282 THE HASSELBLAD MANUAL
Figure15-8 Use of a graycard. Instead of measuring the light refl ected off the subject, you can
measure the light refl ected off the graycard. The reading is then the same whether the card
is held in front of the white or the black lighter (left). A graycard reading should provide the
correct exposure in a portrait regardless of the color of the skin (right).
area from your camera position while you compose the photograph. You can also easily move
the camera to measure any other area within the composition without moving away from the
camera position.
Practical Camera Metering Approaches
There are three approaches for determining the proper lens settings with a refl ected light
meter.
1. Evaluate the area covered by the lens and look for subject areas that have an 18% refl ectance
value. Subjects with green, brown, blue, or red colors are very close to this value. Also check that
the selected areas receive the same light as most other important areas within the scene. Take
the meter reading by pointing the handheld meter or the metering area in the camera view-
fi nder at that part of the subject. Take the reading and lock it on a camera meter, re-compose, and
take the picture. I fi nd this is usually the best approach in outdoor work, especially with built-in
meters. It is an especially good approach with a spot meter. The Differential and Zone modes
in 203 and 205 cameras are wonderful for this approach since they lock a setting automati-
cally. The H cameras offer different but simple ways of locking an exposure setting. The simplest,
which I usually use, is programming the AE lock for this purpose. I simply need to press the AE
lock button while pointing the camera at the desired area and before I move the camera away
to re-compose. The AE lock button locks the setting. I can change a locked aperture and shutter
speed setting without changing the EV value with the front wheel. Since I usually use the spot
meter, I have also used the custom option Spot Mode for locking the spot meter reading on the
H camera. These options are described in detail in Chapter 4.
2. Point a handheld meter or the metering area of a built-in meter at a part of the subject that is
practical for metering. Evaluate the subject’s color and brightness within the metered area. If
the area is not 18%, make the adjustment based on the color chart. This is a necessary approach
when there are no subject areas with an 18% refl ectance, as might be the case in a winter scene
where everything is covered with snow.
3. Instead of measuring an actual subject area, take the meter reading of a graycard that has 18%
refl ectance. Hold the graycard in front of the subject more or less parallel to the image plane so
that the same light falls on the card that falls on the subject. Also make certain that the meter
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