All right, I've been talking all day you guys will have to forgive me but it's time for perfect exposures in one shot know what we're gonna do is I flipped over to spot meter on my camera so I want you guys to do the same thing let's go ahead and make sure actually were in spot metering mode now we have done several examples of spot meeting we're doing it throughout the course basically spot metering on our model's skin to get the perfect skin tones in one try that's great and all but we can actually spot metering for well anything let's say, for example, I wanted to get a perfect exposure of this dirt sorry whitney, I'm going to shoot the dirt, okay? I'm gonna go here, we're gonna do is I'm going to right now is a one hundred and is telling me that I'm under exposed with the spot meter was going to bring it down I'm gonna go all the way down two one, four hundred a second look at that perfect dirt in one shot what about the grass over here? One, two hundred of a second perfect grass i...

n one shot we could use a spot meeting for anything I'm being serious right now let's say we want to get a meter on the sky like what if I want to light this scene with flash but I don't want the sky to be blown out so I can go ahead and I can meet her directly going to sky up there and I could go ahead and bring this down to like one four thousand of a second which is telling me that's what I need to be at f to to not block the sky now let's, go ahead and take that shot and there we go we have the tree that's kind of dark, but with the sky that's perfectly exposed, I've even place it directly over the tree. So let's say we put over the tree now tell me to go back up to like one, four hundred a second I'm gonna bring it up actually going to the top of the trees so now it's at one, eight hundred from one one thousandth of a second. All right, so there we go that's at the top of the tree and now the tree is correctly exposed where we meet it. Spot metering is beautiful because it on ly read that tiny three to five percent amount of the screen and it gives you that reading so it's great for getting a reading on anything particularly wanted basically add light to a scene and basically keep the background exposure the way it is or if you want to expose the scene however we need teo and for this scene actually want expose for whitney skin all right, so let's, go ahead. I'm gonna have whitney turn towards me and whitney, I'm going to meet her off of your I don't know why I'm explaining to it I'm going to meet her off of whitney skin. She doesn't care what I'm gonna do as long as I get good pictures, right? That's all that matters she doesn't care about that either. She's like whatever. Okay, so I'm on me during my my my spot me a remote I'm gonna go ahead and just get right under her skin in a well, physical sense, not literal sense I'm not going to try and annoy you to death my voice might have known you to death right now because it's very raspy. Alright, this sound like I could do r v record right now. No honest, brutally honest, right? Okay, even when they haven't really deep bass like ok, ok. All right. So right now one sixteenth of a second, it's too fast. Okay, so I need to slow it down. It's giving me about one to two stops under exposed. So I'm gonna go ahead and bring it down, and I want to be one stop over exposed because she does have fair olive skin it's fairly fair okay, if you have a model that has darker skin don't be surprised if it's going to be a little bit under exposed when you meet her it's ok? It just depends on the skin tones all right, so let's go ahead on dh at one, four hundred seconds about where I want it so I was going to go back up real quick just take a quick shot, make sure we're good and a solid we've got the right skin tone at one foot per second four hundredth of a second after you and isa one hundred now we're ready to have you hop into the scene okay? So I'm gonna help you we're going to is going to shoot this so that these branches are kind of curving over at ft was going to look really beautiful kind of blurring the backgrounds gonna have a really nice look we have a problem one knee up because again it creates a little bit of well space between the legs we don't want the legs to look like they're just one piece want a kree space there and it also creates a little triangle in the shot which is really nice her arm is doing the same thing actually and it adds a lot of interest triangles are a compositional piece that looks great okay, so less you are perfect I'm using that a half point that's really close to her and then re composing if I need I'm gonna take a quick reading and just look at my exposure settings it looks like I really don't have much of the background blown out so what I might do here is just going to drop it down one setting I'm gonna go one three twentieth of a second and would you look over to the side a little more so we get more profile more, more, more turning more and bring the chin down look down there you go give me little smile so hopefully this helps you all out I want you to realize that with the spot meter in your camera and with the internal light meter it'll help you to get that permit exposure on the first try every single time regardless of what your shooting just remember like we talked about before when you're using the spot meter do not use assisted or automated modes because it's going to create all sorts of funky exposures depending on wherever that spot meter is so in assisted or automated mode to recommend sticking to center weighted average or an averaging type of exposure or meeting mode when you're shooting in manual well we love spot meter because it gets us the perfect shot every single time stay there stay there love that elbow on the side that's perfect turn that chin towards that sign there give me a little bit of hair played with the left hand. Okay, same thing bringing to hand down to the necklace. You go up a little bit, eyes at me, perfect, play one more time again, kind of bring the hand of the necklace, pull it out towards the guys over there. They're either me center up the necklace on the chest, and then just bring the hand into it a little bit. There you go, right there, turn the chin out towards the light. There you go, hand on the necklace right there. Hold on, give me a full smile, give your laugh, there you go. Perfect.

buy this class

$00

Buy Class

Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2000+ more >

79.7K Students

99% Recommend this Class

00 Student Work

0 Video lessons in HD
00h 00m of class content
Exclusive bonus content
Lifetime access, anywhere, anytime
Streaming access on desktop and mobile browsers
Download and offline access with class purchase
Offline sync with our iPhone & iPad apps
100% satisfaction guarantee

SLR Lounge

SLR Lounge is a free online resource created by photographers for photographers featuring tutorials on Lightroom, Photoshop, Shooting, Lighting and much more.

SEE INSTRUCTOR'S CLASSES

Pye Jirsa

Pye Jirsa is a lifelong learner who has made a career out of creating frameworks.  These frameworks have helped millions learn languages, develop creativity, master photography, succeed in business, and even improve their communication within personal relationships.

SEE INSTRUCTOR'S CLASSES

topics covered in this class

Fundamentals Beginner

Ratings and Reviews

P K

I watched this class "live" and was simply amazed at the amount of information Pye covered. Yes, he talks a little fast, and since I was streaming the class I couldn't stop it to review anything, but this guy really knows his stuff and explains it very well so I absorbed quite a bit. Bye is enthusiastic, clearly enjoys his craft, and delivers excellent information to students in a light heartedI and fun way. I think some reviewers are a bit harsh about his humor. Lighten up, people! His examples and the additional information his co-host provides are very worthwhile and you can tell the course was well thought out. I plan to buy the class to help me get back into DSLR photography.

user-7d0810

I really enjoyed this class. I am not a beginner, but there were still things I learned here that I found helpful. I really enjoy learning from Pye. He is quick, gets to the point and doesn't spend a lot of time going over and over the same point. There is a wide variety of things that he covers, so really something for everyone. I would recommend purchasing this class if you want to understand your camera better, improve your technique and start taking better photos.

Joy Bobrink

I have tried to learn photography myself via the internet / YouTube but always felt like I was missing something in my foundation. Sure I can zero out my meter...but why? How do I know the settings I've selected are the correct ones? I've been circling this drain for a year until this course. WOW! Pye has SO MUCH information in every video. He doesn't just stand in a classroom and talk, he's out in the field actually putting his settings into his camera, talking about why and why not and then shooting. He's hands on the entire course. You don't just hear him, you see exactly what he's doing! I'm a visual / listening learner and this is my eureka moment! Thank you Pye! Watching the Exposure video and how you changed the settings yet maintained the exact same exposure was mind blowing. Awesome course! I would recommend this to anyone new to photography or anyone that feels like they don't have all the info.

2,000+ classes ranging from fundamentals to advanced techniques.

How to Get Perfect Exposures in One Shot

How to Get Perfect Exposures in One Shot

Lesson Info

14. How to Get Perfect Exposures in One Shot

Lessons

Introduction

The Camera is Simply a Tool

How Does a Camera Work?

How to Adjust Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO

Exposure Triangle

What is a Stop of Light

Reading Exposure Via the Histogram

Blown Highlights or Clipped Details

White Balance & Color Temperature

No Such Thing as the Correct Exposure

How To Measure or Meter Light

8 Key Points to Understanding ISO and Image Quality

Understanding the 3 Primary Metering Methods