Photo How To

While the video below is billed as an “advanced” tutorial, using a camera’s built-in spot metering mode is actually very simple. And once you master this technique, exposure mistakes will be a thing of the past.

Andrew Boey is an instructor at Japan’s Beyond Photography Academy, and in just nine minutes he explains everything you need to know about spot metering so you can start shooting like a pro. The “Shadow & Highlight” technique he demonstrates is particularly useful when photographing high-contrast scenes without strong midtone areas.

Boey begins with a clear description of how a camera’s meter measures the amount of light in a scene, before moving on to explain the finer points of spot metering. You’ll see how he takes meter readings of highlight and shadow areas when photographing a portrait inside a dark room with bright light streaming through a window.

Once you learn this very effective metering technique and do a bit of practicing, you will nail correct exposures every time. There are more helpful tips on the Beyond Photography Academy YouTube channel, and be sure to look at our earlier story with a basic tutorial on understanding a camera's metering system.