kidding. It's all a matter of preference. But remember folks, it's not the camera that makes the picture, it's the photographer behind the lenses.

 

Says the guy waiting for his D800e

 

And the D4. I want it's video capabilities.