Spot the difference

Spot-metered subjects

To achieve the best results with Spot metering, you need to ensure that you focus accurately on your subject so you can pin-point the light from an area of the scene. Spot metering mode is great for precise exposure readings and can often come to the rescue when you are shooting in tricky light.

What to expose

The key to using spot metering effectively is down to your skill at deciding which part of the scene to take the reading from in the first place. Consider a high-contrast image that has a wide contrast difference between the shadows and highlights. The camera doesn’t know which area needs to be correctly exposed, only the photographer does.

AF points or Live View?

You have two options to Spot meter accurately in a scene like this. The first is to move the AF point to an area of the scene that corresponds to the part of the picture you want to expose correctly. On a DSLR, sometimes there won’t be an AF point in the right position to do this. In this case switch to Live View and focus on the image via the LCD screen.